About Our Team

Group Leader

James M. Rondinelli

James M. Rondinelli

Professor

Department of Materials Science and Engineering
Northwestern University
2220 Campus Drive, Evanston, IL 60208-3108, USA
Coordinates

3037 Cook Hall

Contact

Tel: (847) 491-3198
Fax: (847) 491-7820
Email: jrondinelli@northwestern.edu
Skype: james.rondinelli

Professional Preparation (CV)

Joseph Katz Distinguished Postdoctoral Fellow, Argonne National Lab. (06/2010–08/2011)
PhD in Materials, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA
BS in Materials Science, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL

Appointments

Professor, Northwestern University, Dept. of Materials Science & Engineering (09/2020 – present)
Associate Professor, Northwestern University, Dept. of Materials Science & Engineering (09/2017 – present)
Morris E. Fine Junior Professor of Materials and Manufacturing, Northwestern University (09/2016 – present)
Fellow, Northwestern-Argonne Institute of Science and Engineering (03/2015 – present)
Assistant Professor, Northwestern University, Dept. of Materials Science & Engineering (09/2014 – 08/2017)
Assistant Professor, Drexel University, Materials Science & Engineering Dept. (09/2011 – 08/2014)

Honors and Awards

Kavli Frontiers of Science Fellow, National Academy of Sciences (2018)
MRS Outstanding Young Investigator Award (2017)
Alfred P. Sloan Research Fellow in Physics (2016)
Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE, 2016)
3M Non-Tenured Faculty Award (NTFA, 2016)
Journal of Materials Chemistry C, Emerging Investigator in Materials Chemistry (2016)
NSF Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Award (2015)
ACS Select Virtual Issue on Solid-State Chemistry, Emerging Leader (2014)
American Ceramic Society Ross Coffin Purdy Award (2014)
Outstanding Research Award, Materials Science & Eng. Department, Drexel University (2012)
ACS Petroleum Research Fund, Doctoral New Investigator Grant (2012)
Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Young Faculty Award (2012)
Army Research Office, Young Investigator Program (YIP) Award (2012)
Joseph Katz Named Fellowship, Argonne National Laboratory (2010)
Materials Research Society (MRS) Graduate Student Gold Award (2010)
NSF – ICMR International Research Fellow (2008)
National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate (NDSEG) Fellow (2007)
National Science Foundation (NSF) Graduate Research Fellow (2007)

Professional and Service Activities

Member-at-Large, Division of Materials Physics (DMP), Executive Committee, American Physical Society (2018-2021)
Editorial Board Member, Journal of Physics: Condensed Matter (2017 – present)
Member, Argonne Center for Nanoscale Materials (CNM) Users’ Executive Committee (UEC) (2016 – 2019)
Editorial Board Member, NPJ Computational Materials (2015 – present)
Member, MRS Academic Affairs Committee and University Chapters Subcommittee (2015 – present)
Faculty Adviser, Tau Beta Pi Engineering Honor Society at Northwestern University (2015 – present)

Meetings, Workshops, and Sessions Organized

ACerS Electronic Materials and Applications (EMA) Symposium S4: Complex Oxide Thin Film Materials Discovery (Orlando, FL, 2019)
ACerS Electronic Materials and Applications (EMA) Symposium S8: Multifunctional Nanocomposites (Orlando, FL, 2018)
ISIF-17 Session C: Science and technology of multiferroics and magnetoelectrics (New Delhi, India, 2017)
International Workshop on Oxide Electronics (iWOE-24) (Chicago, IL, 2017)
APS March Meeting Focus Topic: Magnetic Oxide Thin Films and Heterostructures (New Orleans, LA, 2017)
ACerS Electronic Materials and Applications (EMA) Symposium S14: Multifunctional Nanocomposites (Orlando, FL, 2017)
APS March Meeting Focus Topic: Complex Oxide Interfaces & Heterostructures (Baltimore, MD, 2016)
ACerS Electronic Materials and Applications (EMA) Symposium S5: Multifunctional Nanocomposites and Symposium S6: Computational Design of Electronic Materials (Orlando, FL, 2016)
Fall MRS Symposium DDD: Lighting the Path Towards Non-Equilibrium Structure-Property Relationships in Complex Materials (Boston, MA, 2015)
Materials Science and Engineering 32nd Annual Hilliard Symposium (Evanston, IL, 2015)
APS March Meeting Focus Topic: Computational Discovery and Design of Novel Materials (San Antonio, TX, 2015)
APS March Meeting Focus Topic: Emergent Properties of Bulk Complex Oxides (San Antonio, TX, 2015)
APS March Meeting Focus Topic: Complex Oxide Interfaces & Heterostructures (Baltimore, MD, 2013)
Fall MRS Symposium AA: Oxide Nanoelectronics and Multifunctional Dielectrics (Boston, MA, 2012)
Workshop on Oxide Interfaces by Design (Newport, RI, 2012)
APS March Meeting Focus Topic: Dielectric, Ferroelectric & Piezoelectric Oxides (Dallas, TX, 2011)

