Jorge J. Santiago-Aviles

Associate Professor of Electrical and Systems Engineering, Secondary appointment in the Graduate School of Education.

His research interest encompasses materials and devices for electronics applications including energy conversion and storage, in particular super-capacitors, nano-composite materials, and deposition methods such as electro-spinning and electrodeposition. His pedagogical interest lies in STEM education and the education of under-served populations.  He is the Faculty Master at Kings Court English College House where he was instrumental in the organization of the  Science and Technology Wing (STWing), which have been serving the technically oriented student population for more than a decade.  His interest in serving Penn's students constituency has led him to serve as advisor to  the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers (SHPE) and as a co-founder of La Casa Latina  a Center for Hispanic Excellence.

Contact : santiago@seas.upenn.edu

Rocio del Alba Cardona-Couvertier, PhD

Post-Doctoral Research Fellow, Curriculum Vitae

Rocío Cardona was born and raised in Puerto Rico, were she conducted her primary education.  She concluded her undergraduate studies at the University of Puerto Rico in Río Piedras Campus at 2004 in Chemistry. Same year she began her doctoral studies, in the same campus, under the guidance of Dr. Ana R. Guadalupe in electroanalysis.  In 2011 she finished her Ph.D.  Thesis entitled “Physicochemical Studies of Ferrocenyl  Chalcones and their Interactions with Nafion and β-Cyclodextrins”.  In 2010, she was awarded with a post-doctoral fellowship from University of Pennsylvania Provost Office, where she is currently working as part of Dr. Santiago’s research team in the development of materials for applications in super capacitors. Rocío, have also been involved in education outreach efforts actively participating as mentor and speaker for several programs at UPENN (ITEST, NBIC, and LRSM Girard Project) and the NSF-REU Programs (SunFest and MRSEC).

Her interest are in electrochemistry related fields (electro analysis, energy storage systems development and biosensing), chemical education and bio analytical chemistry.

Contact : rocioc@seas.upenn.edu

Timothy Jones

PhD Student, Eectrical and System Engineering

Tim is 24 years old and he is a Ph.D. student at the University of Pennsylvania. He is currently studying electrical engineering. His current work includes simulating the capacitor double layer and working with the AFM. His interests include supercapacitors and soccer.

Contact : jonests@seas.upenn.edu

Hitesh Kumar Sahoo

Masters Student, Nanotechnology

Hitesh completed his Bachelors in Electronics and Instrumentation from BITS-Pilani, India in 2011. Currently he is working towards the design of a symmetrical hybrid supercapacitor and simulation of the formation of electric double layer on COMSOL. His other research interests also include device engineering (MEMS/NEMS) and display technologies.

Contact : hiteshs at seas.upenn.edu

Past Students

JaeWan Park

Graduate Student in Electrical and Systems Engineering.

He joined Santiago's Research Group in 2011, and he is currently researching on Energy Storage Devices specifically Hybrid SuperCapacitors.  He is also writing his Thesis titled "Carbide derived carbon / ProDOT electroactive polymer asymmetric supercapacitor."  He is a member of the board at Korea Graduate Student Association and a cafe manager at International House.

Contact: Jaewan at seas.upenn.edu

Summer 2012 Students

Matthew Biggers

Undergraduate, University of North Carolina Chapel Hill

Matt is 21 years old and he is going to be a senior at UNC-Chapel Hill. He is getting his bachelor’s degree in BME (biomedical engineering). He is here over the summer with Sunfest. He wants to do some research and get some experience for grad school. His current work consists of making separable membranes to go between the supercapacitor electrodes. His interest include soccer, sports, and listening to music.

Contact : biggersm@live.unc.edu

Esteban Villarreal

Undergraduate, University of Pittsburgh

Esteban is 25 years old and he is going to be a senior at University of Pittsburgh. He is studying biochemistry and is probably going to go to graduate school. He is here over the summer with NBIC. He hopes to gain experience working in a research setting and getting to work with top researchers in their field. He has aspirations to go to professional school to obtain an MD or Ph.D. His interests include hiking, camping, and cycling.

Contact : esv1@pitt.edu

Raymond Xu

Undergraduate, University of Pennsylvania

Raymond is 19 years old and he is going to be a junior at the University of Pennsylvania. He is studying materials science in engineering and finance in the business school. He is here over the summer with the PURM program. He is doing research to gain experience in working in a lab. His current work includes fabricating the LTCC supercapacitors, creating models in Solidworks and running simulations in Comsol. His interests include sports, music, and dancing.

Contact : xur@seas.upenn.edu

Adam Fletcher

Friend’s Select High School

Adam is going to be 16 in August and he is going to be a junior in high school in the fall. He is currently attending Friend’s Select High School. He wants to learn how a lab works and get experience in a research environment. He is considering the University of Pennsylvania and Princeton as potential colleges. His interests include chemistry, physics, and math.

Contact : adamf@friends-select.org

Rebecca Irizarry

Kensington CAPA High School

Rebecca is going to be 18 in September, and she is going to be a senior at Kensington CAPA High School. She is here over the summer to gain experience working in a lab. She is considering majoring in journalism but she is unsure. As for colleges, she is thinking of applying to NYU. Her current work includes making polymers and learning about supercapacitors. Her interests include making films, listening to music, and traveling.

Contact : rebeccairizarry@aol.com