Post Doctoral Researchers

Haitao Yu

Post Doctoral Researcher

haitaoy1@uci.edu

Dr. Haitao Yu is a postdoctoral scholar who is working on ultrastructural analyses of beetle and chitin templated iron oxide growth. He received his Ph.D. at the School of Chemistry and Molecular Engineering, East China Normal University and his research topics were molecular design of heterogeneous catalyst with varied morphology, polymer synthesis, and supramolecular self-assembly of organic molecular cage.

He enjoys reading papers and cooking.

Graduate Researchers

Derek Lublin

5th Year Graduate Researcher

dlublin@uci.edu

Derek is a 5th year PhD student in the Materials and Manufacturing Technology program. He has industry and research experience in developing novel photopolymers for additive manufacturing applications. Currently, he is working on a collaborative project with a medical device manufacturer to formulate naturally derived resins and to investigate their multiscale structure-property relationships.

He very much enjoys taking care of his cats at home.

 Andrew Nguyen

4th Year Graduate Researcher

andren16@uci.edu

Andrew is a 4th year student in the Materials and Manufacturing program. He specializes in composites fabrication and structural materials and is now involved in investigating how the peacock mantis shrimp can biologically inspire the implementation of helicoidal architectures in carbon fiber-reinforced composites, capable of outperforming current military mortar baseplate technology.

Aside from being in the lab, his favorite pastimes include playing tennis and grilling. He aspires to be a “grill master” following the footsteps of his childhood hero, Hank Hill.

Adrian Francisco Duran Ornelas

3rd Year Graduate Researcher

afornela@uci.edu

Adrian Ornelas is a 3rd year PhD Student in the Materials Science and Engineering program. He currently investigates the Diabolical Ironclad beetle’s mechanical properties and their nano and micro architectures. He received his B.S. in Aerospace Engineering from UCI in 2023 and worked in the BNM lab designing lightweight drones during his undergrad. Currently, he is also the Outreach Coordinator for the MSE GSA at UCI.

He is interested in developing photographic film, molecular biology techniques, and vintage camera repair.

Anton Penaherrera

Master’s Student

Anton is currently a Master’s student in the Materials Science and Engineering Program. His thesis revolves around the structural development of the tagua nut.

He likes working on cars.

Undergraduate Students

Former Members

Valentina Perricone

Post Doctoral Researcher

vperrico@uci.edu

Valentina Perricone is a marine biologist and postdoctoral scholar in Biomimetics and Nanostructured Materials Lab. Her research topics regard marine ecology, functional morphology and biomimetics. She recieved her Master’s degree in “Marine Biology” at the Alma Mater Studiorum, University of Bologna, Italy, and a PhD in “Environment, Design and Innovation” at the University of Campania “Luigi Vanvitelli”, Aversa, Italy.  

Her personal interests include nature, technology, scuba diving, snorkeling, kickboxing, and oil painting. 

Sivasankara Rao Ede

Post Doctoral Researcher

sede@uci.edu

Dr. Sivasankara Rao Ede was a Postdoctoral Scholar in the Biomimetics and Nanostructured Materials Lab that worked on Fuel Cell and Water Purification project. Previously, he worked as Postdoctoral Fellow at Fayetteville State University on One dimensional Perovskite oxides and hydroxides for electrocatalytic applications (April 2019 to January 2021). Siva received his Ph.D. in Materials Science and Electrochemistry from the Central Electrochemical Research Institute (2018), M.Sc. from the Andhra University Organic Chemistry and B.Sc. in Chemistry & Biology from Acharya Nagarjuna University. 

He also enjoys biking around the city and hiking.

Jung-Eun Lee

Post Doctoral Researcher

jungeul4@uci.edu

Dr. Jung-Eun Lee was a postdoctoral scholar who workedvahidih on chiton projects for high-resistant abrasion materials and plant projects for fire-resistant materials. Previously, she worked at the Carbon Composite Materials Research Center, Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST) on development of high-strength carbon fibers (July 2021 to January 2022). She received her Ph.D. at the Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST) (August 2021) and her research topics were (1) polymer nanocomposite fibers and smart-textiles, (2) development of carbon from novel precursors (including biomaterials) and their energy storage applications, (3) high-performance carbon fibers/films.

She enjoys playing the game League of Legends, but is unable to leave the silver tier.

Taifeng Wang

Ph.D. Graduate

taifengw@uci.edu

Taifeng was a graduate student in the lab that obtained his Ph.D. in 2022. His research focused on the study of mineral formation in biological organisms and synthesis of functionalized nanoparticles inspired by nature. He now works in semiconductor manufacturing and research at Intel.

In his free time, he spends time playing with his pets.

Dr. Devis Montroni

Post-Doctoral Researcher

dmontron@uci.edu

Devis was a Post-Doc in the lab in 2021. His research focused on the study of the structure-function relationship of biogenic polysaccharide-based matrices with a successive reapplication of this knowledge on bioinspired materials. Specifically, he was interested in the biomineralization of chiton teeth (C. articulatus) and in thermal-resistant systems in plants.

Aside from science, he loved traveling, hiking, and rock climbing. Some people would say his passion for gardening leads to an excessive number of plants in his house.

Naresh Kakur

Post Doctoral Researcher

nkakur@uci.edu

Dr. Naresh Kakur was a Postdoctoral Scholar that worked on observing impact properties of bio-inspired glass/epoxy composites for wind turbine blade applications. He completed a dual degree (M.S. + Ph.D.) course in the Department of Mechanical Engineering, “Machine Design” stream at the Indian Institute of Technology Madras, Chennai, India. This research focused on the “high strain rate studies of fiber reinforced polymer matrix composites,” which ties in nicely with the work done in the lab. He has also been a keynote speaker in conferences and has published over 40 articles in reputed peer reviewed journals.

He enjoys spending time with his wife and newborn son.

Dr. Wei Huang

Post-Doctoral Researcher

huangw16@uci.edu

Dr. Wei Huang was a Post-Doctoral researcher in Prof. David Kisailus Biomimetic and Nanostructured Materials Laboratory at the University of California, Irvine from 2019-2021. He got his Ph.D. in Materials Science and Engineering program in University of California San Diego in 2018. His research focused on impact-resistant and structural biological materials as well as bioinspired designs of advanced materials.

He liked hiking and playing basketball

Luz Cruz

Ph.D. Candidate

luzc1@uci.edu

Luz was a Ph.D. Candidate in the lab from 2017-2021. Her research focused on the synthesis-structure-function relations of metal/metal oxide nanoparticles embedded in a carbon matrix for gas sensing, batteries, and water purifying membranes.

Her hobbies included hiking, eating, and petting dogs.