Graduate Students

Jie Song

BS (Physics), University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, China

Research Interests
Find appropriate materials for certain physical properties

Joined Group
October, 2022

Hometown: Yantai, China
Hobbies: Riding
Favorite Linux command: rm -Rf
Favorite Structure: Pyrochlore

jiesong2027@u.northwestern.edu

Megan Burrill

B.S. (Material Science and Engineering), Illinois Institute of Technology, Chicago, IL
M.E. (Material Science and Engineering), Illinois Institute of Technology, Chicago, IL

Research Interests
Modeling of nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy to understand reactions and hydrogen dynamics.

Joined Group
November, 2022

Hometown: Truckee, CA
Hobbies: Swimming, cooking, climbing, hiking, and other outdoor activities
Favorite Linux command: cd
Favorite Structure: Beryl

meganburrill2027@u.northwestern.edu

Margaret Quinn

B.S. (Physics), Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD
B.A. (Mathematics), Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD

Research Interests
Theory of solid-state systems, including the electronic properties, magnetism, correlations, and phase transitions using first-principles methods based on density-functional theory.

Joined Group
May, 2023

Hometown: Washington, D.C.
Favorite Linux command: screen
Favorite Element: Mercury

margaretquinn2026@u.northwestern.edu

Dawson Smith

B.S. (Materials Science and Engineering), Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN
B.S. (Chemistry), Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN
M.S. (Materials Science and Engineering), Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN

Research Interests
Theory and modelling of phase transitions and reactions in functional ceramics.

Joined Group
November, 2023

Hometown: Truckee, CA
Hobbies: Writing short songs, cooking, skiing, and games!
Favorite Linux command: shred
Favorite mineral: Cinnabar
Favorite coordination: Tetrahedral

dawsonsmith2027@u.northwestern.edu

Kyle Miller

BS (Physics and Mathematics), University of Puget Sound, Tacoma, WA

Research Interests
Leveraging first-principles calculations and informatics to explore the physics of metal-insulator transitions

Joined Group
October, 2018

Hometown: Yakima, WA
Hobbies: Volleyball, skiing, video games
Favorite Linux command: tail -f
Favorite structure: Rutile

kmiller@u.northwestern.edu

Graham Pritchard

MS (Civil Engineering), North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC
BS (Civil Engineering), North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC

Research Interests
Materials origin of quantum decoherence in superconducting qubits.

Joined Group
June, 2022

Hometown: Greensboro, NC
Hobbies: Piano, drums, French
Favorite Linux command: grep
Favorite space group: P63/mmc (no. 194)

patrickpritchard2025@u.northwestern.edu

Abhinav Roy

B.Tech (Metallurgical and Materials Engineering), National Institute of Technology Rourkela, India

Research Interests
Studying the passivation of alloys undergoing aqueous corrosion using multi-scale simulation techniques

Joined Group
November, 2022

Hometown: Kolkata, India
Hobbies: Writing blogs, playing table tennis, cooking.
Favorite Linux command: nohup
Favorite Element: Iron
Favorite Space Group: I4/mmm (no. 139)

abhinav.roy@u.northwestern.edu

Michele Campbell

B.S. (Materials Science and Engineering), University of California Merced, Merced, CA
B.S. (Computer Science and Engineering), University of California Merced, Merced, CA

Research Interests
Materials discovery via first principles assisted machine learning

