The Samueli School of Engineering has selected Ezra Sarmiento for the 2024-25 UCI-LANL-SoCalHub Research Fellowship. These fellowships support UCI engineering graduate students working in areas of common interest with the Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) and provide a mechanism to bridge research and training between the two institutions for future career paths and long-term collaboration. Ezra is one of four UCI fellows that will receive co-mentorship from an engineering professor and a LANL scientist. They have the opportunity to spend time at LANL and use its unique facilities and expertise for their research and training.
Ezra is investigating the biomineralization pathways found in mollusks for the development of new bioinspired crystal nucleation and growth mechanisms for next-generation advanced materials, such as structured oxide battery materials. Specifically, he is working with the abrasion resistant metal teeth of the Chiton, as it provides spatial and temporal snapshots into these biological processes. Sarmiento looks forward to the mentorship of Kyungtae Kim and the expertise he provides as well as the resources at the Center for Integrated Nanotechnologies at LANL. “I’m excited for this fellowship because it will let me dive deeper into the intricacies of my system while also providing me the resources to develop advanced bio-inspired applications with my research,” said Sarmiento. “Who knows? Maybe one day I’ll end up at LANL mentoring someone else in the future.”
Read more about the fellowship here: https://engineering.uci.edu/news/2024/10/four-graduate-students-selected-los-alamos-national-lab-fellowship