Current Students
Zaffar Iqbal is a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Houston’s Materials Science and Engineering. Before coming to the University of Houston, he completed his Master of Philosophy in solid state physics from the University of the Punjab Lahore, Pakistan with the research focused on the dielectric and magnetic properties of spinel ferrites.
Tanzeel Shahzad is a PhD candidate in Materials Science and Engineering. He holds a Bachelor’s (BS) degree and an MPhil in Physics from the University of the Punjab, Lahore, and Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad. His research focuses on the fabrication, characterization, and modeling of biopolymer-based electrolytes. His research interests also span polymer blending strategies to enhance the performance and properties of polymer electrolytes for advanced energy storage applications.
Nayan is a PhD candidate in materials science and engineering at the University of Houston. He holds an M.Sc. degree in Electrical and Electronic Engineering from University of Dhaka, Bangladesh. His master's thesis was concentrated on investigating multifunctional properties.He was an intern at Samsung R & D Bangladesh.
Saeide is a PhD candidate in Materials Science and Engineering, holding a Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering. Her research focuses on integrating AI with lithium-ion batteries to predict their remaining lifetime and state of health. She investigates the factors that influence battery degradation and explores strategies to extend their lifespan, aiming to contribute to more efficient and sustainable energy storage solutions. Saeide enjoys writing and composing poetry in her leisure time.
Prashan's research focuses on developing fabric based flexible and stretchable lithium ion batteries and investigating on the electrochemical and mechanical properties. Prashan has a Masters degree in Aeronautics from the Embry Riddle Aeronautical University in Florida. He completed his Bachelors of Science with Honors in Aeronautical Engineering from the General Sir John Kotelawela Defence University in Sri Lanka. Prashan loves to travel during his free time. His hobbies include keeping up with sports, going on nature hikes, cycling and playing pickleball.
Kianoosh is a PhD student in Mechanical Engineering at the University of Houston. He received his Bachelor's Degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Zanjan and Master's in Photonics Engineering from the University of Tehran. His current research focuses on using magnetic quantum sensors for battery monitoring and early failure detection, as well as implementing physics-informed neural networks for battery lifetime estimation. Kianoosh enjoys playing chess and swimming in his free time.
Peter is currently the Vice President of Engineering at KULR Technology Group. Peter has also previously served as a battery thermal engineer at NASA. He is an experienced engineer with a demonstrated history of working in the mechanical, aerospace, lithium-ion, and industrial engineering sectors. Peter has a good knowledge and experience with Autodesk, Thermal Desktop, CREO, ANSYS, Microsoft Office, Tableau and LabView.
Kirk is a mechanical engineering freshman in the Honors College at the University of Houston with a strong interest in energy efficiency in mechanical systems. He enjoys combining technical learning with hands-on projects and collaborative work, and he is always looking for opportunities to grow academically and creatively. Outside of engineering, Kirk enjoys playing soccer and volleyball, performing music on the piano and violin, and collecting rare coins and precious metals.
Alumni
Undergraduate and Highschool Students Advised
| Carolina Blanca Andrade | B.S. | UH Undergraduate Research Student (Graduated) | Fall 2010 |
| Chaitanya Patel | B.S. | UH Undergraduate Research Student (Graduated) | Fall 2010 |
| Eric D. Wood | B.S. | UH Undergraduate Research Student (graduated) | Fall 2010 |
| Syed Tayeb Haque | B.S. | Undergraduate Research Student | Spring 2010 |
| Lauren Lundquist | B.S. | Summer REU Scholar (Colorado School of Mines) | Summer 2011 |
| Veronica Richter | B.S. | Summer REU Scholar (Trinity University) | Summer 2011 |
| Stephen Pair | B.S. | Summer REU Scholar (UT Arlington) | Summer 2012 |
| Pallav Surabathuni | B.S. | Visiting Student (IIT, India) | Summer 2011 |
| Reed Newell | High School | Visiting Student | Summer 2012 |
| Carey Landon | High School | Visiting Student | Summer 2012 |
| Jeremy Erdman | B.S. | Summer REU Scholar (Trinity University) | Summer 2013 |
| Brett W. Provance | B.S. | Summer REU Scholar (Colombia University) | Summer 2014 |
| Adanma Akoma | B.S. | Summer REU Scholar (University of North Texas) | Summer 2015 |
| Tam Nguyen | B.S. | UH Undergraduate Research Student Honors Thesis | 2014-2016 |
| Abby Zinecker | B.S. | SURF-UH Undergraduate | Summer 2014 |
| Jeffrey Hong | B.S. | SURF-UH Undergraduate | Summer 2015 |
| Itay Porat | B.S. | SURF- UH Undergraduate | Summer 2016 |
| Cody Andel | B.S. | UH Undergraduate Researcher | Summer 2017 |
| Turgut Karagozlu | B.S. | UH Undergraduate Researcher | Summer 2017 |
| Ksenia Iakovleva | B.S. | UH Undergraduate Researcher | Summer 2017 |
| Kimberly Bourland | B.S. | Summer REU Scholar (University of Colorado – Boulder) | Summer 2017 |
| Julia White | B.S. | Summer REU Scholar (Univ. of Colorado – Boulder) | Summer 2018 |
| Ike Theriot | B.S. Honors | Honors Thesis – UH Undergraduate | 2018 |
| Laura Malcotti-Sanchez | B.S. Honors | Tier One Scholar – UH Undergraduate | Spring 2019 |
| Damian Kao | B.S. Honors | SURF – Honors Thesis – UH Undergraduate | 2019-2020 |
| Parsa Tari | B.S. | REU and SURF –UH Undergraduate | 2022-2023 |