Joined Group
November, 2023

Hometown: Foresthill, CA
Hobbies: Cooking, roller coasters, nail art
Favorite Linux command: sudo
Favorite space group: Pm-3m

michelecampbell2028@u.northwestern.edu

Siddhartha Nathan

BTech (Metallurgical and Materials Engineering), Indian Institute of Technology Madras, Chennai, India

Research Interests
Designing and advancing new heteroanionic materials through first principles calculations

Joined Group
October, 2021

Hometown: Chennai, India
Hobbies: Cooking, playing basketball and tennis, playing the guitar
Favorite Linux command: sar
Favorite structure: Perovskite

siddharthanathan2026@u.northwestern.edu

Hengrui Zhang

BS (Materials Science and Engineering), Shanghai Jiao Tong University, China

Research Interests
Data-centric materials design, physics-based machine learning for materials modeling

Joined Group
February, 2022

Hometown: Shandong, China
Hobbies: badminton, swimming, traveling
Favorite Linux command: screen
Favorite Element: Iron
Favorite Structure: Quartz

Makayla Baxter

B.S. (Chemistry), Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN

Research Interests
Synthesizing and studying the electronic structure of new solid state inorganic materials.

Joined Group
April, 2023

Hometown: Bloomington, IN
Hobbies: Gaming, sewing, and singing
Favorite Element: Thorium

makaylabaxter2027@u.northwestern.edu

Larry Chen

B.S. (Materials Science and Engineering), Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA
M.S. (Materials Science and Engineering), Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA

Research Interests
Modeling and simulation methods.

Joined Group
November, 2023

Hometown: Fort Collins, CO
Hobbies: Hiking, 3D game development, cooking
Favorite Linux command: ls
Favorite mineral: Zircon

larrychen2029@u.northwestern.edu

Research Fellows

Danilo Puggioni

PhD (Physics), Università di Cagliari, Italy

Research Interests
Theoretical description of solid-state systems, including the electronic properties, magnetism, correlations, and phase transitions in complexoxides. The main techniques that I use are first-principles methods based on density-functional theory, and on post-DFT treatments for correlated systems.

Joined Group
June, 2012

Hometown: Chiaramonti (SS), Italy
Favorite Linux command: grep
Favorite emacs command: ctrl+x r-k
Favorite element: Copper
Favorite structure: Perovskite
Favorite space group: Pnma (no. 62)

da.puggioni@gmail.com

Kathleen Mullin

PhD (Materials Science and Engineering), Northwestern University, Evanston, IL
BS (Materials Science and Engineering), Illinois Institute of Technology, Chicago, IL

Research Interests
Designing new electronic materials through first-principles studies and informatics

Joined Group
October, 2018

Hometown: Shawnee, Kansas
Hobbies: Baking, tabletop games
Favorite Linux command: cd
Favorite structure: Perovskite

KathleenMullin2023@u.northwestern.edu

John Cavin

PhD (Physics), Washington University in St. Louis

Research Interests
Using first-principles electronic calculations to study electrochemical processes including corrosion and catalysis. Also interested in condensed matter physics, quantum information, and machine learning.

Joined Group
June, 2021

Hometown: The Midwest
Hobbies: Cooking, video games, ice skating
Favorite Linux command: cat
Favorite mineraloid: Opal

john.cavin@northwestern.edu

Michael Waters

PhD (Materials Science and Engineering), University of Michigan, MI

Research Interests
Computational Methods, Atomistic Kinetics, Excited states and Optical Properties, Scoville-productivity relationships in correlated graduate student systems

Joined Group
June, 2018

Hometown: Midwestern Nomad
Hobbies: 3D printing for data visualization, gardening
Favorite Linux command: grep
Favorite vim command: :tabn
Favorite lattice: FCC
Favorite musical: Hamilton

michael.j.waters@northwestern.edu

Linding Yuan

PhD (Physics), University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China

Research Interests
Unraveling the intricate quantum phenomena that emerge in various condensed matter systems; Understanding of the fundamental physics that dictate the behavior of materials at the nanoscale

Joined Group
May, 2023

Hometown: JiangXi, China
Hobbies: Sleep, Video games
Favorite Linux command: rm
Favorite vim command: Esc
Favorite Structure: Diamond
Favorite musical: Hamilton

linding.yuan@northwestern.edu

Masters Students

Jacob Lafferty

B.A. (Mathematics), Wesleyan University, Middletown, CT
B.A. (Physics), Wesleyan University, Middletown, CT

Research Interests
Anything and everything! Looking to explore Materials Science!

