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Meet The Team

Dr. Li’s research group is comprised of members with diverse backgrounds, including materials science and engineering, physics, chemistry, biophysics, mechanical engineering, computer science, and mathematics.

Faculty

Associates and Students

Postdoctoral Associates, Research Staff, and Visiting Scholars

  • Gregory Noble, Part-Time Researcher, current since summer 2021
  • Hao-Yu, Zhu, Postdoc, fall 2018-fall 2020
  • Zhun-Yong Ong, Visiting Scholar from Institute of High-Performance Computing, Singapore, 2016

Graduate Students

  • Maia Ketteridge, Pursuing Ph.D. in MSE, current since fall 2021: Maia graduated from Whitworth University with a B.S in Biophysics in 2021. Her research interests include computational modeling of DNA, density functional theorem (DFT) and machine learning. She joined the Materials Theory and Modeling Group in Summer 2021. In her free time, Maia can be found playing board games, sailing, and spending time with her dog. Ketteridge Linkin
  • German Barcenas, Pursuing Ph.D. in MSE, current since spring 2019: German has a BS in Mechanical Engineering from Iowa State University and is currently pursuing his PhD in Materials Science and Engineering. This gives German an appreciation for multiscale modeling from the nanoscale to the macroscale. His current research focuses on computational modeling techniques such as Density Functional Theory and Molecular Dynamics to study DNA-dye aggregates for excitonic applications. His research interests are in molecular machines, sustainable energy, and multiscale modeling. Outside of work, German enjoys being active, traveling, and mastering Spanish. Barcenas LinkedIn
  • Austin Biaggne, Pursuing Ph.D. in MSE, current since summer 2018: Austin is a graduate student who earned his B.S. in Physics and minor in Mathematics from Washington State University (WSU) in 2018. He joined the Materials Theory and Modeling Group in summer 2018 to pursue his Ph.D. in Materials Science and Engineering at Boise State University. His current research interest is the multi-scale modeling of molecular systems through the use of density functional theory and molecular dynamics methods. His academic interests include computational modeling techniques, excited state properties of molecular aggregates, and bionanotechnology.Biaggne_CV
  • Matthew Lawson, Ph.D. in MSE awarded in Spring 2021
  • Ember Sikorski, Ph.D. in MSE awarded in Summer 2021
  • Izaak Williamson, Ph.D. in MSE awarded in May 2017
  • Thiago da Silva, M.S. in MSE awarded in May 2018

Undergraduate Students

  • Maruf Amed, B.S. in Computer Science at Boise State, 2021
  • Jack Herzoff, B.S. in Computer Science at Boise State, 2020-2021
  • Gregory Noble, B.S. in MSE at Boise State, 2019-2021
  • Sven Marnauzs, B.S. in Mathematics at Boise State, 2018-2020
  • Makayla Turner, B.S. in MSE at Boise State, 2017-2019
  • Andres Correa (Hispanic, McNair Scholar), MSE major at Boise State, 2015-2018
  • Eric Nelson (McNair Scholar), B.S. in MSE at Boise State, 2013-2016
  • Tim Hachigian, MSE major at Boise State, 2015-2016
  • Aline Elquist, B.S. in MSE at Boise State, 2015

Foreign Exchange/REU/RET

Dr. Li’s Materials Theory and Modeling Group is glad to host a multitude of foreign exchange students, research experiences for undergraduates (REU), and research experience for teachers (RET) which provides research-team experience with state-of-the-art facilities to students to research in STEM fields. Interested in: