ND Energy offers competitive fellowships to undergraduate and graduate students and postdoctoral research associates at the University of Notre Dame. These fellowships support the advancement of new or enhanced energy-related research developments and help to broaden the educational experiences of the students and postdocs receiving the awards. ND Energy is delighted to announce the recipients of the 2015 fellowship awards and invite you to congratulate them on this outstanding achievement. 

The Vincent P. Slatt Fellowship for Undergraduate Research in Energy Systems and Processes (made possible through the generosity of Christopher [ND ’80] and Jeanine Slatt in honor of Vincent P. Slatt, Notre Dame Class of 1943, since 2006). Slatt Fellowships support undergraduate students who have research interests in energy technologies and America’s energy future. Energy technologies range from the means to improve the use of fossil, nuclear, and alternative energy sources for power or fuels production, to the development of more efficient transportation and energy utilization systems. Projects are focused on creating better energy systems and devices or strengthening America’s energy future through the development of policies and infrastructure to support new technologies. Each award is used to support the student’s stipend, purchase research materials and supplies, and to pay for the student to travel to an annual meeting or national conference to present his/her research. The 2015 recipients are:

• Sara Boukdad (Dr. Peter C. Burns), Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Earth Sciences, The Formation of Uranyl Peroxide Nanoclusters from Uranyl Phosphate Minerals.
• Hannah Fitch (Dr. Peter Kilpatrick), Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, The Impact of Petroporphyrins on Asphaltene Self Assembly and Water-in-oil Emulsion Stabilization.
• Justin Hoffman (Dr. Seth Brown), Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Osmium 2,2′-Biphenyl-bridged Bis(amidophenoxide) Complexes: A Novel Method to Compare Classical and Non-Classical Reaction Pathways.
• Brian Keene (Dr. Edward Maginn), Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Developing Capabilities for Porous Solid Monte Carlo Simulation in Cassandra.
• Irene Kurtz (Dr. Joan F. Brennecke), Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Liquid-Liquid Equilibria of Ternary Systems of Alkanes, Xylenes, and Ionic Liquids.
• Andrew Lehmer (Dr. William Schneider), Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Computational Models for "Natural Gas Liquids" Catalysis.
• Monica McFadden (Dr. Robert Nerenberg), Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Earth Sciences, Bench and Pilot Studies of the Membrane-Aerated Biofilm Reactor (MABR) for Energy-Efficient Wastewater Treatment.
• Benjamin Schultz (Dr. William Phillip), Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Global Applications of Renewable Energy and Sustainability (The Green Program, Iceland).
• Margaret Tucker (Dr. Ian Lightcap, ND Energy), Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Earth Sciences, Polymer-Templated, Quantum Dot Rainbow Solar Cells.

Atlanta University Center (AUC): Undergraduate students affiliated with the AUC have received Slatt Fellowships since 2012. The AUC is the world’s largest consortium of African American private institutions of higher education, designed to channel intellectual resources to the advancement of minority, economically disadvantaged, and under-served communities. AUC students conduct energy-related research during the summer months at Notre Dame. They are matched with faculty who have projects within their areas of research interest. The 2015 recipients are:

• Leandre Kibeho (Physics and Chemical Engineering, Morehouse College)Notre Dame Faculty Advisor, Dr. William Phillip, Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Implementing Selective Swelling Agents to Tailor the Nanostructure and Transport Properties of Self-assembled Block Polymer Membranes.
• Gqwetha Ncube (Dual Degree Engineering and Chemistry, Spelman College).Notre Dame Faculty Advisor, Dr. Tengfei Luo, Department of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering, Trapping Molecules using Low Energy and Low Temperature Directional Solvent Extraction. 

The Forgash Undergraduate Student Fellowship for Solar Energy Research (made possible through the generosity of John [ND ’00] and Karla Forgash since 2009). The Forgash Fellowship supports an undergraduate student who is interested in solar energy collection/conversion technologies through research and development at Notre Dame. The award is used to support the student’s stipend, purchase research materials and supplies, and to pay for the student to travel to an annual meeting or national conference to present his/her research. The 2015 recipient is: 

• Abigail Swint, Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering (Dr. Prashant Kamat). She will be using a ligand exchange method to create multiple different gold nanoclusters to test in liquid-junction solar cells and will determine which ligand produces the greatest efficiency.  

The Patrick and Jana Eilers Graduate Student Fellowship for Energy Related Research (made possible through the generosity of Patrick [ND ’90] and Jana Eilers and Edward Fitzpatrick, Jr. [ND ’54] since 2012). The Eilers Fellowship supports the stipend of a graduate student to enable his/her work on a current or new energy-related research project at Notre Dame. The 2015 recipients are:

• Yong-Siou Chen, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry (Dr. Prashant Kamat),BiVO4 – Hybrid Perovskite Tandem Photoelectrodes for Wireless Solar Fuels Production.
• Christopher Paolucci, Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering (Dr. William Schneider), Computational Discovery of Versatile, Robust Catalysts for Selective Reduction of NOx to N2.

ND Energy Postdoctoral Fellowship Program (funded by the Sustainable Energy Initiative (SEI), a Strategic Research Investment (SRI) by the University). The Postdoctoral Fellowship Program was initiated in 2014 to enhance energy-related research at Notre Dame and to build a community of outstanding postdoctoral scholars. Awards are granted on a rolling basis for one year and may be renewed for an additional year with approval. There are currently seven ND Energy Postdoctoral Fellows. Fellowship funds are used to support half the cost of the postdoc’s salary and benefits, funds for travel to an annual meeting or national conference to present his/her research, and the use of equipment and instrumentation within the Notre Dame CORE research facilities to conduct his/her research. The 2014-2015 recipients are:

• Dr. Peng Cui, Department of Chemistry (Dr. Vlad Iluc), Late-Transition Metal Pincer-Type Complexes Involving Metal-Ligan Cooperation for Alkane and Small Molecule Activation.
• Dr. Tao Jiang, Department of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering (Dr. Tengfei Luo),Nanobubble Steam Generation by Organic Dye Nanoparticles.
• Dr. Ashish Karma, Environmental Change Initiative/Department of Biological Sciences (Dr. Jessica Hellmann), Energy Sustainable Solutions using Green Infrastructure for an Urban Environment.
• Dr. Guoliang Li, Department of Chemistry (Dr. Jon Camden), Examining and Tailoring Plasmonic Energy Transfer for Superior Solar Energy Harvesting Devices.
• Dr. Shuangjiang Luo, Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering (Dr. Ruilan Guo), Nano-engineered Mixed Matrix Membranes for Energy Efficient Gas Separation.
• Dr. Matthew Smylie, Department of Physics (Dr. Boldizsar Janko), Irradiation-based increase in HTSC critical current densities.
• Dr. Chad Stephenson, Department of Electrical Engineering (Dr. Mark Wistey), Band Structure Engineering for Enhanced Free Carrier Absorption in Photovoltaics.

For more information about ND Energy's fellowship programs, contact Barbara Villarosa at (574) 631-4776 or bvillaro@nd.edu.