ESRs

Philipp Baumli
baumli@mpip-mainz.mpg.de
ESR 3: Monitoring the motion of bacteria and cells under still and flow conditions
 

College/University
Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich (ETH Zurich), Zurich, Switzerland

Highest Degree
Master of Science (Honours)

Major Subjects
Materials Science

Lab Experience
Basics of colloidal processing, Tribological testing, tribochemistry, ionic liquids, thermal analysis (DSC & TGA), XPS, XRD methods (powder diffraction), confocal microscopy, IR-spectroscopy, and NMR spectroscopy.

Projects/Research

  • Bachelor´s Thesis (Spring 2013)
“Self-Consistent Field Theoretical Study of the Shape of AFM Force Curves for Polymer Brushes” under the supervision of Professor Martin Kröger in the polymer physics group at the Department of Materials at ETH Zurich headed by Professor Hans Christian Öttinger.  
  • Research Internship (Summer 2013)
“Structure and crystal chemistry of complex intermetallics” in the Laboratory of Crystallography headed by Professor Walter Steurer at the Department of Materials at ETH Zurich (Supervisor: Dr. Julia Dshemuchadse) in collaboration with Samara State University, Russia.  
  • 1st Master´s Project (September 2013 – February 2014)
In the Materials Theory group led by Professor Nicola Spaldin on the oxygen vacancy formation energy of selected transition metal oxides including LaNiO3. Supervisor: Dr. Ulrich Aschauer  
  • 2nd Master´s Project (June 2014 – September 2014)
In the Complex Materials group headed by Professor André Studart on the „Synthesis and processing of Nacre-like composites using a colloidal processing approach”. Supervisor: Ms Madeleine Grossman  
  • Master´s Thesis
Title: “Tribological Properties of Selected Non-Aromatic Ionic Liquids” carried out under the supervision of Professor Antonella Rossi at the Laboratory for Surface Science and Technology (LSST) headed by Professor Nicholas D. Spencer at the Department of Materials at ETH Zurich. Strong emphasis on XPS investigations of tribochemical reaction products.

Scholarships/Awards
March 2017 - March 2020: LubISS ITN position

Davide Bottone
davide.bottone@uzh.ch
ESR 15: Silicone nanoparticles of different shape as ingredient for lubricant impregnated surfaces
 

College/University
University of Trento, Trento, Italy

Highest Degree
Master of Science (Honours)

Major Subjects
Materials Science and Engineering

Lab experience
Sol-gel chemistry, basics of cell culture techniques, glass and ceramics processing, wettability analysis, electron and light microscopy, NMR spectroscopy, IR and UV-Vis spectroscopy, fluorescence spectroscopy, XRD.

Projects/research

  • Bachelor's Thesis (June 2014 - October 2014)
"Study of the Non-Hydraulic Component of Binder Materials by IR Spectroscopy and X-Ray Diffraction".
Supervisor: Prof. Stefano Gialanella, University of Trento (Italy)
  • Master's Thesis (June 2016 - March 2017)
"Thiol-ene Click Functionalization of Silsesquioxane Nanobuilding Blocks: a Bottom-up Approach towards Oil-Water separation".
Supervisors: Prof. Sandra Dirè, University of Trento (Italy); Dr. François Ribot, Laboratoire de Chimie de la Matière Condensée de Paris (France)

Publications
S. Dirè, D. Bottone, E. Callone, D. Maniglio, I. Génois, F. Ribot, Hydrophobic Coatings by Thiol-Ene Click Functionalization of Silsesquioxanes with Tunable Architecture, Materials 2017, 10(8), 913, http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ma10080913.

Scholarships/Awards
Merit Award of the University of Trento for BSc graduates (A.Y. 2013/2014).
July 2017 - July 2020: LubISS ITN position

Valentina Donadei
valentina.donadei@tuni.fi
ESR 7: Investigating ice formation and adhesion of slippery surfaces prepared by thermal spraying
 

College/University
University of Salento, Lecce, Italy

Highest Degree
Master of Science (Honours)

Major Subjects
Materials Engineering and Nanotechnology

Lab Experience
Chemical composition analysis (Mass Spectrometry, IR, NMR Spectroscopy), Thermal analysis (DSC, TGA, Rheometer), Surface characterisation (Hardness, Contact angle analysis, FTIR, XRD, Optical microscopy, SEM), study of the kinetics of photo-polymerization (RTIR spectroscopy and P-DSC), mechanical testing (tensile, compression and bending), ultrasonic non-destructive testing.

