People \\ where Are They Now? \\ 2012
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Where Are They Now?

NANOAJAPAN IREU PARTICIPANTS - 2012

Kofi Christie - NanoJapan 2012

2015 NSF Graduate Research Fellowship
PhD, Civil & Environmental Engineering, Vanderbilt University, In Progress
B.S., Physics, Morehouse College, 2014

Alumni Update - March 2015:
"I’d like to share with you all the wonderful news that I received this morning. I was one of 2,000 students in a pool of 16,000+ applicants to be selected for the NSF GRFP this year. My research proposal was titled “Shale Gas Wastewater Treatment.” I greatly appreciate all of the support NanoJapan has given me."

Alumni Update - 2014: "I am currently a first year graduate student at Vanderbilt University. I am in the Civil and Environmental Engineering Department's PhD program. My adviser is Dr. Shihong Lin and our research will extend current water treatment processes by exploring the burgeoning "water-energy nexus." ~ January 2015

>> Learn More about Kofi's NanoJapan Experience

Matthew Feldman - NanoJapan 2012

2015 NSF Graduate Research Fellowship
B.S., Electrical Engineering, University of Florida, 2015

Further International Experience: In the summer of 2013, Matt participated in the University of Michigan's Optics in the City of Light IREU in France. He conducted research at Institut d'Optique with Professor Arnaud Dubois where his project focused purely on optics, although some of the other students here are doing projects on nanoparticles. "The overall goal of my project is to understand the role of mechanical stress on cell cytoskeletons as a means of conveying information.  The physics side is to build optical tweezers to tug at the cytoskeletons and measure the cells' responses.   My contribution is to design a Full-Field Optical Coherence Microscope (FF-OCM) that will let us see into the cell at specific depths."

Further Professional Internships

  • Fall 2012: Avionics Integration Research & Development at SpaceX.  Designed, tested, and integrated in-flight IR optical imaging systems and high-speed data recording for the Falcon 9 rocket.
  • Summer 2014: Avionics Remote Input-Output Development at SpaceX.  Will design and construct novel electronic systems for Falcon 9 1.1 and Dragon vehicles. 

    >> Learn More about Matt's NanoJapan Experience

Preeya Kuray - NanoJapan 2012

Current Position: Assistant Language Teacher, Iwakuni, Yamaguchi Prefecture, Japan English Teaching (JET) Program, 2014 - 2015
B.S., Materials Engineering, Rutgers University, 2014

2014 - 2015 Japan English Teaching (JET) Program
"These past 6 months [as a JET], I have learned more now than I ever have before. I feel that NanoJapan showed me the best of Japan and of life, while JET is showing me the best of myself and what I'm capable of as a person. It is an incredible feeling!" ~ January 2015

"I will be returning to Japan for a gap year because I just accepted admission to the JET Program! Therefore, I will be teaching English to grade school students. I am pursuing JET for both cultural and personal enrichment. I hope to tie Japanese into my future career in the sciences and after JET I will be better equipped to do so. I hope to utilize the skills I have learned during NanoJapan to make a meaningful impact on my students during the JET program." ~ March 2014

NanoJapan Impact: "NanoJapan is still honestly one of the most academically fruitful, enjoyable, and memorable experiences of my life. NanoJapan fostered my interest in Japanese culture and language. It not only provided me with a fruitful research experience to jumpstart my career, but also provided me with cultural enrichment that sparked my interest in pursuing Japanese studies."

Peer Reviewed Publication from NanoJapan: IREU Research: S. Ushiba (Reverse NJ 2011), S. Shoji, K. Masui, P. Kuray (NJ 2012), J. Kono, and S. Kawata, "3D Microfabrication of Single-Wall Carbon Nanotube/Polymer Composites by Two-Photon Polymerization Lithography", Carbon (2013). doi:j.10.1016/j.carbon.2013.03.020

>> Learn More about Preeya's NanoJapan Experience

Jacob McAlpin - NanoJapan 2012

2015 NSF Graduate Research Fellowship
Ph.D., Chemistry, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, In Progress
B.S., Materials Chemistry, Louisiana State University, 2014

Other International Experience:
In the summer of 2014 - I went with LSU's CHANGE Break team to do community service in Ecuador.  While in the country, we worked at an elementary school where we did manual labor and lead English lessons.  In contrast to Japan, Ecuador is not a rich, technologically advanced country.  While there, I experienced a glimpse of the conditions of life outside the first world including its significant differences and countless similarities.

Summer 2013: Research Experience for Undergraduates Program sponsored by MIT Materials Processing Center and Center for Materials Science and Engineering

>> Learn More about Jacob's NanoJapan Experience

Grace Meikle - NanoJapan 2012

Current Position: Field Engineering, Schlumberger (Clairmont, Alberta, Canada)
B.S., Physics & Chinese, University of Notre Dame, 2014

Summer 2013:
International Research Experience for Undergraduates at Tsinghua University in China through Clarkson University. Resaerch will focus on advanced materials for sustainable development.

