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PHATE Research Group

Shamberger Lab

Texas A&M University College of Engineering

Team

Research Opportunities:  Graduate & Undergraduate Researchers

The group currently has an openings for a qualified and enthusiastic PhD student in the field of neuromorphic materials (starting Fall 2025) and for motivated undergraduate students.  Feel free to contact the PI directly (include a CV and brief statement of interest) to express interest in joining the research group.


Researchers

 

Fatima Jardali

Senior Research Engineer
EFRC Postdoctoral Scholar
Electrical and Thermal Responses of Vanadium Dioxide under an Electrical Bias
(2023 – present)

  • Thin films growth & characterization
  • Sputter deposition, Plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition, Physical vapor deposition
  • Device fabrication & electro-thermal characterization
  • Ion insertion/extraction into/from host materials

Email: fjardali {at} tamu.edu
Google Scholar

 

Soonwook Kim

Postdoctoral Researcher
Thermal Properties and Phase Transition Behavior of Salt Hydrates and Plastic Crystals
(2025 – present)

  • Development and characterization of advanced thermal energy storage materials
  • Investigating phase transition behavior and thermal cycling stability
  • Material synthesis and thermal property measurements
  • Enhancing heat transfer performance of salt hydrates and plastic crystals

Email: sk27 {at} tamu.edu
Google Scholar


Graduate Students

 Sophia Ahmed headshot

Sophia Ahmed

Graduate Student (PhD)
Salt Hydrate Thermal Energy Storage Materials
(2020 – present)

  • Design of Eutectic Salt Hydrate Materials Systems
  • Stability of materials with aging and cycling
  • Nucleation kinetics in salt hydrates and salt hydrate eutectics

Email: ahmed.sophia97 {at} tamu.edu
Google Scholar

 Denali Ibbotson headshot

Denali Ibbotson

Graduate Student (PhD)
Salt Hydrates Eutectic Thermal Energy Storage Materials
(2021 – present)

  • Development and Characterization of Eutectic Salt Hydrate Systems
  • Nucleation Mechanisms in Salt Hydrates

Email: dibbotson {at} tamu.edu
Google Scholar

 Chase Somodi headshot

Chase Somodi

Graduate Student (PhD)
Chemical Control of Plastic Crystals for Tunable Thermal Energy Storage
(2022 – present)

  • Investigation of the barocaloric effect in plastic crystals
  • Chemical structure’s impact on plastic crystal phase transitions
  • Magnitude and reversibility of phase transitions in plastic crystals

Email: csomodi {at} tamu.edu
Google Scholar

 Yeonju Yu headshot

Yeonju Yu

Graduate Student (PhD)
Samsung Fellow
Non-linear Electronic Materials and Devices
(2023 – present)

  • Thermal engineering of non-linear electronic materials and devices

Email: leahyj109 {at} tamu.edu

 Sarah McQuaid headshot

Sarah McQuaid

Graduate Student (MS)
Thermal Properties of Bonds Between Dissimilar Materials at High Temperatures
(2023 – present)

  • Thermal Transport in High Temperature Materials and Interfaces

Email: smcquaid {at} tamu.edu

 Lucas Oelkers headshot

Lucas Oelkers

Graduate Student (PhD)
Impedance of Composite Thermal Energy Storage Materials
(2023 – present)

  • Characterization of transient thermal response in composite PCMs

Email: lucasoelkers {at} tamu.edu
Google Scholar

 Jenny Chong headshot

Jenny Chong

Graduate Student (MS)
Electrothermal Design of Non-linear Neuromorphic Components
(2023 – present)

  • Characterization of transient thermal behavior in neuromorphic oscillators
  • Multiphysics simulation

Email: jenchong {at} tamu.edu
Google Scholar

 Derian Morphew headshot

Derian Morphew

Graduate Student (PhD)
Heat Transfer in Composite Phase Change Materials
(2023 – present)