Projects/Research

  • Master of Science Project (Spring 2015)
“Characterisation of A63S Alumina (University of Salento) and AES-11C Alumina (INMATEC)” under the supervision of Professor Antonio Licciulli in the Ceramic Materials Group at the Department of Engineering for Innovation at University of Salento in Lecce (Italy).
  • Research Internship (Spring 2016)
“Processing of polyurethanes made from renewable and biodegradable resources” under the supervision of Dr. Antonella Tarzia at the Technologies Design and Material European Research Centre in Brindisi (Italy).
  • Master of Science Thesis
Title: “Optimisation of stamp forming of PEKK/CF composites for aerostructures” carried out under the supervision of Professor Alfonso Maffezzoli form University of Salento and Eng. Michael Wielandt at the R&D Department of Fokker Technologies B.V. headed by Arnt Offringa. The aim of the research was to optimise the stamp forming process, carrying out heat treatment on PEKK/CF composites. Strong emphasis on non-destructive, destructive inspection and thermal analysis on heat-treated and out of autoclave formed thermoplastic composites.

Scholarships/Awards
Erasmus Placement (Summer – Autumn 2016) at Fokker Technologies B.V., Hoogeveen, The Netherlands
September 2017 - September 2020: LubISS ITN position

Rian Hughes
rian.hughes@physics.ox.ac.uk
ESR4: Particles and bacteria at slippery surfaces
 

College/University BSc National University of Ireland, Maynooth MASt University of Cambridge DPhil University of Oxford

Highest Degree MASt

Major Subjects Theoretical Physics and Mathematics

Lab Experience

  • Bachelors Computational Physics Project Visualisation of Quantum Hall Wave-Functions on Flat and Curved Manifolds using Computational Methods, under the supervision of Dr. Joost Slingerland.
  • Research Project Multiple-Radiofrequency Dressed Adiabatic Potentials, under the supervision of Prof. Christopher Foot.

Scholarships/Awards Entrance Scholarship All Ireland Scholarship Hamilton Award [Highest Grade in Mathematical Physics in the Final Year of Study] Hamilton Award [Highest Grade in Mathematics in the Penultimate Year of Study] Stokes Prize [Highest Grade in Mathematical Physics in the First Year of Study] August 2017 - August 2020: LubISS ITN Position

Srinath Lakshman
s.lakshman@utwente.nl
ESR10: Impacting experiment on slippery surfaces: Characterization of their stability
 

College/University
Master of Science (Engineering); Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, India
Bachelor of Technology; Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham, Coimbatore, India

Highest Degree
MSc. (Engg.)

Major subjects
Aerodynamics, Fundamental fluid mechanics

Lab experience
Worked with: Low speed wind tunnel, Supersonic wind tunnel and Hypersonic shock tunnel
Diagnostics: Phantom high speed camera, Data acquisition system by National Instruments, PCB pressure sensors, Schlieren technique
Processing: Digital signal processing using fast fourier transform, Time series analysis and Image processing

Scholarships
MSc. Engg. - Granted full scholarship from the Ministry of Human Resource Department
October 2017 - October 2020: LubISS ITN position

Alexandre Laroche
alexandre.laroche@airbus.com
ESR 12: Ice  wind tunnel and durability tests of new developed icephobic coatings for aerospace applications
 

College/University
BEng Concordia University, Montreal, Canada
MASc Concordia University, Montreal, Canada

Highest Degree
Master of Applied Science

Major Subjects
Mechanical Engineering

Lab Experience
Icing wind tunnel testing, composite materials manufacturing, IR imaging, laser flash analysis for thermal diffusivity, 3D printing, thermal spray.

