Annual Conference 2022

Amanda Bellafatto has been a PhD student in the CCAC for three years and is advised by Ivar Reimanis. Her research focus surrounds indentation fracture of glass with a more specific topic of determining stress fields under an indent. In her free time she enjoys hanging with her dog, Bert, cooking and gardening in the golden community garden.

Henry Afful is currently pursuing a PhD in Materials Science. He is in the Packard research group in the Metallurgical and Materials Engineering department, conducting research into the mechanical and thermal behavior of rare earth orthophosphate ceramics. Outside of academic work, he loves reading, playing video games and visiting new places with friends.

Lucas Enright is a second year PhD student advised by Geoff Brennecka, and coadvised by Nate Orloff at NIST. He graduated from the University of Connecticut with his B.S. in Materials Science & Engineering in 2020. His research focuses on developing dielectric standards for 5G mmWave. He enjoys checking out local breweries, trying (and failing) to lift heavy things, playing games, and hiking.

Shannon started her PhD in Materials Science at Mines in 2020 under advisement of Dr. Eric Toberer and Dr. Geoff Brennecka. She graduated from Alfred University in New York with her B.S. in Ceramic Engineering in 2019. Her work at Mines started with BiSb thermoelectric alloys and switched to bulk nitride ceramic sintering and solid-state synthesis via ammonolysis. She’s been a delegate on the ACerS PCSA for 5 years now, and joined the ACerS Colorado Section as a graduate student representative. She’s been involved with the Mines Keramos chapter and helped start a pottery studio on campus. Shannon enjoys camping, art, playing with her cat Lemon, and talking about ceramics!

Anna Braun is a third-year PhD student in the CCAC and is advised by Corinne Packard. Her research focuses on methods for low-cost production of III-V solar cells. Specifically, she studies controlled spalling fracture as a method of substrate reuse and studies low-cost epitaxial growth on the fracture surfaces produced by spalling in a collaboration with the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). In her free time Anna enjoys cooking, baking, and hunting for Pokémon.

Charlie Meisel is a third-year Ph.D. student in the O’Hayre and Sullivan groups. His research investigates mechanisms to boost the stability and performance of proton-conducting ceramic electromechanical devices. When not in the lab, he is generally found on the ski slopes or in the climbing gym.

Ciel Blackwood (formerly Milstrey) has been a PhD student in the CCAC for one year. His advisor is Geoff Brennecka. His research focuses on deposition and characterization of thin films. He has an unusual background as a lawyer, translator and financial analyst. In his free time, he cuddles his cat up into his lap and sews.

Pandora Picariello is a PhD student in the Brennecka group working on additive manufacturing. She obtained a BS in Chemistry from Worcester State University in 2017. In her free time she enjoys hiking and spending time with her cats.