Geoff Brennecka

Dr. Geoff Brennecka

Herman F. Coors Distinguished Professor of Ceramic Engineering
Associate Professor, Metallurgical and Materials Engineering Department
Director, Colorado Center for Advanced Ceramics (CCAC)
Co-Director, Alliance for the Development of Additive Processing Technologies (ADAPT)

See Dr. Brennecka’s CV here.

CONTACT

305B Hill Hall
(303) 384-2238 (office)

(505) 681-8879 (cell)
gbrennec@mines.edu

Shipping Address
1301 19th St.
Golden, CO 80401

Freight Address
920 15th St.
Golden, CO 80401

 

Geoff Brennecka

Dr. Keisuke Yazawa

(Research Associate Professor)

Current joint appointment as Research Professor (Mines) and post-doc (NREL)
yazawa@mines.edu

See Dr. Yazawa’s CV here.

Research Associates

Dr. Binod Paudel (Research Associate)

Projects: Developing novel tetrahedral AIN-based wurtzite thin films for ferroelectric, piezoelectric, and optoelectronic properties (at Mines);  Synthesis of Gd-rich AIGdN films for neutron detection applications (at NREL)
Post-Doc, Physical and Computational Sciences Directorate, Pacific Northwest National Labratory, 2022-2023
Graduate Research Associate, CINT, Los Alamos National Labratory, 2019-2021
Ph.D. Physics, New Mexico State University, 2021
MS Physics, New Mexico State University, 2018
Email: binod.paudel@mines.edu

Graduate Students

NATE BERNSTEIN (Ph.D. STUDENT)

MS Materials Science, Arizona State University
BS Electrical Engineering, University of Colorado
Project: Discovery of New Tetrahedral Ferroelectrics
nbernstein@mines.edu

Blaster the Burro

MOLLY BROWN (Ph.D. Student)

BS Physics, University of Dayton
Project: Investigation of Point Defects in AIN-Based Thin Films
margaret_brown@mines.edu

LUCAS ENRIGHT (Ph.D. Student)

BSE Materials Science and Engineering, University of Connecticut
Project: Standards for 5G mmWave Dielectrics
lucasenright@mines.edu

JAIME TELLEZ GONZALEZ (MS Student)

BS Metallurgical and Materials Engineering, Colorado School of Mines
Project: Optical Furnace for High Throughput Sintering
jtellezgonzalez@mines.edu

 

 

MITCHELL LENSING (MS Student)
BS Metallurgical and Materials Engineering
Project: Enabling AM from Lunar Regolith
mjlensing@mines.edu

PANDORA PICARIELLO (Ph.D. student)

BS Chemistry, Worcester State University
Project: Additive Manufacturing with Ceramics
pkpicariello@mines.edu

SHANNON ROGERS (Ph.D. Student, CoorsTek Fellow, NSF GRFP Fellow)

BS Ceramic Engineering, Alfred University
Project: Nitride Sintering
shannonrogers@mines.edu

WAYNE YEO (Ph.D. Student)

BS Materials Science and Engineering, Pennsylvania State University
Project: High Acoustic Velocity Pieozoelectric Materials
junweng_yeo@mines.edu

AIDAN RAVER (Ph.D. Student)

BS Materials Science and Engineering, Ohio State University
Project: Adaptive-Computing-Guided Synthesis of GaN by Modulated Metal Epitaxy
raver@mines.edu

 

 

Undergraduate Students

CJ Brown

BS Metallurgical and Materials Engineering

Ande Bryan

BS Metallurgical and Materials Engineering

Eli Cooper

BS Metallurgical and Materials Engineering

Josh Gruba

BS Metallurgical and Materials Engineering

Bree Mitchell

BS Mechanical Engineering

Ethan Strauch

BS Metallurgical and Materials Engineering

Former FCG Members

Benjamin Prevoznak (MS)
BS Mechanical Engineering, Lafayette College
Project: Increasing Fracture Toughness of Porous PZT via Second Phase Inclusions
Currently at Strategic Systems Programs

Alex Dixon (Research Associate)
Ph.D. Physics, University of Denver, 2016
Currently at Colorado School of Mines

