Zheng received his Ph.D. degree in Environmental Engineering in 2020 from the University of California, Berkeley. Before that, he obtained his B.S. degree from Zhejiang University of Technology (China) in 2013, and an M.S. degree in 2015 from the University of Maryland, College Park.

As a Distinguished Postdoctoral Fellow at the Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment, Zheng focuses on developing novel nanomaterials and technologies for energy-efficient carbon capture and mineralization, collaborating with professors Z. Jason Ren and Claire White.

Ball received her doctorate in chemistry from Columbia University under Professor Colin Nuckolls. Her thesis focused on structure-function relationships between molecular design of organic small molecules and organic electronics. At her time at Columbia, she co-authored over ten publications and was awarded the Presidential Award for Outstanding Teaching for her efforts in the classroom.

Ball joined the Loo Group at Princeton University as a Presidential Postdoctoral Fellow in 2019. Her work in the Loo Group centers on the design of UV absorbers for transparent photovoltaic devices. These devices can be used as the power source for smart windows or for applications where color neutrality is a primary objective.

Website | Contact

Christie completed his doctoral degree in environmental engineering at Vanderbilt University, where he worked to advance water treatment and desalination technologies for high-salinity wastewater. His thesis focused on expanding our understanding of membrane distillation through module-scale thermodynamic analysis and elucidation of the causes and effects of inorganic fouling on membrane surfaces.

As a Presidential Postdoctoral Fellow, Christie worked in the WET (Water & Energy Technologies) Lab of Z. Jason Ren, Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering and the Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment. Christie’s work explored the intersection of membrane separation and crystal nucleation to sustainably recover solid and liquid resources from wastewater streams associated with coal-fired power plants. Additionally, Christie worked under the mentorship of Rodney Priestley, Pomeroy and Betty Perry Smith Professor of Chemical and Biological Engineering.

Website | Contact

Tapomoy Bhattacharjee, who earned his doctoral degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Florida in Gainesville, worked on developing ways to design and control bacterial communities at Princeton. Bhattacharjee is developing 3D-printed biofilms to remediate contaminated water. Sujit Datta serves as Bhattacharjee’s mentor. Bhattacharjee’s work focused on understanding the fundamental mechanisms by which bacterial communities behave, and uses novel fabrication approaches to control and optimize biofilm-mediated remediation. In addition to Professor Datta, Bhattacharjee worked with Professors Peter Jaffé, Howard Stone, and Robert Austin.

In 2012, Bhattacharjee earned a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from Jadavpur University in Kolkata, India. He then went to University of Florida, where he earned two master degrees in chemical and mechanical engineering in 2014 and 2015, respectively. He earned his doctoral degree in mechanical engineering from the same university.

Website | Seminar Series video

Ceferino earned his doctoral degree in civil and environmental engineering at Stanford University where he studied the effects of large earthquakes on hospital systems in Peru. His thesis focused on the policy implications for emergency planning and how to optimize the flow of patients, caregiving resources, and traffic during disaster emergency responses.

At Princeton University, Ceferino worked with Ning Lin, associate professor of civil and environmental engineering, and Warren Powell, professor of operations research and financial engineering and director of the Program in Engineering and Management Systems. Ceferino’s work leveraged Lin’s expertise in hurricane and climate change modeling and Powell’s expertise in stochastic optimization theory to model power systems during hurricanes, and provided solutions for more resilient infrastructure. He also worked with researchers in the Andlinger Center’s Energy Systems Analysis Group. Ceferino joined with the Civil and Urban Engineering Department and the Center for Urban Science and Progress at NYU in 2021.

Website | Contact | Seminar Series video

Kian Wee Chen, who earned his doctoral degree in architecture and buildings systems at ETH Zurich in Switzerland, works on sustainable buildings with concentrations in sustainable design and computational design tools. At Princeton, Chen is developing advanced digital tools to create more energy-efficient built environments. Forrest Meggers serves as Chen’s mentor. Chen engages with Professors Mark Zondlo, Elie Bou-Zeid, Niraj Jha, and Naveen Verma in his work.

Chen’s research specifically looks at sensors, computational algorithms, digital fabrication, and virtual and augmented reality technologies. User-friendly versions of these tools and processes can help designers create and measure prototypes for a more energy-efficient built environment, instead of focusing on technical troubleshooting. Chen hopes to help designers gain better access to advanced building technologies and to encourage their application in the design of a holistic energy solution for the built environment.

Website | Contact | Seminar Series video

Rebecca Ciez, who earned her doctoral degree in engineering and public policy from Carnegie Mellon University, works on electric vehicle transportation and electricity generation technologies at Princeton. Daniel Steingart and Elke Weber are her research mentors.

At the Andlinger Center, she looks at the crucial transition of the electrification of transportation, specifically electric vehicle technology, and electricity generation technologies. On the former, she focuses on the interactions between electric vehicle technology and consumer adoption by developing a model of the state of used electric vehicles at their time of sale, and comparing this model with consumer willingness to pay for different vehicle attributes that would justify battery replacement between owners. For the latter, Ciez looks at design choices, operating methods, and how use requirements work together in solar energy generation and storage systems. The output of this research will be useful for informing future research directions and development of new energy storage technologies.

Website | Seminar Series video

Bastien Wild, who earned his doctoral degree in earth science from the University of Strasbourg in France, works on the degradation of silicate materials, such as cements, rock-forming minerals, and glasses at Princeton. These materials have implications for green cements, carbon dioxide sequestration, and nuclear waste storage. He works under the mentorship of Ian Bourg and Claire White. Wild will also work with Professor Howard Stone.

As a postdoctoral fellow, Wild will focus on the mechanisms underlying the alteration of silicate materials, including minerals, glasses, and cements. In particular, silicate alteration rates have important implications for the long-term carbon cycle, the durability of urban infrastructure, and the feasibility of several low-carbon energy technologies, including green cements, carbon capture and storage, and radioactive waste storage. Despite extensive research efforts, fundamental controls on the rates of silicate weathering remain incompletely understood. Wild’s goal is to test the analogy between transport properties at fluid-silicate interfaces and those prevailing in semi-permeable nanofluidic membranes (a synthetic membrane that will selectively allow certain molecules or ions to pass through) in order to better understand overall silicate weathering processes.

Website