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Students

Students and Work Hours

Undergraduates and Hours

  • Nearly 50% of the research assistants in our group are undergraduates.
  • On average, they work 15 hours per week during the semester and 40 hours per week during breaks.

Underrepresented Students:

  • 60% are from underrepresented groups—minorities and women—and/or from underutilized groups including non-traditional students over 25 years old, military veterans, and the first in their families to attend college.
  • 95% are from geographically under represented regions of the country, relative to research dollars.

What Students Gain

  • Extensive training on various instrumentation and fabrication and synthesis techniques, particularly in the initial six months
  • An understanding of team work and team design that mirrors the expectations of industry laboratories they may participate in upon graduation
  • Exposure to a broad array of multidisciplinary research such as nanomaterials, biomaterials, biochemistry, photonics, electronic and optical and biomedical devices, and surface science
  • Training and course work in publishing and presenting to help them participate in the broader research community by producing journal and conference manuscripts, posters, and presentations
  • Exposure to national and international university and industry collaborations such as collaborations with Caltech, Tech. Univ. Munich, Technische Universität Wien-Austria, SEMATECH, Inter-University Microelectronics Center- Belgium, Ludwig-Maximlians University-Germany, Università di Modena e Reggio Emilia-Italy, Technische and Universität München-Germany
  • The opportunity to manage projects and design experiments
  • Research experience, which coupled with high academic standards required for group participation, makes them highly attractive to graduate schools and industry.

How our Students Participate in the Research Community

  • Awards — Through 2010, undergraduate and graduate students in our group have received over 65 awards, scholarships and fellowships
  • Advanced Studies — Upon graduation, undergraduate researchers have been accepted to PhD programs including the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, University of California-Santa Barbara, Purdue University, and Caltech.
  • Employment — Undergraduate and graduate students have been employed by National Institute of Standards & Technology, Micron Technology, Photronics, and Freescale Semiconductor, among others.
  • Journal articles—60% undergraduate and 60% graduate students
  • Conference papers—40% undergraduate and approximately 55% graduate students
  • Conference presentations (oral and poster)—80% undergraduate and 80% graduate students
  • Publications and Presentations — Through 2010, students in the group have produced

Current Students

Graduate Students

NameMajorDate StartedCurrent Project
German BarcenasMSESpring 2019Quantum DNA
Simon RoyMSEFall 2018Quantum DNA
Austin BiaggneMSESummer 2018Quantum DNA
Drew LysneMSEFall 2017DNA Nanotech
Maia KetteridgeMSESummer 2021Quantum DNA
Nicholas WrightMSESpring 2022Quantum DNA
Ryan RauMSESummer 2022Quantum DNA

Undergraduate Students

NameMajorDate StartedCurrent Project
Ben BaileyMSESummer 2022Surface Science Lab
Victor NguyenBusiness and Economic AnalyticsSpring 2021Surface Science Lab
Nolan OlasoSurface Science Lab

Former Students

Graduate Students

NameMajorDate StartedDate GraduatedNow At
Betsy CheekECEFall 2001Freescale Semiconductor
Rex OxfordMSESummer 2002Boise State University, College of Engineering
Russ BensonECESummer 2002Micron Technology
Tim LawrenceECESummer 2002Puget Sound Naval Shipyard
Carry LawrenceECEFall 2002Puget Sound Naval Shipyard
Jen ColeMSESummer 2003Idaho Department of Environmental Quality
Michael OgasECESummer 2003Micron Technology
Richard SouthwickECESummer 2003NIST
David AraujoMSEFall 2004Fall 2008MP Mask Technology Center
Kendra CoonseBiologySummer 2006U. of Washington Medical School
Alex EnglishECESummer 2008Micron Technology
Hieu BuiECEFall 2006NRC Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory
Demmelash MengistuMSEFall 2010Summer 2012Micron Technology
Craig OnoderaMSESummer 2009Spring 2012SDC Materials, Inc.
Chris BuuECESummer 2006Deloitte
Blake RappECESpring 2010Micron Technology
William P. KleinMSEFall 2011Fall 2016NRC Postdoctoral Reseach Fellow at the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory
Ann DelaneyMSESpring 2015Fall 2016Micron School of MSE
Xiaoping OlsonMSESummer 2012Fall 2016ASML, Engineer
Juan Flores-EstradaMSEFall 2015Micron Technology
Amanda StrongChemistrySummer 2014Micron Technology
Brittany CannonMSESummer 2012Spring 2018Micron Technology
Shohei KotaniMSESpring 2013Spring 2018ASML, Application Engineer
Sadao TakabayashiMSESummer 2011Summer 2014DNA Nanotech
Brett WardMSEFall 2012Summer 2020DNA Nanotech & Nanophotonics
Michael TobiasonMSEFall 2012Fall 2019DNA Nanotech
Steven LetourneauMSESummer 2014Spring 2018ASM America in Phoenix, AZ
Christopher GreenMSESummer 2014Fall 2018DNA Nanotech & Nanophotonics
Lance PattenMSEFall 2014Fall 2016Quantum DNA
Sara Goltry KuratisMSESummer 2011, Summer 2017Atomic Layer Deposition
Ryan ThompsonCSWinter 2008 &
Fall 2014
Boise State Multilayer Dielectric MOS
Energy Band Diagram Program & FieldSyncâ„¢
Donald KellisMSEFall 2010Spring 2020Quantum DNA
Jonathan HuffMSESpring 2017Summer 2023Quantum DNA

