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Dr. Svitlana PylypenkoSvitlana is an Associate Professor in the Chemistry Department at the Colorado School of Mines. She is also involved in the interdisciplinary Materials Science Program at Mines and holds a joint appointment at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). Prior to joining the Chemistry Department, Svitlana was an Assistant Research faculty in the Department of Materials and Metallurgical Engineering. Svitlana received her B.S. and M.S in Chemistry and Chemical Engineering from the National Technical University of Ukraine and Ph.D. in Chemistry from the University of New Mexico. Svitlana’s group at Mines investigates surfaces and interfaces of applied materials with an emphasis on building relationships between surface composition and structure, material properties, and their performance, with the eventual goal to design the next generation of materials based on earth abundant elements which provide high efficiency at a fraction of the cost of PGM-based materials. Research focuses on multi-technique, multiscale analysis, and in situ and in operando studies bridging surface analysis, surface science, and catalysis. Svitlana is on the AVS Board of Directors and has previously served as a board member of the AVS Applied Surface Science Division, Rocky Mountain Chapter of AVS, ECS Physical and Analytical Electrochemistry Division, and co-chaired AVS-sponsored Surface Analysis Symposium. She serves as the chair of AVS Educational Materials and Outreach Committee, is involved in the AVS Science Educators Workshop, and is a faculty adviser of the Colorado School of Mines AVS student chapter (MAVS).
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Dr. Ami Yang-NeyerlinAmi is a research associate in the Chemistry Department at Colorado School of Mines, focusing on fuel cell research. Ami earned her B.S. with a major in Chemistry and a minor in Environmental Chemistry and received her Ph.D. in Chemistry, both from Simon Fraser University. During her Ph.D., Ami examined structure-property relationships of proton exchange membranes through the study of model sulfonated graft copolymers, and she acquired knowledge and experience in polymer chemistry, membrane fabrication, and ex situ membrane characterization. During her post-doctoral research at Colorado School of Mines, she extends her experience and understanding to MEA electrodes and in situ fuel cell testing and electrochemical performance diagnostics. She conducts most of the fuel cell testing work at NREL and has a wide range of experience working on different fuel cell configurations such as proton exchange membrane fuel cells, alkaline exchange membrane fuel cells, and direct methanol fuel cells. Ami enjoys the process of overcoming research challenges and applying problem solving skills in her tasks. Ami also has a great passion for food, music, and bubble tea. Outside of the lab, she spends and treasures every moment she can with her family and friends.
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Michael DzaraMike is a Ph.D. student in the Materials Science program who started in Fall 2015. Michael previously attended Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT), where he received his B.S. in Chemical Engineering. During his undergraduate studies, Michael spent time working on several research projects focused on nanomaterial synthesis, characterization, and application in energy devices through internships at RIT and the Science Undergraduate Laboratory Internship program at both ORNL and NREL. Mike’s thesis work at Mines has primarily focused on X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS) applied towards a variety of material systems with the goal of understanding a material’s surface chemical states, and how these properties relate to properties relevant to specific applications. He also focuses on developing in situ XPS experimental and analysis methods to advance the understanding of how surfaces and interfaces evolve under relevant conditions. At Mines, Mike founded and served as the first chair of the Mines AVS student chapter (MAVS). Outside of the lab, Mike loves to cook, hike, camp, brew beer and mix cocktails, read fantasy novels, play with his cat and dog, and debate with his wife over the finer points of espresso and indie music.
