Group Alumni

Doctoral students | Masters students | Visiting PhD and MS students | Undergraduate students | Postdoctoral Researchers | Visiting Scholars

Academic Alumni

Doctoral Students









  • Fang Yuan
  • Northwestern University, 2012
  • "Finite Element Simulation of the Mechanical Properties of Mineralized Biomaterials"
  • Current position: Product Design Engineer at Apple


  • Alix Deymier-Black
  • Northwestern University, 2012
  • "Study of the Elasto-plastic properties of mineralized biomaterials via synchrotron high-energy x-ray diffraction"
  • Current position: Assitant Professor at University of Connecticut


  • Marie Cox
  • Northwestern University, 2011
  • "Mechanical Properties of Open Celled Bulk Metallic Glass Foams Processed by Equal Channel Angular Extrusion"
  • Current position: Air Force Research Laboratory





  • Rick Karnesky
  • Co-advised with David Seidman
  • Northwestern University, 2007
  • "Mechanical Properties and Microstructure of Al-Sc with Rare-Earth Element or Al2O3 Additions"
  • Current position: Sandia National Laboratory



  • Alan Brothers
  • Northwestern University, 2006
  • "Processing and Properties of Advanced Cellular Metals"
  • Current position: Manager for Cleaning and Corrosion Development at Western Digital (Bangkok, Thailand)

  • Marcus Young
  • Northwestern University, 2006
  • "Strain Measurements and Imaging of Metal Matrix Composites using High-Energy X-Rays"
  • Current position: Assistant Professor of Materials Science and Engineering at the University of North Texas

  • Keith Knipling
  • Co-advised with David Seidman
  • Northwestern University, 2006
  • "Development of a Nanoscale Precipitation-Strengthened Creep-Resistant Aluminum Alloy Containing Trialuminide Precipitates"
  • Current position: Naval Research Laboratory (Washington, D.C.)

  • Andrea Hodge
  • Northwestern University, 2002
  • "Processing and High Temperature Behavior of Open-Cell NiAl Foams"
  • Current position: Professor of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering at the University of Southern California

  • Emmanuelle Marquis
  • emannuelle.marquis(@materials.ox.ac.uk)>
  • Co-advised with David Seidman
  • Northwestern University, 2002
  • "Microstructural Evolution and Strengthening Mechanisms in Al-Sc and Al-Mg-Sc Alloys"
  • Current position: Assistant Professor of Materials Science and Engineering at the University of Michigan

  • Christian Fuller
  • Co-advised with David Seidman
  • Northwestern University, 2002
  • "Temporal Evolution of the Microstructure of Al(Sc,Zr) Alloys and their Influences on Mechanical Properties"
  • Current position: Metallurgical Engineer with the Imaging Subsystems-X-Ray Tube division at GE Healthcare (Wisconsin)

  • Naomi Davis Murray
  • Northwestern University, 2002
  • "Enhancement of Solid State Foaming of Titanium by Transformation Superplasticity"
  • Current position: Stryker Orthopaedics (New Jersey)

  • Dorian Balch
  • Northwestern University, 2002
  • "X-Ray and Neutron Diffraction Studies of Syntactic Metal Foams and Metal Matrix Composites"
  • Current position: Sandia National Laboratories, Materials and Engineering Sciences Center (California)

  • Christopher Schuh
  • Northwestern University, 2001
  • "Mechanisms and Mechanics of Transformation-Mismatch Plasticity in Titanium Alloys and Composites"
  • Current position: Head of the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology

  • Rajan Vaidyanathan
  • Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1998
  • "Neutron Diffraction Study of Mechanical Deformation of NiTi and NiTi-TiC Composites"
  • Current position: Professor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at the University of Central Florida (Orlando)



  • Ann Jansen
  • Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1996
  • "The Mechanical Properties and Microstructure of Aluminum Containing 25 vol.% of 0.3 µm Alumina Particles"
  • Current position: W.R. Grace, Commercial Development Manager for Residential Structures

Masters Students



  • Jeffrey Douglas Lin
  • Northwestern University, 2015
  • "Microstructure and aging resistance of a modified dilute Al-Sc-Zr alloy"
  • Current position: Applied Thin Films (ATFI), Inc.