  • Design of Composite Phase Change Materials
  • Heat Transfer

Email: dmorphew {at} tamu.edu


Undergraduate Students

 Leo Figueira headshot

Leo Toro Figueira

Undergraduate, Senior (MSEN)
Samsung Fellow
Electrical Characterization of Metal Insulator Devices
(2023 – present)

 Gwyneth Svatek headshot

Gwyneth Svatek

Undergraduate, Senior (MSEN)
Wetting Characteristics of Porous Aluminum
(2023 – present)

Lindsey Ford headshot

Lindsey Ford

Undergraduate, Senior (MSEN)
Calorimetry of Plastic Crystals
(2023 – present)

 Bryan Duong headshot

Bryan Duong

Undergraduate, Senior (MSEN)
Samsung Fellow
Electrical Characterization of Metal Insulator Devices
(2023 – present)

 Layan Samandar headshot

Layan Samandar

Undergraduate, Senior (MEEN)
Samsung Fellow
Electrical Characterization of Metal Insulator Devices
(2024 – present)

 Joey Leal headshot

Joseph Leal

Undergraduate, Senior (MSEN)
Thermal Characterization of High T Materials
(2024 – present)

 Joey Leal headshot

Ryan Range

Undergraduate, Senior (MEEN)
Thermal Characterization of Evaporators
(2024 – present)

 Joey Leal headshot

Atharva Shastri

Undergraduate, Sophomore
Reliability of high temperature membranes and seals for evaporators
(2024 – present)


Group: Through the Ages

  • group_2024
  • Group_2023
  • Group_summer2022_v2
  • PHATE group photo 2020
    2020 Mask up!
  • PHATE group photo 2018
    2018 Summer BBQ
  • PHATE group photo 2017
    2017 PHATE group team outreach

Alumni

Post-Doc Alumni

Amy Bolon: PD Researcher. Transitioning Salt Hydrate Phase Change Materials (2017) {Currently with Enterprise Products}

Eunju Jung: PD Researcher. Effectiveness of Active Learning Pedagogies in an Introductory Materials Science Class (2015-2016) {Currently PD at Univ Indiana – Bloomington}

Graduate Student Alumni

Sourav Chakravarty: PhD. Engineering of Thermo-responsive Materials in Transient Thermal Systems
(2019 – 2024) (Intel)

Carlos Lago: PhD. Thermal Management and Defect Engineering in Reversible Transformations
(2019 – 2024) {TSMC}

Rebeca Gurrola: PhD. Selective Modulation of Metal-Insulator Transitions Through Ion Irradiation and Ion Implantation for Neuromorphic Applications
(2019 – 2024) {Postdoc at Sandia National Lab – Albuquerque}

Mason Shoalmire: MS. Heat Transfer through Ceramic Interfaces and Reaction Layers
(2022 – 2024) {GE Aerospace}

Adelaide Bradicich: PhD. Electrothermally-Induced Spatial Inhomogeneities in Nonlinear Electronic Materials
(2018 – 2023) {Postdoc at Sandia National Lab – Albuquerque}

Alison Hoe: PhD. Characterization and Modification of Thermal Response through Intentional Design of Phase Change Material Composites
(2017 – 2022) {Lockheed Martin}

Wenting (Mo) Hinz: MS. Desorption and Evaporation of Liquid Water Recharged Zeolite-Polymer Composites
(2020 – 2022) {Currently with Texas Instruments}

Aashik Shreshtha: MS. Numerical Simulation and Design of Hybrid Oscillating Heat Pipe – Phase Change Materials for Radiator Panels
(2019 – 2021) {Entekk Group}

Michael Deckard: MS. Numerical Simulation of Heat Transfer in PCM Heatsink Structures
(2017 – 2021)

Yijia Zhang: PhD. Size Effects on Thermoelastic Martensitic Transformations in Heusler Alloys
(2015 – 2020) {Sherwin Williams}

Aliya Yano: MS. Effect of Chemical Doping on Metal-Insulator Phase Transition in VO2
(2018 – 2020) {Maestro}

