Dr. Alexander Balandin

Adjunct Professor, UCR
Distinguished Professor, UCLA
Principal Investigator

Alexander A. Balandin joined UCLA Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Sciences as a distinguished professor in July 2023, following more than two decades on the faculty of UC Riverside, where he was a distinguished professor of electrical and computer engineering and a UC presidential chair professor of materials science. He previously served as the founding chair of UC Riverside’s Materials Science and Engineering Program and a director of the nanofabrication facility. Professor Balandin’s current contact information can be found at the UCLA Department of Materials Science and Engineering. Professor Balandin continues his engagementwith UCR as an Adjunct Professor, supervising his Ph.D. students who are completing their degrees at UCR. Professor Balandin’s CV and Bio can be found HERE (2023).

Dr. Fariborz Kargar

Assistant Adjunct Professor and Project Scientist
POEM Center Manager

Fariborz Kargar obtained his BS (2006) and MS (2009) degrees in Mechanical Engineering from Iran University of Science and Technology (IUST) and K. N. Toosi University of Technology (KNTU) in Tehran, Iran, respectively. In 2013, he joined Professor Balandin’s Phonon Optimized Engineered Materials (POEM) Center as a Graduate Student Researcher. He received his Ph.D. degree in Electrical Engineering in 2016. He worked as a Postdoctoral Researcher in Professor Balandin’s POEM Center till 2018. Presently, Dr. Kargar is an Assistant Adjunct Professor in the Departments of Electrical and Computer Engineering and the Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering. He holds an appointment as a Project Scientist with the POEM Center. His research is focused on applications of Brillouin-Mandelstam and Raman spectroscopy to study phonons and magnons in advanced materials. Other areas of his expertise include thermal transport; charge-density-wave materials and devices; design and synthesis of composites with graphene and novel quasi-1D materials for applications in thermal management and electromagnetic interference shielding. He serves as an Editorial Board member for the Journal of Composites Science and Polymers.

Dylan Wright

Graduate Student Researcher

Dylan Wright received his B.S. in Material Science and Engineering (2020) at the University of California, Riverside, with a focus in electronic and magnetic materials and devices. In 2019, he joined the Nano- Device Laboratory as a Laboratory Assistant, focusing on device fabrication and testing. In 2020, he started to work in the UCR Nanofabrication facility, assisting with the instrument maintenance in the cleanrooms. He is currently pursuing his PhD research in the Nano-Device Laboratory under supervision of Professor A.A. Balandin. He has experience in device fabrication and electrical characterization of low-dimensional materials.

Dr. Zahra Barani

Research Associate

Zahra Barani joined POEM center as a volunteer researcher in 2017. She started her PhD program in Electrical Engineering in Spring 2019. She has expertise in Raman spectroscopy, thermal characterization, and electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding of materials using “hot disk”, “laser flash”, and “vector network analyzer (VNA)”. The focus of her research is development and testing of thermal interface materials (TIMs) and multifunctional composites with novel layered quasi-2D and quasi-1D materials for improving thermal management and electromagnetic compatibility of power electronics and energy conversion systems.

Erick Guzman

Graduate Student Researcher

Erick Guzman received his B.S. (2017) and M.S. in Physics (2020) from the California State University Northridge (CSUN). During his undergraduate education he worked in the Computational Materials Science Lab of Dr. Gang Lu where he completed research that utilized VASP to simulate the Raman spectra of semiconductor materials from the first principle calculations. During his graduate education he interned at the Army Research Lab and contributed to the Diamond SFET research effort. He completed his M.S. thesis entitled “First-Principle Studies of Raman Spectroscopy and Vibrational and Thermal Properties of Materials”. He joined Professor Balandin’s research group in Fall 2020 to pursue PhD in Electrical Engineering with a focus on Nano Materials and Devices.

Tekwam Geremew

Graduate Student Researcher

Tekwam Geremew obtained her BS degree in Electrical and Computer Engineering from the University of Wolaita Sodo, Ethiopia in 2016.  She worked as a System Engineer at the Ethiopian Broadcasting Corporation, and as an E&D Engineer at the Ethiopian Telecommunication Corporation in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Her expertise is in signal processing, electronic noise, modulation, and divisional multiple access methods. Tekwam has joined Professor Alexander Balandin’s Phonon Optimized Engineered Materials (POEM) Center as a graduate student in Electrical Engineering. She is focusing on advanced materials synthesis, electrical and thermal characterization and nanofabrication.

