Doctoral Student Profiles

I grew up in Nashua, New Hampshire and earned my B.S. in Chemical Engineering from the University of New Hampshire. I decided to come to WPI because I want to conduct research in industry after my PhD. When I learned about the IGERT program, with its focus on translational research and innovation and entrepreneurship classes I knew it would be an excellent fit for me. I work in Dr. Amy Peterson's lab researching temperature in additive manufacturing both experimentally and computationally

My work focuses on applying molecular modeling methods like density functional theory to understand reactions in heterogeneous catalysis. Awards Sigma Xi, Associate Member, April 2016  WPI Graduate Student Travel Award, February 2016 

My research topic mainly lies in the area of heat and mass transfer phenomenon analysis of catalytic membrane reactor (CMR) via computational fluid dynamics (CFD) multiphysics simulation, along with the experimental study. I joined WPI to pursue a PhD degree since 2013, and have been working with both Professor Dixon and Professor Ma since then.

My research focuses on modeling viable catalysts for direct ethanol fuel cells by means of molecular modeling and I work in Professor Deskins’ lab. I did my undergraduate studies at University of Tehran, Iran and my bachelor project was the application of metallic nanoparticles in asphaltene adsorption. Unlike my Ph.D. research, my undergrad project was merely experimental. I joined WPI at 2013 and from then I am doing theoretical work by means of Density Functional Theory.

My name is Prosper Wiredu Ackah, originally from Ghana in West Africa where I had my high school education at Asankragwa Senior High School (Asanco) in 2006. After high school, I worked in a Chines based company known as Sunda Ghana Ltd, in Accra the capital of Ghana between 2006 to 2010. In January 2010, I moved to Worcester Massachusetts in United State. I started my college education in September of 2012 at Worcester State University and completed in May 2016 with a bachelor in Biotechnology (Major) and a Minor in Chemistry. While finishing up my degree at Worcester state, I applied to ...

I am new Chemistry/Biochemistry Department PhD candidate working with Robert Dempski's lab. I received my undergraduate degree from Quinnipiac University in Biomedical Sciences in 2016. Currently we are working with oocytes from Xenopus laevis frogs in combination with electrophysiology to study various transporter proteins.

Initially focused on biotechnology during my undergraduate degree, I slowly transitioned into studying chemistry in my later years of college. During my master's degree, I pursued a computational project focused on elucidating the reaction mechanism of nitroxyl and GAPDH via molecular mechanics calculations.

Alex completed his B.S. in Chemistry at Worcester State University where he studied organometallic chemistry with Jeremy R. Andreatta Ph.D. The focus of his research was on Lewis acid-base binding of pyridine to boryl-functionalized metallocenes for the purpose of C-H activation. His current studies at WPI are on the passivation and secondary functionalization of Si(111) surfaces. Secondary functionalizions include moieties which would promote interfacial adhesion and efficient charge carrier transport in tandem-junction configurations.

"Once you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth."

I attended Worcester State University for undergrad where I worked with Dr. Margaret Kerr on C-H bond activation using Cp*Ir catalysts. Throughout undergrad I worked as a Peer Assisted Learning mentor helping students in their chemistry courses and spent two summers as an intern at Alkermes in Waltham, MA. After starting at WPI in 2018 I joined Shawn Burdette's lab and began working on the development of photocaged complexes for studying Zn(II) signaling.