Projects/Research

  • Bachelor Thesis
Carbon Fiber Body for the Concordia SAE Supermileage Vehicle” (2013 – 2014)
  • Deputy Advisor for Bachelor Thesis
Concordia University Vacuum Cold Spray Machine” (2015 – 2016)
Concordia University High Speed Icing Wind Tunnel” (2016 – 2017) Impact ice adhesion and ice accretion measurements on icephobic surfaces (2016 – 2019)
  • Master Thesis
“Comparative Evaluation of Embedded Heating Elements as Electrothermal Ice Protection Systems for Composite Structures” (2017)

Scholarships/Awards
2014: First Place SAE Student Exhibit Competition
2014: First Prize Concordia University Mechanical Engineering Design Award
2015 – 2017: Fellowship in NSERC CREATE Program “Competitive Manufacturing for the Aerospace Industry: Technology and Design”
2015 – 2016: Alexander Graham Bell Canada Graduate Scholarship Master’s from NSERC (National Level)
2015 – 2016: Master’s Research Scholarship from FRQNT (Provincial Level)
2016: Concordia University Conference and Exposition Award
2016: Concordia University Graduate Mobility Award
September 2017 - September 2020: LubISS ITN position

Emanuela Lorusso
lorusso@dtnw.de
ESR 13: Controlling the adhesion of bacteria via a combination of fibre treatment and surface functionalization
 

College/University
BSc at the University of Bari, Bari, Italy
MSc at the University of Southampton, Southampton, UK

Highest Degree
Master of Science

Major Subjects
Material Science, Inorganic Chemistry, Analytical Chemistry

Lab experience
Aerosol Assisted CVD, Plasma-Enhanced CVD, functional thin films and coatings, plasma chemistry, wettability analysis, Uv-Vis spectroscopy, powder XRD, GIXRD, XPS

Projects/Research

  • Bachelor research project
‘‘Improved stability of functional plasma polymers by vertical gradient structures'' at the EMPA, Swiss Federal Laboratory for Material Science and Technology of Saint Gallen, Switzerland.
  • Master research project
‘‘ New chemical vapor deposition routes to thin films and powders of titanium oxynitrides‘‘ at the University of Southampton, UK

Scholarships/Awards
September 2017 - September 2020: LubISS ITN position

Mariia Mikriukova
mariia.mikriukova@tuni.fi
ESR 6: Easy processing of porous surfaces and approaches to replenish the drained lubricant
 

College/University
St. Petersburg State Technological Institute (technical university), St. Petersburg (Russian Federation)

Highest Degree
Candidate of Sciences (Lic.Sc.(Tech))

Major Subjects
Electrochemistry

Lab Experience
Electrochemical methods of analysis (cyclic voltammetry, cell charge-discharge, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy, conductometry, potentiometry), electroplating and electroless plating, heat of wetting study, corrosion test (salt fog testing), tribological testing, measurement of nano particle size distribution.

Projects/Research

  • Specialist research project
“Chrome Plating using the electrolyte based on Cr (III)”

  • Candidate of Sciences Thesis
“Phosphoric acid esters as solvents for the electrolyte of lithium-ion batteries and supercapacitors”

Scholarships/Awards
September 2017 - September 2020: LubISS ITN position

Abhinav Naga
nagaa@mpip-mainz.mpg.de
ESR 2: Visualization and analysis of two-phase flow
 

College/University
University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom

Highest Degree
Master of Physics

Major Subjects
Physics

Lab Experience

  • Masters project: A computational study of the upper critical field of novel superconducting materials under the supervision of Dr. Amalia Coldea
  • Summer internship project: Testing high speed electrical tapes for the ATLAS upgrade under the supervision of Prof. Tony Weidberg
  • Searching for mesons containing b-quarks using data from the LHC

Scholarships/Awards
2013: State of Mauritius Scholarship, covering university costs for being ranked in the top 0.01% (Mauritius) in Advanced Level examinations
2013: Ranked first worldwide in 2012 A-level Mathematics Cambridge International Examinations
2014: St Hilda's College, Oxford College Exhibition for performance in Year 1 Preliminary examinations
2015: St Hilda's College, Oxford College Scholarship for performance in Year 2 Finals examinations
2016: St Hilda's College, Oxford College Prize for performance in Year 3 Finals examinations
October 2017 - October 2020: LubISS ITN position