>> Learn More about Grace's NanoJapan Experience

Alec Nicol - NanoJapan 2012

Ph.D., Bioengineering, Hong Kong University, In Progress
B.S., Chemistry, Biochemistry & Physiology, University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, 2013

"I graduated from the University of Minnesota in December 2013 with majors in chemistry (magna cum laude), biochemistry and physiology. I have been working in Singapore since January and will leave here in May to spend a few months with my family back in Minnesota. Traveling and working in Singapore has been really enlightening and made me realize that I want to work in Asia for the next few years. I was awarded the Hong Kong PhD Fellowship and will pursue my bioengineering PhD studies at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology this coming August. My advising Professor is Ben Tang. If all goes accordingly, I will finish my PhD in around 3 yrs and return to the US for a post-doc or MD. I am excited about the next few years of my life and feel that it will be a time of immense personal growth. I realize that it is a little risky to pursue my PhD studies outside the US, but Professor Tang runs a very efficient lab group and I feel that I can be productive here." ~ Alec Nicol, Alumni Update, April 2014

Peer Reviewed Publication from NanoJapan: IREU Research: Mahjoub, A.M., Nicol, A., Abe, T., Ouchi, T., Iso, Y., Kida, M., Aoki, N., Miyamoto, K., Omatsu, T., Bird, J.P., Ferry, D.K., Ishibashi, K. and Ochiai, Y. "GR-FET Application for High-frequency Detection Device", Nanoscale Research Letters, 8:22 (2013) DOI: 10.1186/1556-276X-8-22.

Awards & Accomplishments:

Summer 2013: International Research Experience for Undergraduates at Tsinghua University in China through Clarkson University. Resaerch will focus on advanced materials for sustainable development.

>> Learn More about Alec's NanoJapan Experience


Jacob Olitsky - NanoJapan 2012

Current Position: Software Developer, Drexel University (Blue Bell, PA)
B.S., Physics, Carnegie Mellon University, 2014

>> Learn More about Jacob's NanoJapan Experience

Eric Rosenthanl - NanoJapan 2012

Ph.D., Physics, University of Colorado, Boulder - Commencing Fall 2015
B.S., Physics, University of Pennsylvania, 2015

Peer-Reviewed Publication from NanoJapan Research
A. R. T. Nugraha, E. I. Rosenthal, E. H. Hasdeo, G. D. Sanders, C. J. Stanton, M. S. Dresselhaus, and R. Saito, “Excitonic Effects on Coherent Phonon Dynamics in Single-Wall Carbon Nanotubes,” Physical Review B 88, 075440 (2013). DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevB.88.075440

Summer 2014:
International Research Experience for Undergraduates at MINATEC in Grenoble, France sponsored by the Nano/Bio Interface Center at the University of Pennsylvania. "This summer I'll be going back to Grenoble, France, with the same UPenn program I did last summer. I'll be working in a theoretical physics group at University Joseph Fourier, studying DNA folding. I'm really excited to be going to Grenoble and it should be a great summer." ~ Eric Rosenthal, May 2014 Alumni Update

Summer 2013: International Research Experience for Undergraduates at MINATEC in Grenoble, France sponsored by the Nano/Bio Interface Center at the University of Pennsylvania. Eric's research project in France will use density functional theory and a computer program to calculate the stabilities of different Boron/Boron-Nitrogen clusters.

>> Learn More about Eric's NanoJapan Experience


Mika Tabata - NanoJapan 2012

M.D., Stanford School of Medicine, Commencing Fall 2015
Current Position: Marketing Associate, Stryker Navigation
B.S., Bioengineering, Rice University, 2014

"NanoJapan has been one of the most memorable experiences of my entire undergrad career. It provided me a challenging experience, from which I learned to be adaptable. I was exposed to very exciting research and will always keep an interest in nanotechnology because of the experience I had. I also made life long friends from other Universities." ~ Mika Tabata, May 2014

Peer-Reviewed Publication Arising from NanoJapan: IREU Research

Sano Y, Kawayama I, Tabata M, et al. Imaging molecular adsorption and desorption dynamics on graphene using terahertz emission spectroscopy. Sci Rep. 2014;4:6046. doi:10.1038/srep06046

Other Domestic Research Experience: In the Summer of 2013 I participated in the Baylor College of Medicine Summer Research Program. I also had a publication arise for that research experience.

Tabata M, Abdelrahman K, Hair AB, Hawthorne KM, Chen Z, Abrams SA. Fortifier and Cream Improve Fat Delivery in Continuous Enteral Infant Feeding of Breast Milk. Nutrients. 2015; 7(2):1174-1183. doi:10.3390/nu7021174

Further Awards: Based off of my research from summer 2013 at Baylor, I proposed a senior design project and my senior design team, Nutriflow, won two awards at Rice and two awards nationally:

  • Best Health Related Design Project, Rice Univ., April 2014
  • Outstanding Senior Design Project in Bioengineering, Rice Univ., April 2014
  • 3rd place in national engineering design competition, BMEStart, $2,500 award,
  • July 2014 3rd place in national engineering design competition, NIBIB DEBUT, supported by NIH, $10,000 award, Aug. 2014

>> Learn More about Mika's NanoJapan Experience


Mitchell Trafford - NanoJapan 2012

Ph.D., Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering, Rice University, Commencing Fall 2015
B.S., Engineering Physics, University of Tulsa, 2015

Awards and Accomplishments:

>> Learn More about Mitchell's NanoJapan Experience


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