Current Fellows in the McDermott Graduate Fellows
The Fellows are distributed among UT Dallas’ schools in fields ranging from chemistry to neuroscience and management. Many hold federally funded research fellowships, including the National Science Foundation’s Graduate Research Fellowship (NSF GRF) and the National Institutes of Health’s National Research Service Award (NIH NRSA). Collectively, the Fellows have numerous academic publications and patents and several spin-out companies. Their research collaborations span the globe, and they have mentored countless research trainees.
Ayala Ben David
Faculty Host: Vladimir Gevorgyan, Ph.D.
Ayala Ben David earned a B.S. in Chemistry at the University of Texas at Dallas (2021). Ayala is pursuing a Ph.D. in Chemistry. Her research focuses on the development and study of new reaction methodologies to improve the tools available for use in organic synthesis.
Matthew Bergschneider
Faculty Host: Kyeongjae “KJ” Cho, Ph.D.
Matthew Bergschneider earned a B.S. in engineering physics from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 2016. He is pursuing a Ph.D. in materials science at UT Dallas, researching solid state battery materials with ab initio material design and experimental validation.
Dan Bouzolin
Faculty Host: D. Todd Griffith, Ph.D.
Dan Bouzolin earned a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering at The University of Texas at Dallas (2023). Dan is pursuing a Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering. His research focuses on developing new technologies for wind energy systems.
Wesley Brigner
Faculty Host: Joseph Friedman, Ph.D.
Wesley Brigner graduated with a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from The University of Texas at Dallas in the Spring of 2020. He has been working for three years at Dr. Joseph Friedman’s NeuroSpinCompute Laboratory to develop next-generation hardware for machine learning systems and is a full member of the Sigma Xi research honors society. Wesley will continue his work as a Ph.D. student and 2020 NSF Graduate Fellowship recipient.
Avamarie S. Brueggeman
Faculty Host: John H. L. Hansen, Ph.D.
Ava Brueggeman graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Platteville in 2018 with a B.S. in electrical engineering and a minor in computer science. She is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in electrical engineering. A 2018 NSF Graduate Research Fellowship awardee, Ava studies digital signal processing for improving speech recognition in cochlear implant users.
Ilan Buzzetti
Faculty Host: Emily Fox, Ph.D.
Ilan Buzzetti earned a B.S. in Computer Science at The University of Texas at Dallas (2018). Ilan is pursuing a Ph.D. in Computer Science. His research focuses on bottom-up Formal Verification.
Pak Shing “Kelvin” Cheung
Faculty Host: Vladimir Gevorgyan, Ph.D.
Pak Shing earned his B.S. (2015) and M.S. (2018) in Chemistry at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. Pak Shing is pursuing a Ph.D. in Chemistry at UT Dallas. He will study visible light-induced transition metal catalysis for the discovery and development of novel organic synthetic methodologies.
Eunsung Choi
Faculty Host: Upender Subramanian, Ph.D.
Eunsung Choi earned a B.A. in Economics at Cornell University (2012) and an M.A. in Applied Statistics at Yonsei University (2021). Eunsung is pursuing a Ph.D. in Management Science (Quantitative Marketing) at UT Dallas.
Nathan Churcher
Faculty Host: Shalini Prasad, Ph.D.
Nathan Churcher graduated magna cum laude with a B.S. in Biomedical Engineering in 2019. As a LSAMP Bridge to Doctorate awardee, he is pursuing a Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering at UT Dallas investigating the use of electrochemistry and biosensors in the detection of neuropeptides to detect and monitor chronic stress.
Bo Couture
Faculty Host: Rudi Fasan, Ph.D.
Bo Couture earned a B.S. in Chemistry at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (2021) and an M.S. in Chemistry at the University of Rochester (2022). Bo is pursuing a Ph.D. in Chemistry. His research focuses on Biocatalytic C-H carbene insertion reactions using engineered and artificial metalloproteins (CYO119 and Myoglobin) for the functionalization of biologically relevant building blocks.
Nilanjan Debnath
Faculty Host: Ganesh Janakiraman, Ph.D.
Nilanjan Debnath earned a B.S. in Mathematics at St. Xavier’s College, Kolkata (2017) and an M.S. in Data Science at Chennai Mathematical Institute (2021). Nilanjan has worked for Coriolis Technologies, DeLab Research and Mercedes-Benz R&D developing machine learning solutions for natural language processing, computer vision and automation of ergonomics analysis. Nilanjan is pursuing a Ph.D. in Operations Management.
Haokun Du
Faculty Host: Elena Katok, Ph.D.
Haokun Du graduated from Sun Yat-sen University in 2019 with Honors (Excellent Dissertation Award and Excellent Graduate Award). His bachelor’s degree is Economics (finance concentration). He is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in management science with a concentration in operations management, and has research interests in various topics, both traditional areas of OM and interdisciplinary subjects. Currently, his main focus is supply chain management, but he’s always open to possible collaborations.
Satwik Dutta
Faculty Host: John H.L. Hansen, Ph.D.