Danny Drury (Ph.D.)
BS Ceramic Engineering, Missouri S&T
Project: Development of ferroelectric nitride thin films
Currently at US Army Research Lab

Allison Mis (Ph.D.)
BS Applied Physics, Harvey Mudd College
Ph.D. Materials Science, Colorado School of Mines, March 2023
CoorsTek Fellow
Project: Investigation of Cation Ordering in Ternary Pnictides via Electron Microscopy
Currently at Colorado School of Mines

Lydia Hines
BS Metallurgical and Materials Engineering, Colorado School of Mines

Arden Larsen
BS Metallurgical and Materials Engineering, Colorado School of Mines

Yachao Chen (Post-Doc)
Ph.D. Materials Science, Colorado School of Mines, June 2017
Post-Doc “Electromechanical analysis of piezoelectric AlScN thin films,” Colorado School of Mines, 2017-18
Currently at Kansas State University

Sanaz Yazdanparast (Post-Doc)
PhD Materials Science and Engineering, Missouri University of Science and Technology, 2015
Post-Doc “Exfoliation and surface termination control of MXene flakes,” Colorado School of Mines, 2019-2020

Rachel Sherbondy (Ph.D.)
BS Materials Science and Engineering, Penn State University
Ph.D. Materials Science, Colorado School of Mines, May 2022
CoorsTek Fellow, NSF Fellow
Project: Discovery of New Nitride Perovskite Materials by High-Throughput Methods
Currently at Golden View Classical Academy

Valerie Jacobson (Ph.D.)
BS Physics, Colorado State University
Ph.D. Materials Science, Colorado School of Mines, June 2022
Project: Investigation of the Fundamental Densification and Charge Transport Properties of the Entropy-Stabilized Oxide (Mg0.2Co0.2Ni0.2Cu0.2Zn0.2)O
Certificate: Natural Resources and Energy Policy
Currently at Excelitas Technologies Corp

Michael Walden (Ph.D.)
BS Chemical Engineering, Stevens BS Ceramic Engineering, Missouri S&T
Ph.D. Materials Science, Colorado School of Mines, December 2021
CoorsTek Fellow
Project: Density-Functional Theory Investigation of Multiferroicity in Epitaxial BiFeO3 and BiCrO3
Currently at Colorado School of Mines

Jake Ivy (Ph.D.)
BS Ceramic Engineering, Missouri S&T
Ph.D. Materials Science, Colorado School of Mines, December 2021
Project: Understanding and Control of Point Defect Populations in Lithium Tantalite
Currently at Schott

Megan Leppert (Ph.D.)
BS Chemical Engineering, Stevens Institute of Technology
MS Materials Engineering, University of Dayton
Ph.D. Materials Science, Colorado School of Mines, May 2020
Project: High Temperature Broadband Microwave Absorbing Materials
Currently at Colorado School of Mines

Kevin Talley (Ph.D.)
BA Communications, Boise State University
BS Materials Science and Engineering, Boise State University
Ph.D. Materials Science, Colorado School of Mines, December 2019
Project: Nitride Piezoelectrics by Design
Currently at Qorvo

Brandon Cox (Ph.D.)
BA Physics, University of Missouri
MS Materials Science, Colorado School of Mines
Project: Critical Evaluation of Paste-Based Extrusion Additively Manufactured Electrical Ceramics for Application with Functionally Graded Materials
Currently at Honeywell National Security Campus

Katie Gann (MS)
BS Chemistry, Colorado School of Mines
MS Materials Science, Colorado School of Mines
Project: Phase Stability, Sintering, and Electrical Properties of the (Mg,Ni,Co,Cu,Zn)O Entropy Stabilized Oxide System
Currently at Cornell University

Chloe Cook (MS)
BS Metallurgical and Materials Engineering, Colorado School of Mines
MS Materials Science, Colorado School of Mines
Project: Dielectric Breakdown in Ferroelectric Thin Films
Currently at CoorsTek

Michaela Beurlein (MS)
BS Ceramic Engineering, Missouri S&T
MS Materials Science, Colorado School of Mines
Project: Phase Formation, Microstructure Development, and Copper Co-Firing of Barium Titanate – Bismuth Zinc Titanate and Related Dielectrics
Currently at Honeywell