Tim Brown: PhD. Engineering Hysteresis and Non-Diffusive Phase Transformations in Magnetocaloric (Mn,Fe)2(P,Si) Alloys for Magnetic Refrigeration Applications
(2014 – 2019) {Currently Postdoc at Sandia National Lab – Livermore}

Heidi Clarke: PhD. Local Characterization of Resistance Switching Phenomena in Transition Metal Oxides
(2014 – 2019) {Currently with Samsung}

Emily (Emmons) Marcon: MS. Corrosion of Common Heat Exchanger Materials by Lithium Nitrate Trihydrate
(2015 – 2017) {Currently with Samsung}

UG Alumni

Gwyneth Svatek: “Wetting Characteristics of Porous Aluminum”, TAMU (2023 – 2024).

Veronica Gonzalez Fernandez: “Measurement of Phase Change Materials Dynamics”, TAMU (2022 – 2024).

Alex Foncerrada: “Materials Informatics of Plastic Crystals”, TAMU (2022 – 2024).

Mya Williams: “Nucleation in Erythritol”, TAMU (2023 – 2024).

Jose Cortes: “Dynamic response of PCM under time-variant loading”, TAMU (2020 – 2023).

Emilio Morales-Cortazar: “Thermal Conductivity Measurements via 3 Omega Method”, TAMU (2021-2023).

Colton Brietzke: “Numerical Simulation of PCM Dynamics”, TAMU (2022).

Gabby Garza: “Thermal conductivity of molten salt hydrates”, TAMU (2021-2022).

Albert Franke: Robust cycling in liquid-hydrated zeolite-PVA composites (2021-2022).

Nurbek Ozganov: Processing of zeolite thick films (2021-2022).

Nicole Person: Irradiation of VO2 devices, Sandia National Lab Summer Internship 2021 (2021-2022).

Drew Worthy: Machine Learning of Material Thermophysical Properties (2019-2021).

Ezra Duke: Heat Transfer in Zeolite Powder Beds, Summer 2019 REU (2021).

Natalie Patton: Energy and Power Density of TES modules, Summer 2021 REU (2021).

Fabiola Alamo: Thermal Transport in Liquid Salt Hydrates (2019-2021).

Andrew Balog: Metal Insulator transitions in doped VO2 films/ systems (2018-2021).

Haley Jones: Development of Salt hydrate PCM eutectics (2018-2021).

Carolina Martinez: Characterization of Phase Change Dynamics in a Slab (2019-2020).

Hunter Harris: Thermophysical Properties of Salt Hydrates (2019-2020).

Julia Billman: MFM Imaging of Magnetic Domains in Magnetocaloric Alloys (2017-2020)

Nathan Turner: Synthesis and Characterization of Ternary Salt Hydrate Eutectics/ Machine Learning Models of Thermophysical Properties (2017-2020)

Jessica Paredez: UG Researcher (ECEN). Synthesis and Properties of Salt Hydrates (2018-2019)

Jenny Gosney: Summer 2019 REU. Isothermal Transformation Kinetics in Salt Hydrate PCMs (2019)

John Moynihan: UG Researcher (CHEN). Measuring Reversibility and Solidification Rates in Salt Hydrates (2017-2018)

Daniel Galvan: UG Researcher (CHEN). Assessing the Performance of Fe2P Alloys Under Various Magnetic Refrigeration Cycle (2015-2019)

Laura Deremo: UG Researcher (ECEN). Failure in Electrical Resistance Switches (2017-2018)

Gabriela Lammoglia: Summer 2018 NextGen Intern. Materials Design of Magnetocaloric Alloys (2018)

Nandha Ramasamy: UG Researcher (MEEN). Magnetic Force Microscopy of MCE materials (2018)

Thomas Jordan: UG Researcher (MEEN). Dissipative Neuromorphic Materials(2017-2018)

Jonathan van Buskirk: UG Researcher (CHEM). Hysteresis in MCE Materials (2018)

Sara Wonner: Summer 2018 REU, Nucleation in Salt Hydrate PCMs (2018)

Joseph Anderson: UG Researcher (PHYS). 3D Tomography of Conductive Filaments (2018) UG Honors thesis {Currently PhD at Purdue Univ., IN}

Aaron Garcia: UG Researcher (MEEN). Thermophysical Properties of Salt Hydrates (2018)

Molly Jones: REU Summer Intern. Phase transformations in Heusler alloy thick films (summer 2017).

