Our Team
David Hickey
B.S. Chemistry, University of Oklahoma
PhD Chemistry, University of Oklahoma
Postdoc, University of Utah (with Shelley Minteer and Matthew Sigman)
Interesting fact: David was a professional musician for over 15 years.
Boring Fact: David slept on his shoulder wrong, and now it hurts.
Graduate Students
Chase Bruggeman
B.S. Chemistry, University of Wisconsin (2016)
Chase is currently developing novel charge-storage molecules for redox flow batteries.
INTERESTING FACT: He used to play both violin and guitarron with a Rockford-based mariachi band.
BORING FACT: Chase has one pair of khaki pants. Also nobody in the group knows how to spell “khaki'“.
Sunanda Dey
B.Tech. Chemical Engineering, West Bengal University of Technology (2018)
Sunanda is currently designing electrochemical biosensors for early detection of cancer.
Interesting Fact: She is a trained Indian Classical singer and is fluent in three languages.
Boring Fact: Sunanda can sleep after three shots esspresso.
Lincoln Mtemeri
B.S. Chemical Engineering, Arizona State University (2019)
Lincoln is interested in understanding structure-function relationships of redox mediators for enzymatic electrocatalysis.
Interesting Fact: Lincoln is a novice mechanic and enjoys working on cars in his free time.
Boring Fact: He pretends to like ice cream for his friends, but he does not like it because its cold.
Sharmila Samaroo
B.S. Chemical Engineering, University of Michigan (2017)
Sharmila is working on developing regenerative electrolytes to extend the functional lifespan of redox flow batteries.
Interesting Fact: Sharmila used to be a painting instructor at a Paint Bar, while working in Oklahoma.
Boring Fact: She likes to take naps and is tired.
Nunzio Giorgio Carducci
B.S. Chemical Engineering, University of Wyoming (2020)
Nunzio is developing electrolytes to be produced on an industrial scale for grid-scale energy storage.
Interesting Fact: Nunzio runs a photography brand with action figures as the main subject.
Boring Fact: Nunzio got up at 5 a.m., but he takes naps after lunch.
Annabelle Pattillo
Annabelle is correlating molecular structures with electron transfer rates to improve mediated bioelectrocatalysis.
Interesting Fact: She began learning to snowboard last Winter.
Boring Fact: She makes tacos a lot for dinner.
Undergraduates
Dominik Servinski
Dominik is conducting solubility studies of organic molecules to correlate molecular structure and solubility.
Interesting Fact: He has played the French Horn for 9 years.
Boring Fact: He is an average golfer.
Macy McPherson
Macy is currently developing materials to enhance immobilized enzyme stability for biosensor and biocatalysis applications.
Interesting Fact: She can play the piano, guitar, and ukulele; and she volunteers at the local animal shelter.
Boring Fact: Has watched Gilmore Girls 11 times.
Alumni
Abdullah Alahmad
Abdullah developed 3D-printable redox flow batteries.
Interesting Fact: He enjoys spending time with his family and friends.
Boring Fact: Abdullah grew up in Ohio.
Jana Ratzloff
Jana worked on the development of novel redox mediators to enable electron transfer to bulky redox enzymes.
Interesting Fact: Jana can cut a pie into seven pieces.
Boring Fact: She has never lit a Bunsen burner.
Laina Young
Laina worked on protein engineering for biosensors to detect early biomarkers of pancreatic cancer.
Interesting Fact: She was a competitive gymnast for ten years.
Boring Fact: Laina doesn’t sort her cards in Euchre.