Research Scientists

PhD Students

MS Students

Mavis Wang

B.S. Texas Tech U.

Yuge Feng

B.S. Tsinghua U.

Erin Porter

B.S. Texas A&M

Ratnika Gupta

M.S. IIT Gandhinagar

B.S. VIT Vellore

Zina Deriche

B.S. U. Minnesota

Diana Alvarado

B.S. New Mexico Institute of

Mining and Technology

Yoon Park

B.S. Purdue U.

Obinna Paschal Anele

B.S. U. Lagos

Omran Taqi

M.S. Rice U.

B.S. Virginia Commonwealth U.

Yousif Alhouli

B.S. Virginia Commonwealth U.

Khalid Alkandery

B.S. Virginia Commonwealth U.

Aldo Spatafora Salazar

Ph.D. Rice U.

B.S. Technologico de Monterrey

Maura Puerto

B.S./M.S. University of Oriente

           - Santiago de Cuba

Principal Investigator

Sibani Lisa Biswal

William M. McCardell Professor in Chemical Engineering

Dept. of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering (CHBE)

joint with Dept. of Material Science and Nanoengineering (MSNE)

Postdoc 2004-2006 UC Berkeley

Ph.D. 2004 Stanford University

B.S. 1999 Caltech

Group Alumni

Postdoctoral Alumni

Doctoral Alumni

1.     Dichuan Li, Ph.D. (2011),

     Thesis: Paramagnetic particle assemblies as colloidal models for atomic and molecular systems

     Current Position: Secol Chemical

2.      Kai-Wei Liu, Ph.D. (2011)

     Thesis: Studying the Interactions of Biomacromolecular Assemblies with Surfaces Using the Microcantilever Sensor and Quartz Crystal Microbalances

3.     Gautam Kini, Ph.D. (2011)

     Thesis: Bilayer Approaches to Nanoparticle Phase-Transfer

     Current Position: HollyFrontier

4.     Kun Ma, Ph.D. (2013)

     Thesis: Transport of Surfactant and Foam in Porous Media for Enhanced Oil Recovery Processes

     Current Position: Total E&P Research and Technology

5.     Jinghui Wang, Ph.D. (2014)

     Thesis: Characterization and Application of Immobilized Biomacromolecules using Microcantilevers and QCM sensors

6.       Kung Po Chao, Ph.D. (2014)

     Thesis: Interfacial Assembly of Nanoparticles with Soft Templates for Photovoltaic Applications

     Current Position: Baker Hughes

7.     Julie Byrom, Ph.D. (2014)

     Thesis: Investigating the use of directed magnetic assembly to create tunable colloidal fractal aggregates and DNA-linked bead-spring chains

8.       Charles Conn, Ph.D. (2014)

     Thesis: The characterization and visualization of multi-phase systems using microfluidic devices

     Current Position: NextDecade

9.     Di (Daniel) Du, Ph.D. (2015)

     Thesis: Novel Dynamics and Structures Using Paramagnetic Colloids with Rotating Magnetic Fields

     Current Position: ExxonMobile

10.     Yongchao Zeng, Ph.D. (2017)

     Thesis: A Multiscale Study of Foam: The Phase Behavior, Transport and Rheology of Foam in Porous Media

     Current Position: Dow

11.     Yu-Jiun (Nate) Lin, Ph.D. (2018)

     Thesis: Investigation of Interfacial and Rheological Properties of Asphaltenes at Solid-Liquid and Liquid-Liquid Interfaces

     Current Position: Merck

12.     Pengfei Dong, Ph.D. (2018)

     Thesis: Ultralow-IFT Foam for Enhanced Oil Recovery in Naturally Fractured Oil-wet Carbonate Reservoirs

     Current Position: Energy Transfer

13.     Guoqing Jian, Ph.D. (2019)

     Thesis: CO2 Foam Mobility Control in Carbonate Reservoirs

     Current Position: Saudi Aramco Houston Research Center

14.     Steve Kuei, Ph.D. (2019)

     Thesis: Dynamics of Semiflexible Paramagnetic Colloidal Chains Under a Rotational Magnetic Field