  • Amelia (Amy) Plunk
  • amelia.plunk@(gmail.com)
  • Northwestern University, 2015
  • "Tailoring the microstructure and mechanical properties of iron scaffolds for hydrogen storage applications using directional freeze-casting"
  • Current position: MS student of Secondary Science Education in the School of Education and Social Policy at Northwestern University



  • Danny Jorgensen
  • Northwestern University, 2009
  • "Ti-6Al-4V with Micro and Macropores Produced by Powder Sintering and Electrochemical Dissolution of Steel Wires"
  • Current position: Boston Scientific (Minneapolis, MN)



  • Catherine Noble
  • Northwestern University, 2002
  • "Transformation Mismatch Plasticity of Titanium through Hydrogen Cycling and Cobalt through Thermal Cycling"
  • Current position: TRI/Austin


  • Jeff Grabowski
  • Northwestern University, 1998
  • "Transformation Superplasticity of Bi2O3"
  • Current position: Questek Innovations





  • Stéphane Thomin
  • Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1993
  • "Effect of Thermal Stresses and Environment on the Mechanical Properties and Structure of a Titanium/SiC Composite"
  • Current position: French Ministry of Defense (Paris, France)


Postdoctoral Researchers




  • Dr. Hunhui Cho
  • Northwestern University, 2014 - 2016
  • "Finite Element / Finite Volume Modeling of Foam Structure"
  • Professor at Hanbat National University, South Korea





  • Dr. Marcus Young
  • (nano2giga@gmail.com)
  • Northwestern University, 2010 - 2011
  • "Metallurgical Study of Bronze Pieces From the Art Institute"
  • Assistant Professor of Materials Science and Engineering at the University of North Texas


  • Dr. Qizhen Li
  • (liqizhenwj@yahoo.com)
  • Northwestern University, 2005 - 2006
  • "Characterization of titanium-based materials"
  • Associate Professor of Mechanical and Materials Engineering, Washington State University


  • Dr. Heeman Choe
  • (heeman@gmail.com)
  • Northwestern University, 2002 - 2004
  • "Processing and mechanical properties of Ni-base superalloy foams"
  • "Transformation superplasticity of titanium through thermochemical cycling"
  • "Comparability of the Ti-TiC-W alloy system as a biomaterial"
  • Professor at Kookmin University (Korea)

  • Dr. Chris San Marchi
  • Northwestern University, 2001 - 2002
  • "Processing of Bulk Metallic Glass Foams"
  • Sandia National Laboratories (California)

  • Dr. Aria Kouzeli
  • Northwestern University, 2001 - 2002
  • "Mechanical Properties of Aluminum Dispersion-Strengthened Composites"
  • University of California, San Francisco

  • Dr. Yoshihisa Harada
  • Northwestern University, 1998 - 2000
  • "Alloying Effects on Microstructures and Mechanical Properties of Al3Sc"
  • Advanced Manufacturing Research Institute, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST)

  • Dr. Bing Q. Han
  • (bingqhan@yahoo.com)
  • Northwestern University, June, 1997 - October, 1998
  • "Creep Properties of Oxide Dispersion Strengthened Aluminum and Magnesium"
  • Wood Group ESP (Oklahoma)


  • Dr. Christian Verdon
  • Massachusetts Institute of Technology, March, 1996 - February, 1997
  • "Creep of Oxide Dispersion-Strengthened Aluminum"
  • Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (Lausanne, Switzerland)


  • Dr. Teruo Takahashi
  • Massachusetts Institute of Technology, April, 1993 - September, 1993
  • "Reactive Processing of Dispersion-Strengthened NiAl-Mo and NiAl-W"
  • Hyogo Prefectural Institute of Industrial Research (Japan)

  • Dr. Daniele Mari
  • Massachusetts Institute of Technology, January, 1992 - June, 1993
  • "Mechanical Properties of Shape-Memory Composites"
  • Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (Lausanne, Switzerland)

Visiting Scholars

  • Prof. Liqiang Wang
  • wang_liqiang@sjtu.edu.cn>
  • Northwestern University, July 2012 - October 2013
  • "Bonding NiTi wires with Ni-Ti-Nb eutectic phase"
  • State Key Laboratory of Metal Matrix Composites, Shanghai Jiao Tong University (China)

  • Prof. Ranier (Ray) Sepúlveda Ferrer
  • Northwestern University, July 2012 - October 2013
  • "Freeze-cast Ti with graded porosity"
  • Assistant Professor, Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Sevilla (Spain)

