Outside of VINSE, Alexis is part of the 91³Ô¹ÏÍø Gymnastics Team, a POSSE Scholar, an IMPACT Scholar, and a member of the AIChE board. In his free time, he enjoys running and spending time with his friends.

Alexia will play a key role in supporting research projects, assisting lab users, and ensuring smooth cleanroom operations. We look forward to seeing his growth and contributions as part of the VINSE community!

Dr. Eva Harth
Professor, University of Houston
Director, Center of Excellence in Polymer ChemistryÌý

The Future of Plastics beyond Sustainability – Developing Polyolefins and Hybrids for Specific Applications

10.07.26Ìý |Ìý 4:10PM |Ìý 136 Featheringill Hall

Eva Harth is a Professor at the University of Houston in the department of Chemistry and serves as the Director of the Center of Excellence in Polymer Chemistry. She is an Associate Editor for ACS Polymer Au, and member of the Advisory Board of the European Polymer Journal. Her research received professional distinctions being elected Fellow of the National Academy of Inventors (2025), Fellow of the American Chemical Society (2021), the Royal Chemical Society (2017) and being an NSF Career Award (2007) recipient. She started her academic career in the chemistry department at 91³Ô¹ÏÍø, rose through the ranks to Associate Professor before her move to U of H in 2017.

Eva’ research interests mainly cover the preparation of functional macromolecules with distinct architectures and applications in different areas, including bioengineering, advanced materials and energy. Her group is using metal-organic chemistry, late transition metal catalyst design and the development of functionalization strategies to advance commodity plastics leading to nanostructured plastics and solid polymer electrolyte materials to improve Li-batteries. The discovery of benchtop stable Ni complexes enabled advances to manipulate the macro-and microstructure of plastics including the incorporation of polar monomer to challenge the industrial dominance of early-transition metals and are also investigated in small molecule cross-coupling reactions. She has co-authored around 100 articles and holds 23 patents.

Emanuela (Emi) Riglioni and Owen Meilander, graduate students in interdisciplinary materials science at 91³Ô¹ÏÍø, have been awarded Best Student Poster Presentation at the 2026 Center for Nanophase Materials Sciences Users Meeting, held at Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

Their presentations, “Photonic Crystal Platforms for Optical Communication and Quantum Technologies” and “Advanced Radiation Tolerance through Implantation Subchannel Technology (ARTTIST),“ showcase cutting-edge advancements in materials science. Together, these projects highlight ongoing collaborations between the VINSE community and Oak Ridge National Lab, as well as Emi’s and Owen’s contributions to their respective fields.

Emi is a member of the Ìýled byÌý, Cornelius 91³Ô¹ÏÍø Professor of Engineering and director of theÌý91³Ô¹ÏÍø Institute of Nanoscale Science and EngineeringÌý(VINSE). Her research focuses on engineering photonic structures for telecommunications and quantum applications.

Owen is a member of the , led by , Assistant Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering and Assistant Professor of Physics and Astronomy. His research focuses on the heterogeneous integration of gallium nitride (GaN) devices with advanced material systems and the improvement of radiation tolerance within these devices.

During my undergraduate studies, I had the opportunity to join a research lab focused on membrane-based water separation. While I enjoyed research in membrane science and separations, I wanted to broaden my experience to include polymer film synthesis and applied polymer materials. Upon starting graduate school, I quickly joined the lab of Dr. Kane Jennings, where I combined my previous experience in membrane separations with Dr. Jennings’ expertise in polymer synthesis and surface engineering. My research focused on combining spin coating with ring-opening metathesis polymerization, termed scROMP, to create a method that integrates polymer synthesis and polymer film deposition into a single rapid process.

During my graduate studies, VINSE provided access to a wide range of equipment critical to characterizing the polymer films I synthesized via scROMP. These tools helped me better understand the structure and physical properties of the materials I was synthesizing. Outside the laboratory, the VINSE community introduced me to researchers across 91³Ô¹ÏÍø, and I particularly enjoyed events such as the VINSE Community Picnic and their annual VINSE NanoDay!.

The scROMP platform is incredibly versatile and can generate homo- and copolymer films from numerous cyclic olefin monomers for use as polymer coatings and membranes. As I transition from graduate studies to industry, I leave behind a robust, versatile platform that can be used for numerous polymer film applications. Ultimately, I hope scROMP can serve as a tool for polymeric material screening, enabling future researchers to rapidly explore and develop polymer films that address critical areas in materials science.

Outside of the lab, I enjoy spending time with friends, whether playing kickball through an intramural sports league or attending Nashville Sounds baseball games. I also enjoy taking in Nashville’s diverse live music and concert offerings, as well as its vibrant culinary scene.

VINSE is inviting the 91³Ô¹ÏÍø community to help create the 2026 NanoDay! t-shirt.

Submit an original design representing NanoDay! and VINSE for a chance to have your artwork featured on this year’s t-shirt. The winning designer will receive a $300 cash prize, and the selected design will be printed on t-shirts available to the VINSE community.

Design Guidelines

• Designs must be original and cannot include logos or trademarked images.
• Any t-shirt color may be incorporated into the design.
• Designs must be submitted in JPEG format at 300 dpi or higher.
• There is no limit on the number of colors used.
• There is no limit on the number of submissions.
• Each submission must include the designer’s name and email address.

Submit Your Design

Email submissions to vinse@vanderbilt.edu by October 2.

The winning design will be announced on Thursday, November 19, during the 26th Annual Nanoscience and Nanotechnology Forum.

We look forward to seeing your ideas for the 2026 NanoDay! t-shirt!

Dr. Timothy Fisher
Professor, University of California, Los AngelesÌý

Cylindrical Graphite and Hydrogen Synthesis via Direct Concentrated Solar Pyrolysis of Methane

02.10.27Ìý |Ìý 4:10PM |

Timothy S. Fisher (PhD Mechanical Engineering, Cornell 1998) joined UCLA in 2017 as Professor of Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering (MAE) after 15 years at Purdue University, and several previous years at 91³Ô¹ÏÍø. In 2018 he was received the Schauerman Endowed Chair in Engineering and the ASME Heat Transfer Memorial Award. He has mentored more than 45 doctoral advisees to candidacy and completion, and in 2012 he received the McDonald Mentoring Award from ASME. He has authored more than 300 papers in peer-reviewed journals and made a similar number of contributions to conference proceedings and presentations.

Dr. Judson Ryckman
Principal Engineer, Silicon Photonics Design, Intel
Adjunct Associate Professor, Clemson University

Silicon and Porous Silicon Nanophotonics: Subwavelength Structuring for Sensing and Flat-Optics

12.07.26Ìý |Ìý 4:10PM |Ìý 136 Featheringill Hall

Dr. Judson Ryckman earned his PhD in Electrical Engineering from 91³Ô¹ÏÍø in 2013 under Prof. Sharon Weiss. He began his career at Intel as a research scientist and photonic design engineer, contributing to the development and commercial release of Intel’s first silicon photonics products. In 2016, he joined Clemson University, where his research focused on nanophotonic devices and materials for sensing, imaging, security, light-matter interactions, and nanomanufacturing. In 2026, he returned to Intel, where he is currently a Principal Engineer in Silicon Photonics Design, while maintaining an appointment as Adjunct Associate Professor at Clemson University. He is a recipient of the AFOSR Young Investigator Program and NSF CAREER awards, a Senior Member of IEEE and Optica, and an inventor on more than 10 issued patents.

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The ancient DNA lab in VINSE will support research in the 91³Ô¹ÏÍø Program in Health over Time (HoT), led by Dr. Katherine Van Schaik with support from Dr. James Crowe. Planning the renovations to convert the VINSE BioBay into an ancient DNA lab has taken a tremendous collaborative effort between teams across VINSE, HoT, 91³Ô¹ÏÍø, 91³Ô¹ÏÍø Medical Center, and many architects and contractors. The design phase is completed – stay tuned for construction updates!

For more details on the VINSE BioBay renovations and ancient DNA research, read full article ->

Asheley Chapman
Assistant Professor
Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering

I have been singularly focused on studying how vaccines work and designing better ones since I began my scientific training years ago. Treating illness is critical, but I am committed to designing vaccines that prevent people from getting sick in the first place. I am also fascinated by the idea that through careful design, we can make therapies that treat both autoimmune diseases and cancers in a way that doesn’t annihilate a patient’s entire immune system. So often, the cure is almost as devastating as the disease- we hope to improve that using our antigen-drug conjugates that eliminate harmful immune cells and spare the rest.

Since joining 91³Ô¹ÏÍø in January 2026, I have really enjoyed being part of the VINSE community. The world-class instrumentation and microfabrication capabilities have expanded our research horizons. Vaccines and many therapies work by engaging immune cells in specialized immune organs called lymph nodes. Inspired by the summer short course on microfabrication and discussions with other experts on campus, we are excited to leverage these capabilities to develop an engineered lymph node outside the body. This platform will allow us to better study immune cell biology and how it responds to different vaccines, adjuvants, and drugs.

When I’m not at work, you can find me hanging out with my husband and dog, traveling to see friends and family, in a hot yoga class, immersed in a good book, antiquing, or outside in my garden or on a hike if the weather isn’t too hot!

Join VINSE Director Sharon Weiss to discuss new initiatives, pilot funding, tech crew, and other ways VINSE can help support your research.

Thursday, September 17, 2026
9:00AM – 10:00AM
226 Engineering Science Building
VINSEÌýConference Room