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Natalie SeitzmanNatalie started her Ph.D. in Mines’ interdisciplinary Materials Science program in Fall 2016. She received her B.S. in Chemistry from Trinity University, but her favorite class during her time there was probably “Pirates, Merchants, and Marines,” a course on nautical archeology. During her undergraduate studies, Natalie performed portable X-ray fluorescence (pXRF) analysis of the remains of 18th century frescoes in the Alamo, a Texas historical landmark. Now, Natalie investigates lithium metal/ceramic lithium-ion conductor interfaces of all-solid-state batteries. This project is in collaboration with Dr. Mowafak Al-Jassim and the Microscopy and Imaging Science group at NREL. Thanks to the Department of Energy SCGSR program, for the year of 2019 Natalie worked at SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory in Menlo Park, California where in collaboration with staff scientist Johanna Nelson Weker, Natalie used synchrotron X-ray techniques to perform her research. Natalie enjoys travelling, baking, swing dancing, and board games, but her main hobby is explaining the fundamentals of battery science to Uber and Lyft drivers.
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Sarah ZaccarineSarah is an Applied Chemistry Ph.D. student who started in the Pylypenko group in Fall 2017. She received her B.A. in Chemistry from Lawrence University in Appleton, WI, where she developed a project to study CO2 uptake capabilities of biomass-derived materials. She is interested in multiple directions of renewable energy research, specifically electrochemical energy conversion devices used to produce and store renewable power, and the role they can play to bridge the gap between bench-scale labwork and implementation. At Mines, her work focuses on multi-technique characterization of polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) and electrolyzer (PEMWE) catalyst layers. Sarah uses a variety of techniques including electron and X-ray microscopy and spectroscopy to study composition, morphology, and structure as well as evolution of the materials relevant to device operation. By combining these characterization techniques with electrochemical measurements, structure-property-performance relationships can be elucidated in order to optimize catalysts and electrodes for device use. Sarah received an SCGSR award to work at NREL during 2021 and study the impact of integrating supports into PEMWE catalyst layers on porosity, site access, and performance. She has been an active member of the Mines AVS student chapter (MAVS), serving as the Chair, Vice-Chair, and Secretary during her time at Mines. When she is not at work, you will usually find her outside hiking, playing soccer, or walking her cat, Charlie.
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Samantha MedinaSam began her Material Science Ph.D. at Mines in Fall 2017. Sam earned her B.S. from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville in Material Science and Engineering and has been interested in electrochemical energy storage and conversion systems since her time as an undergraduate. She is currently involved in multiple projects in collaboration with NREL researchers, and her work focuses on elucidating the relationship between fuel cell electrode fabrication methods, electrode nanostructure, catalyst layer surface morphology and composition, and fuel cell performance. Sam also investigates various interfaces that exist in fuel cells (catalyst/ionomer, catalyst layer/membrane, and catalyst layer/gas diffusion media interfaces) to gain insights on the state and evolution of these critical fuel cell interfaces. She primarily uses advanced electron microscopy techniques and is interested in further developing in situ TEM methods to study fuel cell materials. Sam is currently serving as the President for the Mines student chapter of the Electrochemical Society (ECS) for the 2020-2021 school year. In her free time, Sam enjoys drinking tea, gardening, painting, and cooking plant-based meals.
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Margaret FitzgeraldMargaret started as a Material Science Ph.D. student in January 2018. She received her B.S. in Material Science and Engineering from the University of Idaho, where her love for potatoes and material science began. While Margaret’s previous academic research focused on the synthesis of organometallic materials for fuel cell membranes (with Dr. Mark Roll at University of Idaho), she also learned a lot in the world of semiconductors through her two internships at Micron in Boise, Idaho. Margaret’s passions in research stem from the ability to use materials science and chemistry to solve large scale problems for applied materials. In the SAM group, Margaret focuses on advanced characterization of materials for fuel cells and hydrogen storage materials at nanoscale. She also leads development of model N-doped carbon-based materials, which she uses to understand the role of nitrogen functionalities and their effect of catalyst-support interactions. Margaret’s favorite scientific toys on campus include: the Focused Ion Beam (FIB), the Local Electrode Atom Probe (LEAP), the temperamental glove box, and the trusty tube furnace. She is also an active executive member of the Mines American Vacuum Society (AVS) chapter, and loves learning, teaching, and talking about vacuums! Off campus, Margaret enjoys playing Ultimate Frisbee, hiking, mountain biking, skiing, camping, and cuddling with her beloved yellow lab Sophie.