Saurabh Nath
saurabh.nath@espci.fr
ESR 8: Characterization of drop dynamics on slippery surface
 

College/University
Virginia Tech (Masters)
Jadavpur University (Undergraduate)

Highest Degree
Master of Science in Engineering Mechanics

Major Subjects
Hydrodynamics, Ice Physics, Classical Nucleation Theory

Lab Experience
Humidity Chamber, Condensation and Frost Experiments, Top-Down Microscopy, High Speed Imaging.

Research Experience

  • Graduate Research Assistant (2015 – 2017)
    Nature-Inspired Fluids & Interfaces Lab, Department of Biomedical Engineering and Mechanics, Virginia Tech.
    Advisor: Dr. Jonathan Boreyko. >
  • Clean Room Experience (June 2015)
    Center for Nanophase Materials Sciences, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee.
    Advisors: Dr. Jonathan Boreyko & Dr. Patrick Collier
  • Undergraduate Research Assistant (Summer-Winter 2013)
    Tata Institute of Fundamental Research Center for Interdisciplinary Sciences, Hyderabad, India.
    Advisor: Prof. Rama Govindarajan
  • Undergraduate Research Assistant (Summer 2012)
    Engineering Mechanics Unit, Jawahar Lal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research, Bangalore, India.
    Advisor: Prof. K. R. Sreenivas
  • Undergraduate Research Assistant (Spring 2012–2014)
    Mechanical Engineering Dept., Jadavpur University, Kolkata, India.
    Advisors: Prof. Swarnendu Sen & Prof. Ranjan Ganguly

Scholarships/Awards
2010 Jagadis Bose National Scholar, Jagadis Bose Center for Excellence, India.
2011 First Prize, Jagadis Bose National Scholarship Project, Jagadis Bose Centre for Excellence, India.
2012 Indian Academy of Sciences Fellowship, Indian National Science Academy, India.
2013 TIFR Summer Research Fellowship, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research Centre for Interdisciplinary Sciences, India.
2017 Paul E. Torgersen Award, Masters, Poster.
2017 Finalist, Collegiate Inventor’s Competition.
2017 LubISS ITN Position

Matteo Orlandini
matteo.orlandini@millidyne.fi
ESR14: Wear resistance of lubricant impregnated surfaces
 

College/University
University of Perugia, Italy

Highest Degree
Master in Chemistry sciences

Major subjects
Organic chemistry

Lab Experience
Ion chromatograph, synthesis of surfactants molecules, use of viscometer, spectrophotometer UV-Visible, electrical conductivity meter and Karl-Fischer titration, liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry and chemometrics.

Projects/Research

  • Bachelor research project
    Characterization of the inorganic component of atmospheric particulate matter transported over long distances in air masses.
    Validation of an analytical method to determine the presence of a specific analyte.
    Title: “Ionic chromatography techniques for chemical characterization of soluble fraction of atmospheric aerosol”.
  • Master research project
    Characterization of physical properties of some new supramolecular solvents and new deep eutectic solvents. Determination of how these properties change by changing the length of the alkyl chain of the hydrogen bond acceptor molecule.
    Title: “Novel deep eutectic solvents based on amine-N-oxides”.

Filipe Signorelli
ESR 9: Stabilizing lubricant in porous microfluidic channel under flow
 

College/University

Institute of Chemistry, University of Campinas (IQ-UNICAMP), Campinas, Brazil

Highest Degree

Master of Chemistry

Major Subjects

Physical Chemistry

Lab Experience

Thin polymer film production via casting, tensile testing, contact angle and interfacial tension measurements, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), quartz crystal microbalance (QCM), galvanostatic electropolymerization, static light scattering (SLS), confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM)

Scholarships/Awards

  • March 2015 - February 2017: Master's scholarship from CAPES
  • March 2017 - December 2019 and January 2021 - August 2021: PhD's scholarship from CAPES
  • January 2020 - December 2020: LubISS ITN position
  • Walter Tewes
    w.b.h.tewes@utwente.nl
    ESR 11: Dynamics of wetting ridges
     