Sunita Kumari: IITK Summer Intern. Structure of insulating composites (summer 2017).

Elizabeth Yee: UG Researcher (CHEN). Decomposition of Ammonia Salts (2017)

Sarah Hammock: UG Researcher (CHEN). 3D cAFM Imaging of Conductive Filaments in HfO2 Resistive Switching Devices(2015-2017) UG Honors thesis

Bill Caraway: UG Researcher (MEEN). Imaging Phase Transitions in VO2 particles (2016-2017)

Nick Gripp: UG Researcher (CHEM). Decomposition of Ammonia Salts (2016-2017)

Ben Musil: UG Researcher (CHEM). Decomposition of Ammonia Salts (2016)

Siddharth Srivastava: IITK Summer Intern. FEM Simulation of Resistance Switching Phenomena (2016)

Tyler Buffington: UG Researcher (MEEN). Thermodynamic Efficacy of Irreversible Magnetocaloric Effect Cycles (2015-2016) UG Honors thesis

Adam McClellan: UG Researcher (ISEN). Materials Stability of Thermal Energy Storage Materials (2015-2016)

Xander Majek: UG Researcher (PHYS). Electrical Resistance Switching in Sputtering Grown HfO2 Devices (2015-2016)

Erika Salzman: HS Researcher. Undercooling in Mg(NO3)2 hydrates (2015-2016)  {Currently UG at Caltech}

Yasushi Mizuno: UG Researcher (MEEN). Entropy of Fusion in Low Melting Point Alloys (2014-2015)

Taylor Messinger: UG Researcher (MMET). Thermal Properties of Salt Hydrate (2015)

Joshua Murley: UG Researcher (CHEN). Indirect Entropy Measurement in Magnetocaloric Effect Materials (2014-2015)
Best presentation award at UG Gulf Coast Research Symposium

Shelby Turner: UG Researcher (ECEN). Electrical Resistance Switching in HfO2 Dielectrics (Spring 2015)

Temi Balogun: UG Researcher (MEEN). Electrical Resistance Switching in HfO2 Dielectrics (Fall 2014)

Trey Torno: UG Researcher (CHEN). Magnetic Domain Structures in Magnetocaloric Heusler Alloys Near the FOPT. (Summer 2014-Fall 2014)
TAMU USRG Fellowship

Anna Rubin: UG Researcher (MEEN). Salt Hydrate Thermal Energy Storage Gels. (Summer 2014)

Pawan Bhandari: UG Researcher (MEEN). Thermophysical Properties of Low Melting point Alloys (2014)

Research

  • Thermal Energy Storage
  • Dynamical Neuromorphic Materials
  • Caloric Effect Materials and Cycles
  • Thermal Management

Latest News

  • Congrats to newest PHATE group Graduates! March 2, 2024
  • PHATE group to develop materials for space cooling applications under NASA grant January 27, 2024
  • Congrats to recent PhD Graduate Adelaide Bradicich! May 16, 2023
  • PHATE group presents at Spring 2023 MRS April 18, 2023
  • Director of ARL visits PHATE lab April 11, 2023
  • PHATE group presents at Spring 2023 TMS April 4, 2023
  • Carlos Lago passes prelim! January 16, 2023
  • PHATE lab presents at Gordon Research Conference January 13, 2023

Lab Handbook

Lab Handbook Wiki: Policies, procedures, expectations.

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