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Jayson FosterJayson started his Ph.D. in Applied Chemistry program in Fall 2019. Jayson received his B.S. in Chemistry from Dixie State University in St. George, Utah. During his undergraduate studies, he studied cobalt ionic liquids with Dr. Rico Del Sesto. His current research interest focuses on using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy to characterize catalyst interfaces of polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells. Jayson enjoys hiking, reading biographies, and dreaming up the ultimate way to make fried chicken.
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Genevieve StelmacovichGenevieve started her Ph.D. in Applied Chemistry in Fall 2020. In 2018, she received her B.S in Chemistry from Park University in Parkville, Missouri. Her undergraduate research involved optimization and method development for electrochemical analysis using carbon screen printed electrodes for anodic stripping voltammetry. Between her undergraduate career and her start at Colorado School of Mines, she worked in industry conducting trace analysis of pesticides on agricultural samples. Genevieve’s current research focus is the characterization of surfaces and interfaces of proton exchange membrane water electrolyzers. Specifically, she will be looking at porous transport layer and catalyst layer interactions using ToF SIMS, tomography, and electron microscopy. Outside of the lab, Genevieve loves hiking, poorly attempting to keep plants alive, and travelling.
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The Pylypenko research group is comprised of post-doctoral candidates, graduate students, and undergraduate students from disciplines including chemistry, materials science, chemical engineering, and electrochemistry. The disciplinary nature of our research benefits from the variety of bachelor degrees that our group members bring to the group.
Current Undergraduate Students
Olivia Bird
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Denali Ibbotson
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Krystal Baucum
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Past Group Members:
Graduate Students
Manju Pharkavi Murugesu (MS, Petroleum Engineering, 2019)
Thesis Title: "Chemistry and Morphology of Rocks: Implications for CO2 Storage Capacity"
Current Position: PhD student, Energy Resources Engineering at Stanford University as a Knight-Hennessy Scholar
Contact: LinkedIn
Manju Pharkavi Murugesu (MS, Petroleum Engineering, 2019)
Thesis Title: "Chemistry and Morphology of Rocks: Implications for CO2 Storage Capacity"
Current Position: PhD student, Energy Resources Engineering at Stanford University as a Knight-Hennessy Scholar
Contact: LinkedIn
Samuel Gage (PhD, Applied Chemistry, 2018)
Thesis Title: "Controlling Functionality and Making Structure-Property Correlations in Nanostructured Metal Nitride Materials"
Current Position: Post-doctoral researcher in the Thermal Sciences Group at National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL).
Contact: LinkedIn
Sarah Shulda (PhD, Applied Chemistry, 2017)
Thesis Title: "Spectroscopic Characterization of Extended Surface Catalysts"
Current Position: Post-doctoral researcher at National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) with PI Tom Gennett.
Contact: LinkedIn
Matthew Strand (MS, Materials Science, 2017)
Thesis Title: "Development of N-doped carbon nano materials with controlled shape and composition for fundamental studies of electrocatalytic systems based on PGM and PGM-free catalysts"
Contact: LinkedIn
Post Docs
Chilan Ngo (2015-2018)
Research Focus: Electron Microscopy, Atom Probe Tomography
Current Position: PTD Process Engineer at Intel Corporation
Contact: LinkedIn
Jason Christ (2014-2015)
Research Focus: Electrochemistry
Current Position: Research Sceintist at Moses Lake Industries- Portland R&D
Contact: www.linkedin.com/in/jason-christ-41099372/
Undergraduate Students
Isabella Rios (2018,2019)
Christopher Sands (2018, 2019)
Polina Mareyassich (2017, 2018)
Joshua Pearson (2017)
Jaime Hagen (2016, 2017)
Matt Curtis (2016, 2017)
Tadeuz Nitka (2015, 2016)
Austin White (2016)
Tim Batson (2015)