Jonas Brown

Graduate Student Researcher

Jonas Brown received his BS degree in Physics and Astronomy Physics (2020) from the University of Wisconsin – Madison, USA, graduating with Comprehensive Honors. His undergraduate research was focused on growth of graphene on copper substrates and fabrication of van der Waals heterostructures. He also investigated the perturbed surface states of materials using STM. In 2021, he joined Professor Balandin's Nano Device Laboratory (NDL) at the University of California – Riverside to pursue PhD degree in Materials Science and Engineering. Presently, he works on nanofabrication and characterization of electronic devices implemented with low-dimensional charge-density-wave quantum materials.

Maedeh Taheri

Graduate Student Researcher

Maedeh Taheri received her B.S. in Electrical Engineering and Electronics from the Shiraz University, Shiraz, Iran (2013), and her M.S. in Electrical Engineering from the University of California, Riverside (2017) with the Dean’s Distinguished Fellowship Award. During her M.S. she was working under the supervision of Professor Balandin, with the focus on the fabrication of charge-density-wave (CDW) devices operating at room temperature. In Winter 2022, she started the Ph.D. program as a member of Nano-Device-Laboratory (NDL) in Professor Balandin’s research group. Her research interests are in the fabrication and characterization of low-dimensional CDW material and heterostructures with novel applications in electronics and optoelectronics. She is a recipient of the GAANN Fellowship Award in 2022.

Subhajit Ghosh

Graduate Student Researcher

Subhajit Ghosh received his B.S. in Electronics and Communication Engineering (2013) from West Bengal University of Technology in Kolkata, India and his M.S. in Electrical and Computer Engineering (2017) from University of Illinois at Chicago. During his M.S. schooling, he conducted research on functional nanoscale devices based on 1D and 2D nanomaterials focusing on oxide nanowires and completed his Master's thesis titled “Vanadium Oxide Nanowire Functional Devices”. He joined Prof. Balandin’s research group in Fall 2018 where he is pursuing his PhD in Nano-Device Laboratory (NDL) as a graduate student researcher. His research interests include synthesis and characterization of nanostructure materials and fabrication of nanoscale devices for potential electrical and optoelectronics applications.

Zahra Ebrahim Nataj

Graduate Student Researcher

Zahra Ebrahim Nataj received her BS degree in Engineering Physics (2017) and MS in Condensed Matter Physics (2020) from the University of Tehran, Iran. The focus of her Master Thesis was on tuning the properties of carbon nanotubes by functionalization. Zahra joined Professor Alexander Balandin’s Phonon Optimized Engineered Materials (POEM) Center to pursue her PhD degree in Electrical Engineering. Her research interests include Raman and Brillouin-Mandelstam spectroscopy of quantum quasi-1D and quasi-2D van der Waals materials and nanofabrication of electronic devices.

Jordan Teeter

Graduate Student Researcher

Jordan Teeter rreceived his B.S. degree in Physics (2022) from the University of California, Riverside (UCR). In the Summer of 2022, he was awarded the Mickey Leland Energy Fellowship (MLEF) from the US Department of Energy to study the carbon capture capabilities of various calcium silicates. This research involved VASP simulations to gather the thermodynamic properties of the materials and analyze their capability as candidates for point source capture. In the Fall of 2022, he joined Professor Balandin’s Nano-Device Laboratory (NDL) at UCR to pursue his Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering, focusing on quantum materials, nanofabrication, and electronic devices.

Sriharsha Sudhindra

Graduate Student Researcher

Sriharsha Sudhindra received his B.S. in Electronics and Communication Engineering (2018) from Nitte Meenakshi Institute of Technology, Bengaluru, India and his M.S. in Electrical Engineering (2021) from the University of California, Riverside, USA, respectively. After completing his B.S. degree, he worked at the Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru, India where he gained expertise in device characterization tools. He joined Prof. Balandin’s Center group in Fall 2019 as a graduate student and received his M.S. with a thesis titled “The Role of the Surface Roughness and Filler Size on Performance of Graphene Based Thermal Interface Materials” and is currently pursuing his Ph.D degree. He conducts research on Quasi-1D nanodevices and composites. He also continues his work on thermal interface materials with graphene fillers. His expertise includes device fabrication, electrical characterization, liquid phase exfoliation, composite preparation, thermal characterization of materials and surface topography characterization.