Former Students

Undergraduate Students

NameMajorDate StartedDate GraduatedNow At
Jose GomezECESummer 2001Micron Technology
Kyle SeeMESpring 2002Power Engineers
Rob HansenECESummer 2002Micron Technology
Zak ClarkMSEFall 2002Zephyr Photonics
Wendy WilsonECEFall 2002
Dorian Kiri**ECESpring 2003Micron Technology
Nate StutzkeECESpring 2003Ball Aerospace
David JenkinsECESpring 2004Photronics
Patrick NaglerECESpring 2004Micron Technology
David WhelchelECESummer 2004Micron Technology
Pedro CahuanaECEFall 2004Hewlett Packard
Mark ElginECEFall 2004Kimberly Clark
Zach HeumanMSESpring 2005Spring 2006Micron Technology
Josh KiepertECESpring 2005Boise State ECE PhD Program
SangHyun ParkECESpring 2005Aptina Imaging
Patrick Price*,**MSESpring 2005Spring 2008BSU, Research Engineer
Ricardo AyllonECESummer 2005Pioneer Health Services
Terry GorsethECESummer 2005CH2M-Hill/Washington Group, Inc.
Dave Estrada*ECEFall 2005Boise State University MSE Assistant Professor
Kaci BloxhamMSESpring 2006Fall 2009Idaho Gold and Silver, Owner
Jonathan HendersonMESummer 2006PhD Bioengineering Purdue University; Research Engineer, DePuy Orthorpaedics, Inc.
Justin ReedECESummer 2006INL
Matt ReinholdMSESummer 2006Spring 2009UC Santa Barbara MSE PhD Program
Austin JohnsonMSEFall 2007Fall 2008Photronics, Process Engineer
TyRee LeeECEFall 2007Boise State Undergrad
Davis DanielMSESpring 2008Spring 2010Boise State MSE Graduate Program
Rebecca HodkinMSESpring 2008Spring 2009American Systems, Operations and Assessment Analyst
Mallory YatesMEWinter 2008Boise State ME Undergrad
Carson KidwellMSEFall 2009Boise State Biology Undergrad
Amber CoxMSESpring 2008Micron Technology
Ross ButlerECESummer 2007Hewlett-Packard
Lloyd Lowe IIECEWinter 2008Puget Sound Naval Shipyard
Dave SchenkerMBESpring 2008Greenspeed / Boise State UG
Linnia HawkinsMSESummer 2010University of Colorado
Stephanie BarnesMSESpring 2008Spring 2011CalTech, Pursuing a Ph.D. in Bioengineering
Pammy WalkerMSEWinter 2008
Glen PurnellMBEWinter 2009Boise Inc
Shane PugmireECEWinter 2010Financial Insurance Group National
Ryan ThompsonECEWinter 2008FieldSyncâ„¢ & Boise State CS MS Program
Jessica MinickMSEWinter 2009Spring 2012Invenio Solutions, HR Support Coordinator
Shem PurnellECEWinter 2009Adecco Engineering and Technical
Allen BenzCSSpring 2011Boise State Computer Science Undergrad
Tyler ClarkPhysicsSummer 2011Boise State Physics Undergrad
Kimball AndersonMBESpring 2011Boise State Mechanical Engineering Undergrad
Amber Thompson (Lay)MSESummer 2011NxEdge
Courtney HollarMBEWinter 2010Univ. of Idaho ME Ph.D. program
Noah MorrisECEWinter 2010Control Engineering
Donald KellisMSEFall 2010may 2020
Nick Luong**ECESpring 2011University of California – San Diego PhD program
Nick SchmidtMSESpring 2011Spring 2013University of Washington PhD program
Dominic WaydaCSSummer 2011Nanophotonics
Lejmarc SnowballMSESummer 2010Spring 2014Tokyo Electron, Process Engineering Technician
Jasen NielsenMBESummer 2012Engineer at the Puget Spund Naval Shipyard in Bremerton, WA.
Kelly SchuttMSEWinter 2012Spring 2016Oxford, Pursuing PhD (on Marshall Fellowship)
Corey EfawMBESpring 2013Boise State MSE Ph.D. program
Adam Solomon MBESummer 2013Constellium-UACJ
JT SamMBESummer 2013
Brain CombsChemistrySummer 2013
Sam HaighMBESpring 2014
Steve JohnsMSESummer 2014Spring 2017Boise State MSE Ph.D. program
Griff AllenMSESummer 2014COEN Machine Shop
Nick LaCombeMSESummer 2014
Elijah SpearsMSESummer 2014Spring 2016Process Engineer, Micron Technology
Katie Livingston YochamMBESummer 2014Boise State MBE Accelerated MS program
Daniel KellyMSESummer 2014ON Semiconductor
Jesse SchimpfMSESpring 2016Spring 2020Graduate School - UC Berkeley
Olivia MaryonMSESummer 2017Spring 2020Graduate School - Boise State PhD in MSE
Kari LivingstonMBESpring 2015Surface Science Lab
Sam RyanBishop Kelly High SchoolSummer 2016Surface Science Lab
William CrowMSEWinter 2015Spring 2018Micron manufacturing technician
Tyler WebbMSESummer 2017Spring 2020Space Dynamic Laboratory - North Logan, Utah
Mayzie HoudekMSESummer 2020Spring 2021Virginia Commonwealth University
Hannah ByersMSESpring 2020Spring 2022Arizona State University
Celine TranBiological SciencesFall 2016
Jake SoaresPhysicsSummer 2017
Karen PerezMBESummer 2017
Sophia MitchellMSESpring 2019Spring 2021
Ashton EnrriquesMSESummer 2019Spring 2022Park AFT
Audrey ParkerMSESummer 2019Spring 2022MIT
Alejandra AlmarazMSESpring 2022
Fabian MolinaPre-Engineering (CWI)Spring 2022

* : Lead Undergraduate Research Assistant

**: Top Ten Scholar