Dr. Geoff Brennecka
Department Head and George S. Ansell Distinguished Chair
Associate Professor, Metallurgical and Materials Engineering Department
Director, Colorado Center for Advanced Ceramics (CCAC)
See Dr. Brennecka’s CV here.
Dr. Brennecka’s Google Scholar Page can be found here.
CONTACT
201C Hill Hall
(303) 384-2238 (office)
(505) 681-8879 (cell)
gbrennec@mines.edu
geoff.brennecka@mines.edu
Shipping Address
1301 19th St.
Golden, CO 80401
Dr. Keisuke Yazawa
(Research Associate Professor)
Joint Appointment with NREL
yazawa@mines.edu
See Dr. Yazawa’s CV here.
Dr. Yazawa’s Google Scholar Page can be found here.
YEAGEUN LEE (Post Doc Fellow, Joint Appointment with NREL and NIST)
Project: Developing Combinatorial (Al,Sc)N Films for Electro-acoustic Metrology of Piezoelectric Materials
Post-Doc University of California, Irvine
Ph.D. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
yeageun.lee@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
MOLLY BROWN (Ph.D. Student)
BS Physics, University of Dayton
Project: Investigation of Point Defects in AIN-Based Thin Films
margaret_brown@mines.edu
BROOKE DOWNING (Ph.D. Student, NSF GRFP Fellow)
BS in Materials Science and Engineering from Washington State University
Project: Controlling Microstructure Evolution in Piezoelectric Ceramics using Aerosol Deposition and Templated Grain Growth
brooke_downing@mines.edu
LUCAS ENRIGHT (Ph.D. Student)
BSE Materials Science and Engineering, University of Connecticut
Project: Standards for 5G mmWave Dielectrics
lucasenright@mines.edu
JULIA ESAKOFF (Ph.D. Student)
MS in Materials Science and Engineering from Montana State University
BS in Earth and Environmental Science from Washington State University
Project: Defect Clustering in Wurtzite Ferroelectrics
julia_esakoff@mines.edu
ANDREW JONES (Ph.D. Student)
BS in Mechanical Engineering from Mines
Project: Multiscale Simulations of Textured Microstructure Evolution
andrewjones@mines.edu
PANDORA PICARIELLO (Ph.D. student)
BS Chemistry, Worcester State University
Project: Additive Manufacturing with Ceramics
pkpicariello@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
Sean Cappleman
BS Metallurgical and Materials Engineering
Eli Cooper
BS Metallurgical and Materials Engineering
Madison Kirkbride
BS Metallurgical and Materials Engineering
Denali Klipstein
BS Metallurgical and Materials Engineering
Bree Mitchell
BS Mechanical Engineering
Grayson Williams
BS Metallurgical and Materials Engineering
Former FCG Members
Dr. Binod Paudel (Research Associate)
Projects: Developing novel tetrahedral AIN-based wurtzite thin films for ferroelectric, piezoelectric, and optoelectronic properties
Post-Doc, Physical and Computational Sciences Directorate, Pacific Northwest National Labratory, 2022-2023
Jaime Tellez Gonzalez (MS)
BS Metallurgical and Materials Engineering, Colorado School of Mines
Project: Optical Furnace for High Throughput Sintering
Mitchell Lensing (MS)
BS Metallurgical and Materials Engineering
Project: Enabling AM from Lunar Regolith
Shannon Rogers (Ph.D.)
BS Ceramic Engineering, Alfred University
Project: Nitride Sintering
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 NIST
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 US Air Force Research Lab
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