Lokesh Ramesh

Graduate Student Researcher

Lokesh Ramesh obtained his BE degree in Mechanical Engineering from the Anna University, Chennai, India in 2020. During his undergraduate studies, he worked as a trainee in the Daimler India and the Southern Railways of India, where he gained expertise on development of high strength composites. He joined Professor Alexander Balandin’s Phonon Optimized Engineered Materials (POEM) Center as a graduate student in Materials Science and Engineering. Lokesh is currently working on the syntheses and characterization of novel polymer-based composites with novel quasi-2D and quasi-1D van der Waals materials. His research involves testing the thermal properties and electromagnetic characteristics of such composites in the GHz and THz frequency bands.

Dr. Mahesh Neupane

Mahesh Raj Neupane is an Electronics Engineer in the Sensors and Electron Devices Directorate (SEDD) at the US Army Research Laboratory. He currently leads the theoretical thrust of the 2D/3D integration project, which was awarded ARL Science Award in 2016. His research at ARL mainly involves atomistic study of materials and devices using DFT, MD and transport simulations. His research interests also include investigation of applications of novel 2D materials in optics and electronics. Prior to joining SEDD, Dr. Neupane was affiliated with the Weapons and Materials Directorate (WMRD) as an ORISE Research Fellow, US Army Research Laboratory, where he worked on various materials related projects. Dr. Neupane earned his MS and PhD degrees in Electrical Engineering from the University of California – Riverside (UCR) in 2012, and 2015, respectively. During his graduate studies, he was a Department of Education GAANN Fellow. His doctoral work at UCR focused on using a bottom-up approach for device design and development of future technologies, starting at the atomic level onwards to the circuit level. He authored more than 30 journal publications in his field of research. Dr. Neupane is presently a Visiting Researcher in Professor Balandin’s Phonon Optimized Engineered Materials (POEM) Center and Nano-Device Laboratory (NDL) as a representative of the US Army Research Laboratory. He is a coordinator of the ARL-UCR Joint Collaboration efforts.

Dr. Klaudia Zeranska

Klaudia Zeranska received her B.S. (2015), M.S. (2016), and Ph.D. (2021) degrees in Physics from the Warsaw University of Technology, Poland. Her research interests include thermal properties and electromagnetic wave shielding effectiveness of nanocarbon-based materials, composites, and thin films in a wide frequency range – from visible light through microwaves to THz frequencies. During her Ph.D. studies, she visited the University of Manchester, UK, to conduct research on graphene-based aerogels. In 2022, she was awarded the Kosciuszko Foundation Exchange Program grant for a postdoctoral research project in Professor Alexander Balandin’s Phonon Optimized Engineered Materials (POEM) Center, where she is presently a visiting scholar.

Dr. Michelle Wurch

Michelle Wurch received her BS degree in Bioengineering (2016) and PhD degree in Materials Science and Engineering (2021) from the University of California at Riverside. During her PhD studies, she traveled to the University of Augsburg in Germany to collaborate with Professor Hubert Krenner’s group as part of the Nanosystems Initiative Munich (NIM) internship program. Currently, she holds a Postdoctoral Researcher appointment in Professor Alexander Balandin’s Phonon Optimized Engineered Materials (POEM) Center where she specializes in nanofabrication techniques for electrical characterization of quasi-1D van der Waals materials. This work is supported by a joint NSF DMREF collaborative project, involving the research groups of Professors Alexander Balandin (UCR), Ludwig Bartels (UCR) and Evan Reed (Stanford).