Joined Group
November, 2023

Hometown: Wilmington, DE
Favorite Linux command: chmod
Favorite crystal structure: Face Centered Cubic
Hobbies: Swimming, Triathlons, Pokémon Go, Poker, Board Games, and Philly Sports!

jacoblafferty2025@u.northwestern.edu

Visitors

Institution at Time of Visit

Ms. Astrid Marthinsen, Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), Inorganic Materials and Ceramics Group

Mr. Shiming Lei, PennState, Gopalan Group

Dr. Alessandro Stroppa, CNR-SPIN, L’Aquila, Italy, MODEM Group

Alumni

Post-doctoral Fellows

Dr. Xuezeng Lu, (2019 – 2022), Professor, Southeast University, Nanjing, Jiangsu, China

Dr. Alexandru (Alex) Georgescu, (2020-2023), Assistant Professor, Department of Chemistry, Indiana University – Bloomington

Dr. Mingqiang (Kurt) Gu, (2014-2021), Research Associate Professor, Southern University of Science and Technology

Dr. Liang-Feng Huang, (2014-18), Research Scientist, Materials Science and Engineering, Ningbo Institute of Materials Technology & Engineering

Dr. Prasanna Balachandran, (2012-14), Assistant Professor, Materials Science and Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering, University of Virginia

Dr. Antonio Cammarata, (2011-13), Assistant Professor, Applied Physics, Czech Technical University in Prague

 

Graduates

Dr. Kathleen Mullin, PhD (2024)

Dr. Nathan Koocher, PhD (2023)

Dr. Lauren Walters, PhD (2022), University of California, Berkeley

Mr. Sean Koyama, MS (2022), Argonne National Laboratory

Mr. Richard Saballos, MS (2021)

Dr. Yongjin Shin, PhD (2021), University of Chicago

Dr. Daniel Hickox-Young, PhD (2021), Roanoke College

Dr. Yiqun (Raymond) Wang, PhD (2021), ByteDance AI Lab

Dr. Jaye K. Harada, PhD (2021)

Dr. Xuezeng Lu, (2019), Professor, Southeast University, Nanjing, Jiangsu, China

Dr. Nicholas Wagner, PhD (2019), Institute for Defence Analyses

Dr. Nenian Charles, PhD (2017), Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Dr. Joshua Young, PhD (2016), New Jersey Institute of Technology

Mr. Emrys Tennessen, MS (2016)

Mr. Adam Cordi, MS (2014), Sage Analytical Lab, LLC

Dr. Nina Lane, PhD (2013), Intel

 

 

Undergraduate Researchers

Mr. Hengrui Zhang, Materials Science and Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, 2019

Ms. Emily Wang, Materials Science and Engineering, Northwestern University, 2021-

Mr. Alex Tai, Materials Science and Engineering, Northwestern University, 2019-

Mr. Peiwen Ren, Materials Science and Engineering, Northwestern University, 2018-2021

Ms. Joy Hendrix, Materials Science and Engineering, Cornell University, REU 2021

Mr. Nathan Szymanski, Materials Science and Engineering, University of Toledo, REU 2018

Mr. Kyujin Jang, Materials Science and Engineering, Northwestern University, 2016-17

Mr. Parth Lalkiya, Materials Science and Engineering, Northwestern University, 2015-16

Mr. Sam Kulsa, Materials Science and Engineering, Drexel University, 2014

Mr. Paul Cheung, Mechanical Engineering, Drexel University, 2013

Ms. Nesya Havela, Mechanical Engineering, Rutgers University, 2011-12

 

 

Senior Design Projects

Mr. Yinong Cao, Theoretical Study of ZnxSn1-xS Quantum Dots, Materials Science and Engineering, Drexel University

Mr. David TriderSeebeck Coefficients and Thermopower from First-Principles, Materials Science and Engineering, Drexel University