  • Prof. Paloma Trueba
  • Northwestern University, July 2012 - August 2013
  • "Freeze-cast Ti with graded porosity"
  • Assistant Professor, Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Sevilla (Spain)

  • Prof. Noam Eliaz
  • Northwestern University, July 2012 - July 2013
  • "Co-based superalloys"
  • Department Chair, Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Tel Aviv University (Israel)

  • Dr. Bin Yuan
  • Northwestern University
  • "Cu-Al-Ni Shape Memory Foams"
  • Associate Professor, Department of Metallic Materials Science & Engineering, South China University of Technology (Guangzhou, China)

  • Dr. Zhiping Guan
  • Northwestern University,
  • "Creep Properties of Bi2Te3"
  • Director, Basic Properties Lab in Superplastic & Plastic Research Institute, Jilin University (Changchun, China)

  • Dr. Xuexi Zhang
  • xxzhang@hit.edu.cn
  • Northwestern University
  • January, 2008 - February, 2009
  • "Magnetic Shape-Memory Alloy Foams"
  • Harbin Institute of Technology

  • Dr. Jan Frenzel
  • Northwestern University
  • July - September, 2007
  • "Cast NiTi(Cu) Alloys"

  • Dr. Yasumasa Chino
  • Northwestern University, 2006
  • "Development of new processing methods for porous titanium with controlled cell structure via powder metallurgy methods"
  • Now at AIST

  • Dr. Ofer Beeri
  • Northwestern University, 2005-2006
  • "Hydrogen induced superplasticity in metal wires"
  • "Aging resistance Al-Sc-RE (RE = rare earth) alloys"
  • Nuclear Research Center Negev (Israel)

  • Dr. Yoshihisa Matsumoto
  • Northwestern University, 2005
  • "Corrosion Characteristics and Mechanical Properties of Aluminum Foams"
  • Oita National College of Technology, Japan

  • Dr. Liang Meng
  • Northwestern University, 2002
  • "Strengthening in Al-Sc-Al2O3 alloys"
  • Zhejiang University, China.

  • Dr. John O'Dwyer
  • Northwestern University, 2001: "Tomography of Aluminum Foams"
  • Northwestern University, 2003: "Superelastic NiTi Foams"
  • Waterford Institute of Technology, Ireland

  • Dr. Safak Yilmaz
  • Northwestern University, 1998-1999
  • "Neutron-Diffraction Study of Deformation in Metal Matrix Composites"
  • Istanbul Technical University, Turkey

  • Dr. Alex Wanner
  • Northwestern University, 1997-1998
  • "Measurement of Internal Stresses in Metal Matrix Composites using Synchrotron Radiation"
  • Universität Karlsruhe , Professor

  • Dr. Ali Miserez
  • Northwestern University, 1997
  • "Metal matrix composites"
  • Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, visiting from Prof. Andreas Mortensen's research group.
  • Now Professor at Nanyang Tech University, Singapore.

Visiting PhD and MS Students


  • Chanun Suwanpreecha
  • Northwestern University, May 2017 - November 2017
  • "Aluminum Alloys"
  • Visiting from the group of Prof. C. Limmaneevichitr, King Mongkut's University of Technology

  • Micha Calvi
  • Northwestern University, August 2016 - December 2016
  • "Ink-based 3D printing of tungsten"
  • ETH Zurich, visiting from Prof. Ralph Spolenak's research group

  • Maxime Garnier
  • Northwestern University, August 2016 - March 2017
  • "Freeze-casting of ceramic matrix composite"
  • Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, visiting from Prof. Andreas Mortensen's research group

  • Rafael Ferreras
  • Northwestern University, September 2016 - December 2016
  • "Co based superalloys"
  • Universidad Carlos III de Madrid, visiting from Prof. Monica Campos's research group

  • Pam Yipyintum
  • Northwestern University, Sep 2015 - Oct 2016
  • "Creep behavior of tin alloys"
  • visiting from Prof. Boonrat Lohwongwatana'?s research group, Chulalongkorn University

  • Sandra Haeberli
  • Northwestern University, January 2015 - August 2015
  • "Processing of directionally-solidified freeze-cast foams"
  • ETH Zurich, visiting from Prof. Ralph Spolenak's research group

  • Zilong Wang
  • Northwestern University, December 2014 - February 2015
  • "Ni-Mn-Ga wires"
  • Grirem Advanced Materials, Beijing, China