Satwik Dutta earned a B.Tech. in Electronics & Comm. Engineering at the West Bengal University of Technology (2015) and an M.S. in Electrical Engineering at The University of Texas at Dallas (2020). Satwik is pursuing a Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering. His research focuses on speech technology for early childhood language intervention. He is a 2023 Quad Fellow, a multinational scholarship program launched by the governments of Australia, India, Japan and the United States (the Quad).
Sarah Evans
Faculty Host: William Vandenberghe, Ph.D.
Sarah Evans earned a B.S. in Electrical Engineering at The University of Texas at Dallas (2023). Sarah is pursuing a Ph.D. in Materials Science and Engineering. Her research focuses on applying theoretical and computational methods to investigate the improvement of transistors that utilize two-dimensional materials.
Chance Gammill
Faculty Host: Lakshman Tamil, Ph.D.
Chance Gammill earned a B.S. in Biomedical Engineering from The University of Texas at Dallas in 2022. Chance is pursuing a Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering, researching 3D-super resolution ultrasound imaging.
Tuhin Harit
Faculty Host: Vikram Nanda, Ph.D.
Tuhin Harit has earned a B.Tech in Production Engineering from Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee in 2009 and an MBA from Indian School of Business in 2016. He is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in Finance, and has research interests in asset pricing and agency problems, largely using empirical methods. Tuhin also has nine years of work experience with firms such as J.P. Morgan, and KPMG and has worked in geographies such as Australia, Africa and Middle East.
Jianyao “Janelle” He
Faculty Host: Vikram Nanda, Ph.D.
Janelle He graduated first class honors with a B.S. in quantitative finance from the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology in 2019. She is pursuing a Ph.D. in management science, with a concentration in finance. Jianyao is currently interested in asset pricing and behavioral finance.
Veronica Minsu Hong
Faculty Hosts: Benedict Kolber, Ph.D. and Theodore Price, Ph.D.
Veronica Minsu Hong earned a B.S. in Biology at the University of Washington at Seattle (2014) and an M.S. in Brain and Cognitive Science at Ewha W. University, Scranton College (2017). She is pursuing a Ph.D. in Neuroscience. Veronica is investigating a novel therapeutic target to treat chronic pain.
Eleanor Jeakle
Faculty Host: Joseph Pancrazio, Ph.D.
Eleanor Jeakle earned her B.S. in Biomedical Engineering at George Washington University (2021) and is now pursuing a Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering at UT Dallas.
Jinhyun Kim
Faculty Host: Jiyoung Kim, Ph.D.
Jinhyun Kim earned his B.S. (2017) and M.E. (2019) in Material Science and Engineering from Inha University, Korea. He is pursuing his Ph.D. in Material Science and Engineering at UT Dallas, with a focus on atomic layer deposition techniques and in-situ and ex-situ material characterization methods.
Xiuyao Lang
Faculty Host: Kyeongjae (KJ) Cho, Ph.D.
Xiuyao Lang earned a B.S. in Physics at Xiangtan University (2018) and an M.S. in Electronic Science and Technology at Nankai University (2021). Xiuyao is pursuing a Ph.D. in Materials Science and Engineering at UT Dallas.
Medel B. Lim Suan Jr.
Faculty Host: Dave Dingal, Ph.D.
Medel Lim Suan earned a B.S. in Molecular Biology and Biotechnology from the University of the Philippines – Diliman in 2016. Medel is pursuing a Ph.D. in Bioengineering, researching directed evolution of synthetic proteases.
Zheng Liu
Faculty Host: Vikram Nanda, Ph.D.
Zheng Liu earned a B.S. in finance from Zhongnan University of Economics and Law in 2017, and an M.S. in finance from the University of California – San Diego in 2018. He is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in management science with a concentration in finance. Zheng’s research focuses on behavioral finance, asset pricing and portfolio selection.
Yingdong Mao
Faculty Host: Feng Zhao, Ph.D.
Yingdong Mao earned a B.S. in applied mathematics and economics from Yunnan University of Finance and Economics in 2015, and an M.S. in mathematical finance from Bentley University in 2017. He is pursuing a Ph.D. in management science, with a concentration in finance. He focuses on asset pricing and risk management.
Alexander Massoud
Faculty Host: Fabiano Rodrigues, Ph.D.
Alexander Massoud earned a B.S. in Physics at Ithaca College (2020) and is pursuing a Ph.D. in Physics. His research focuses on modeling and ground-based measurements of the near-Earth space environment.
Shelby Mohr-Allen
Faculty Host: Victor Varner, Ph.D.
Shelby Mohr-Allen graduated from Oklahoma State University in 2019 with a B.S. in chemical engineering and a minor in biochemistry. She is pursuing a Ph.D. in biomedical engineering. Shelby is currently studying lung development, specifically how pressure and other mechanical factors effect lung branching morphogenesis.
Soroush Mojtahedi
Faculty Host: Vikram Nanda, Ph.D.