Dr. Sergey Rumyantsev

Sergey Rumyantsev is a Research Professor in the Institute of High-Pressure Physics of the Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw, Poland. He was a Visiting Researcher with Professor Balandin’s Nano- Device Laboratory (NDL) at the University of California – Riverside (UCR). He received his Doctor of Science (Habilitation) degree from the A.F. Ioffe Institute of Physics and Technology, Russia. Since 1999 he worked at the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, USA. His current research interests include low- frequency noise in semiconductor devices, nano-electronics, wide-band-gap semiconductors (SiC, GaN, CdS), power SiC and GaN devices, ultraviolet light-emitting diodes, terahertz electronics, and magnonics. He authored, co-authored, or edited 7 books and published more than 200 papers in refereed journals.

Dr. Mykhaylo Balinskyy

Michael G. Balinskiy is an Assistant Project Scientist with Professor Balandin’s Nano-Device Laboratory (NDL) at the University of California – Riverside (UCR). He received his MS (1977) and PhD (1984) degrees in Radiophysics and Quantum Electronics from the Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, Ukraine. From 1980 till 2006, he worked as a Scientific Researcher and then as a Head of Scientific and Investigation Laboratory of Radioengineering Components and Devices of National Technical University of Ukraine. He also worked as a Visiting Researcher in Yale University, USA, (2011 - 2012) and in University of Gothenburg, Sweden, (2013 - 2015). His scientific and research interests include fundamentals of Spin Wave electrodynamics (spectrum, relaxation and quantum amplification of SW in multilayered structures), and SW interference phenomena and applied spintronics as well. He is a co-author of “Spin Wave electrodynamics” book (1991, on Russian) and published more than 60 papers in scientific journals.

Dr. Vladimir Fomin

Vladimir Fomin is a Research Professor at the Institute for Integrative Nanosciences (IIN), the Leibniz Institute for Solid State and Materials Research Dresden (IFW Dresden), Germany and Professor at the Moldova State University, Republic of Moldova. He received his Ph.D. degree in Theoretical and Mathematical Physics in 1978, and Doctor of Science Habilitation in 1990. He is a recipient of the Academician P. L. Kapitsa Medal from the Academy of Natural Sciences of Russia (2000), and Honorary Member of the Academy of Sciences of Moldova (2007). His current research interests are in physics and engineering of nanostructured materials, with specific focus on topology and geometry driven effects in quantum rings and rolled-up micro and nano-architectures, as well as phonons, vibrational excitations and polaronic effects in nanostructures. Professor Fomin is an author of 3 monographs, 9 reviews, and 200 journal papers in his field of research. He has been a Visiting Researcher in Professor Balandin’s Nano-Device Laboratory at the University of California – Riverside (UCR) a number of times. His present visit is dedicated to a joint theoretical and experimental investigation of confined phonons in rolled-up semiconductor nano-architectures.

Dr. Denis Nika

Denis L. Nika is a Chair of Iu. Perlin Department of Theoretical Physics and a Head of E. Pokatilov Laboratory of Physics and Engineering of Nanostructures at the Moldova State University, Republic of Moldova. He received his PhD (2006) degree in Theoretical Physics from the same university. As a Visiting Researcher he worked at the University of Antwerp, Belgium; Institute for Integrative Nanosciences, Dresden, Germany; and Nano-Device Laboratory, University of California – Riverside, USA. His research interests are in physics of nanostructures, focusing on phonon and thermal transport in graphene; multi-band theory of electrons and holes; exciton and impurity states. He was awarded twice the honorary title of The Best Young Scientist of the Republic of Moldova. He has over 80 technical journal publications, 6 reviews and 4 book chapters.

Dr. Monica Lacerda

Monica M. Lacerda received her BS (1991) and MS (1994) degrees in Physics from the Fluminense Federal University in Brazil, and her PhD (1997) degree in Experimental Physics from the Pontificia Universidade Catolica - Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. She held Postdoctoral Researcher positions at the Northwestern University, Evanston, USA; Universite de Amien, France; and Ecole Polytechnique, France. From 2006 till 2011 she worked as a Professor at the Physics Department of the University of Santa Catarina State, Brazil. In 2011 she joined Polo de Xerem at Federal University of Rio de Janeiro - Brazil, where she is presently Professor and Director of Academic Studies. From 2016 till 2017 she worked as Visiting Researcher at the Phonon Optimized Engineered Materials (POEM) Center at the University of California, Riverside, USA. Professor Lacerda’s research interests are in Raman spectroscopy and advanced materials.