     Current Position: Rapid Liquid Print

15.      Elaa Hilou, Ph.D. (2019)

     Thesis: Investigation of a system with a tunable anharmonic interaction potential using paramagnetic colloids

     Current Position: Campana & Schott

16.      Jingjing Zhao, Ph.D. (2019)

     Thesis: Characterizing Nonlinear Dynamics with Stochasticity Using Semiflexible Paramagnetic Colloidal Filaments

     Current Position: WuXi Advanced Therapies

17.     Daniel Vecchiolla, Ph.D. (2019)

     Thesis: Deformation Dynamics of Wet Foams and Bubbles in Wide Microfluidic Channels

     Current Position: Intel Corp.

18.     Jin Song, Ph.D. (2019)

     Thesis: Multi-scale Mechanisms Responsible for Carbonate Wettability Alteration: A Route to Smart Water

     Current Position: Shell

19.      Botao Farren Song, Ph.D. (2020)

     Thesis: Investigating and Addressing the Degradation Mechanisms in Silicon-Based Anodes for Lithium-Ion Batteries

     Current Position: LinkedIn

20.     Leilei Zhang, Ph.D. (2020)

     Thesis: Foam EOR for Carbonate Reservoir's from Lab Evaluation to Field Test

     Current Position: Momentive

21.     Amirmoshiri (Reza) Mohammadreza, Ph.D. (2020)

     Thesis: Effect of Oil and Surface Wettability on Foam Flow in Porous Media

     Current Position: Sanofi Pharmaceutical

22.     Ziyi Zhu, Ph.D. (2020)

     Thesis: Simulation of Model Colloidal Systems in Confined Geometries

23.     Yi-Lin Chen, Ph.D. (2021)

     Thesis: Characterizing of Switchable Surfactant Interactions with Biomimetic Surfaces

     Current Position: Baylor College of Medicine

24.      Eric Vavra, Ph.D. (2021)

     Thesis: Foam Transport in Porous Media: in situ Capillary Pressure Measurment and Application to Enhanced Oil Recovery

     Current Position: Shell

25.     Zhuqing Zhang, Ph.D. (2022)

     Thesis: Asphaltene Flow Assurance Issues Investigated in Microfluidic Device

     Current Position: Pinterest

26.     Quan Nguyen, Ph.D. (2023)

     Thesis: Rational Design of Silicon-Based Anodes for High-Performance Lithium-Ion Batteries

     Current Position: Farasis Energy

27.      Chutian Bai, Ph.D. (2023)

     Thesis: Fundamental Insights of Foam Transport in Porous Media Applied to Enhanced Oil Recovery

     Current Position: Ereztech

28.      Lucas H.P. Cunha, Ph.D. (2023)

     Thesis: Field-induced Dynamics of Colloidal Systems: Magnetic Particles and Settling Filaments

     Current Position: Georgetown U.

29.     Sunny Niu, Ph.D. (2023)

     Thesis: Engineering Surfaces for Sensitive Detection of Analytes

30.      Aldo Stefano Spatafora Salazar, Ph.D. (2023)

     Thesis: Rotational Dynamics of Superparamagnetic Colloidal Systems in Complex Fields

     Current Position: Rice U.

31.      Dana Lobmeyer, Ph.D. (2024)

     Thesis: Dynamics of Magnetcially Actuated Colloidal Crystals under Rotating Magnetic Fields

     Current Position: Jacobs

32.      Thao Vy Nguyen, Ph.D. (2024)

     Thesis: Microfluidic Approach to Characterizing Asphaltene Deposition, Mitigation, and Remediation

     Current Position:ExxonMobil

Masters of Science Alumni

Moneer Alenezi

M.S. Rice U.

B.S. U. Alabama