Soroush Mojtahedi earned a B.S. in Electrical Engineering at the University of Guilan (2012), an MBA at Sharif University of Technology (2018), and an M.S. in Finance with a specialization in Corporate Finance at the Stockholm School of Economics (2021). Soroush is pursuing a Ph.D. in Finance.
Austin Mordahl
Faculty Host: Shiyi Wei, Ph.D.
Austin Mordahl graduated summa cum laude with a B.S. in Software Engineering from UT Dallas in 2018. As a 2020 NSF Graduate Research Fellowship awardee, his research concerns the automatic detection of bugs and privacy leaks in both desktop and mobile software.
Fateme Najafkhani
Faculty Host: Hongbing Lu, Ph.D.
Fateme Najafkhani earned a B.S. (2018) and M.S. (2021) in Material Engineering at the University of Tehran. Fateme is pursuing a Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering at UT Dallas. She will work on synthesis, characterization, and modeling of polymeric aerogels with focus on Multiphysics simulations.
Manifa Noor
Faculty Host: Kyeongjae “KJ” Cho, Ph.D.
Manifa Noor earned a B.S. in Materials and Metallurgical Engineering (2017) and an M.S. in Glass and Ceramic Engineering (2020) from Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology. Manifa is pursuing a Ph.D. in Materials Science and Engineering, researching next generation energy storage materials.
Arun Kumar Rout
Faculty Host: Elena Katok, Ph.D.
Arun Kumar Rout earned a B.Tech. in mechanical engineering from Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur in 2007, and an MBA from Indian School of Business in 2013. He is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in management science with a concentration in operations management, and has research interests in the renewable energy sector with focus on policy decisions. Arun also has eight years of work experience with Schlumberger, The Boston Consulting Group, and a startup.
Connor V. Smith
Faculty Host: William Vandenberghe, Ph.D. and Bing Lv, Ph.D.
Connor Smith earned a B.S. in Materials Engineering at the Colorado School of Mines (2021). Connor is pursuing a Ph.D. in Materials Science. His research focuses on the synthesis and growth of 2D oxyhalide monolayers and their applications in the electronics industry as dielectrics.
Thomas J. Smith
Faculty Host: Joseph Pancrazio, Ph.D.
Thomas Smith earned his B.S. in Neuroscience at the University of Pittsburgh (2019) and is now pursuing a Ph.D. in Cognition and Neuroscience from UT Dallas. His research interests involve neural interfaces and neurotechnology surrounding energy harvesting devices and the deleterious effects of bionics.
Zhiyuan Tang
Faculty Host: Ganesh Janakiraman, Ph.D.
Zhiyuan Tang earned a B.Eng. in Automation at Tsinghua University (2023). She is pursuing a Ph.D. degree in Operations Management. Her research focuses on machine learning methods for business decision-making that is theoretically explainable. She also is dedicated to using machine learning methods to make fair and reliable business decisions.
Minh H. Tran
Faculty Host: Baowei Fei, Ph.D.
Minh Tran earned a B.S. in Electrical Engineering with a Minor in Computer Science from University of Wyoming in 2020. He is pursuing a PhD in Bioengineering, looking for new ways to diagnose diseases using biomedical imaging. Beyond science, he enjoys the visual arts of drawing and photography.
Alyssa Vellucci
Faculty Host: Justin Ruths, Ph.D.
Alyssa Vellucci earned a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from The University of Texas at Dallas in 2021. Alyssa is pursuing a Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering with a focus in Dynamic Systems and Control.
Benjamin Walker
Faculty Host: Joseph Friedman, Ph.D.
Ben Walker earned a B.S. in Electrical Engineering and a B.S. in Physics at The University of Texas at Dallas (2019). Ben is pursuing a Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering. His research focuses on using emerging technologies and materials to develop novel beyond-CMOS computing systems.
Josh Wiedemeier
Faculty Host: Kangkook Jee, Ph.D.
Josh Wiedemeier earned a B.S. in Computer Science (2020) and an M.S. in Computer Science with a Cybersecurity focus (2022) from The University of Texas at Dallas. Josh is pursuing a Ph.D. in Computer Science, researching systems security and data driven security.
Isaac Wright
Faculty Host: Fabiano Rodrigues, Ph.D.
Isaac Wright earned a B.S. in Physics from The University of Texas at Dallas (2022). Isaac is a 2022 NSF Graduate Research Fellowship winner and is pursuing a Ph.D. in Physics.
Zhaokun Xue
Faculty Host: Srinivasan Raghunathan, Ph.D.
Zhaokun Xue earned a B.A. in Mathematics and Economics (2021) from The University of Texas at Austin. Zhaokun is pursuing a Ph.D. in Information Systems.
Zehan “Allen” Zhao
Faculty Host: Zhiqiang Eric Zheng, Ph.D.
Allen Zhao earned a B.S. in information management from the University of International Business and Economics in 2015, and an M.S. in management science and engineering from Tsinghua University in 2018. He is pursuing a Ph.D. in management science with a concentrating in information systems. Allen is interested in helping business utilize the power of information technology, and applying state-of-the-art technologies in business environments.