    College/University:

    University of Münster (BSc, MSc, PhD)

    University of Twente (currently)

    Highest Degree :

    Dr. rer. nat. (PhD)

    Major Subjects:

    Theoretical Physics

    Lab Experience:

    Computational experiences: Finite element simulations, numerical continuation

    Scholarships/Awards:

    March 2018 - March 2020: LubISS ITN position

    Kristian Thijssen
    kristian.thijssen@physics.ox.ac.uk
    ESR 5: Modeling the dynamics of slippery surfaces
     

    College/University
    Rudolf Peierls Centre for Theoretical Physics, University of Oxford

    Highest Degree
    Master of Science

    Major Subjects
    Computational physics, Soft active matter

    Lab Experience
    Computational experiences: Molecular dynamics. Multi-particle collision dynamics. Dissipative particle dynamics. Monte Carlo method. Lattice Boltzmann model

    Publications

    • Shendruk*, Doostmohammadi*, Thijssen* & Yeomans. Dancing disclinations in confined active nematics. Soft matter (2017)
    • Doostmohammadi*, Shendruk*, Thijssen* & Yeomans. Onset of meso-scale turbulence in active nematics. Nat. Commun (2017)
    *co-first author

    Scholarships/Awards
    September 2017 - September 2020: LubISS ITN position

    William Wong
    wong@mpip-mainz.mpg.de
    ESR1: Monitoring icing and deicing on (micro)structured surfaces
     

    College/University
    National University of Singapore, Singapore
    Australian National University, Canberra, Australia

    Highest Degree
    Bachelor of Engineering (2013)

    Major subjects
    Chemical Engineering, Materials Science

    Lab Experience
    Synthesis (Sol-gel, liquid flame spray, wet-spray, dip- and spin- coating + surface functionalization), Chemical analysis (FTIR, XRD), Surface characterization (ASTM D4060 (abrasion), D3359 (scratch), Contact angle analysis, UV-vis, QCM), Thermal-mechanical analysis (TGA, DSC, DMA), Microscopy (SEM, TEM, AFM).

    Projects/Research

    • Siemens Pte. Ltd. (Singapore, 2010)
      Synthesized unique polymer-based air cathodes which were cost-competitive compared to pre-existing conventional designs. Title: “Scaling Microbial Fuel Cells (MFCs) for wastewater treatment”

    • Institute of Materials Research and Engineering and National University of Singapore (Singapore, 2011-2013)
      Developed a series of auto-assembled composite polymer coatings with anti-scratch properties which rivals commercially available products. Title: “Tough Hybrid Composite Polymers for Anti-Scratch Purposes”

    • National University of Singapore (2013-2014)
      Utilized recyclable nanobiocatalysts (Ni-NTA-Magnetic Nanoparticles (MNPs)) for the immobilization of his-tagged enzymes (OASS Cys A and Cys B). Title: “Biocatalysis via Biomimetics based Enzyme Immobilization Techniques”

    • Australian National University (2014-2018)
      Utilized scalable synthetic designs for super(de)wetting coatings and micro-hydro-mechanical devices. Achieved states of superhydrophilicity, adhesive/ slippery superhydrophobicity, and superoleophobicity-superamphphobicity using highly scalable, chaotic but deterministic methods. Title: “Super(de)wettability via Scalable Hierarchical Surface Texturing”

    Scholarships/Awards
    2013 - NUS Faculty of Engineering (Innovation & Research) Award
    2013 - NUS Outstanding Undergraduate Researcher (OUR) Prize (Individual)
    2014 - ANU Higher Degree (Research) Merit Scholarship
    2014 - ANU University Research Scholarship (URS) and CECS-HDR Scholarship
    2016 - Treloar Prize, Australasian Polymer Symposium (36APS)
    2016 - ANU Media and Outreach Award
    2016 - Graduate Student Award, Materials Research Society (MRS)
    2016 - “Science as Art” Award, Materials Research Society (MRS)
    Jan 2018 - December 2020 - LubISS ITN position