  • André Röthlisberger
  • Northwestern University, December 2014 - February 2015
  • "Processing of directionally-solidified freeze-cast foams"
  • ETH Zurich, visiting from Prof. Ralph Spolenak's research group

  • Nicholas Lippitz
  • Northwestern University, September 2014- December 2014
  • Technical University of Braunschweig

  • Philipp Okle
  • Northwestern University, March 2014 - September 2014
  • "Microstructure and creep resistance of a modified dilute Al-Sc-Zr alloy"
  • ETH Zurich

  • Hyeji Park
  • Northwestern University, March 2014 - August 2014 and June 2016 - July 2016
  • "Directionally Solidified Freeze Casting of Co Foams" and "3D printing of Co superalloys"
  • Visiting from Prof. Heeman Choe's research group, Kookmin University

  • Gang (Joey) Chen
  • Northwestern University, November 2013 - May 2014
  • "Porous NiTi" (co-advised with Prof. Brinson)
  • The University of Auckland, visiting from Prof. Ralph Spolenak's research group

  • Hyungyung Jo
  • Northwestern University, May 2013 - August 2013
  • "Directionally Solidified Freeze Casting of Ni-Cu Foams"
  • Visiting from Prof. Heeman Choe's research group, Kookmin University

  • Myounggeun Choi
  • Northwestern University, October 2012 - May 2013
  • "Directionally Solidified Freeze Casting of Ni-Cu Foams"
  • Visiting from Prof. Heeman Choe's research group, Kookmin University

  • Christian Monachon
  • Christian.Monachon@gmail.com
  • Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, 2008
  • "Study of Precipitation in Al-Li-Sc-Yb Alloys"
  • visiting from Prof. Andreas Mortensen's research group

  • Christian Greiner
  • University of Stuttgart, 2004
  • "Superelastic NiTi Foams"
  • University of Stuttgart (Germany)

  • Jacques Teisen
  • Teisen.Jacques@synthes.com
  • Massachusetts Institute of Technology
  • July-October, 1995
  • "Superplastic Foaming of Titanium"
  • Synthes (Switzerland)

  • Jean-Marc Lefeuvre
  • Massachusetts Institute of Technology
  • October, 1995 - September, 1996
  • "Thermal Shock Curvature of Ti-SiC Composites"
  • French Defense Ministry (Paris)

Undergraduate Students

  • Lauren Kearney
  • Working with Kristen Scotti, 2015-2017
  • "Microstructural Characterization of Freeze-Cast Ceramic Slurries"

  • Jonathan Young
  • Working with Kristen Scotti, 2016-2017
  • "Effect of Prefrozen Suspension Temperature on Porous Structure in Freeze-casted Ceramics"

  • Youwu Fang
  • Working with Kristen Scotti, 2016-2017
  • "Using Succinonitrile (SCN) for Freeze-casting"

  • Ryan Weidinger
  • Working with Dinc Erdeniz, 2016-2017
  • "Synthesis and Mechanical Characterization of NiTi-Nb Wire Woven-mesh Structure for Retaining Shape Memory Effect"

  • Amaka Ibeh
  • Working with Shannon Taylor, 2015-2017
  • "Extrusion-based Additive Manufacturing of NiTi-Nb Micro-trusses for Biomedical Applications"


  • Angelina Lu
  • Working with Dinc Erdeniz, 2014
  • "Designing novel high-temperature Co-base superalloys"

  • Justin McMath
  • Working with Peiqi Zheng, 2011
  • "Powder Metallurgy Replication of Ni-Mn-Ga Shape Memory Alloy"

  • Marco Diaz
  • Working with Chris Booth-Morrison, 2011
  • "The Effects of the Addition of Si to Al-Sc-Zr Alloys on Precipitation Hardening"

  • Anthony Tan
  • Working with Catherine Tupper, 2010
  • "Fe-based Shape Memory Alloys"

  • Matthew Chastain
  • Working with Alix Deymier-Black, 2010
  • "Metallurgical Analysis of Copper Artifacts from Cahokia"

  • Andrew Ball
  • Working with Peiqi Zheng, 2009
  • "Powder Metallurgy Fabrication of Low-Cost Titanium Foams with Sodium Chloride Placeholder"

  • Phoebe Harpainter
  • Working with Peiqi Zheng, 2009
  • "Prehistoric Mississippian Pyrotechnology at Cahokia, Illinois"