Annual Conference 2023

2023 Colorado Center for Advanced Ceramics Conference

Our Mission

Interaction and collaboration: We aim to create new partnerships and collaborations by connecting CCAC members and affiliates with other individuals and groups conducting research in related areas.

Resources: We strive to introduce CCAC members to the range of user facilities and expertise available within the Center and related facilities.

Community building: We seek to foster relationships among CCAC members and affiliates by providing an opportunity to interact in a cordial setting.

Dates: Starts August 15th at 12:30pm and ends August 16th at 12:30pm

(workshops in the afternoon on the 16th)

Location: Green Center at Colorado School of Mines

924 16th Street
Golden, CO 80401

2023 Technical Program

2023 Photos

2022 Technical Program

Keynote Speaker - Charmayne Lonergan

Charmayne E. Lonergan is a glass scientist based in the Radiological Materials Group in the Energy and Environment Directorate at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory.

Charmayne currently works on glass formulations for waste vitrification in support of the Hanford Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant mission. Her work includes processing novel glass compositions and analysis of their properties, modeling of glass properties, understanding the corrosion behavior of glass waste forms, and development of constraints for glass development. Additionally, she enjoys participating in STEM outreach and is a member of the American Ceramic Society’s (ACerS) Young Professionals Network Steering Committee.

2023 Conference Organizers

Henry Quansah Afful

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.

Shannon Rogers

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!

Dagny Sacksteder

Dagny is a first-year PhD students in Materials Science advised by Professor Megan Holtz. She is researching reaction and degradation mechanisms of catalysts for H₂ production from water electrolysis through thin film studies. She previously earned a B.S. in Materials Science and Engineering from Ohio State University.

Ben Prevoznac

Ben is pursuing a Thesis Masters in Material Science under the advisement of Dr. Geoff Brennecka. After graduating with a Mechanical Engineering degree from Lafayette College in Easton Pennsylvania, he served as a Nuclear Submarine Warfare Officer in the US Navy. Ben is now conducting research on lead zirconate titanate, a piezoelectric ceramic and growing a pony tail. He enjoys Colorado activities such as mountain biking, hiking, climbing, and backcountry skiing with his two husky mixes, Mica and Aspen.

Nate Bernstein

Nate is pursuing a PhD in Materials Science with Dr. Geoff Brennecka as his advisor. His research is focused on discovering new ferroelectric materials and explaining their properties. He began his studies at Mines in 2022. Before joining the team at Mines, he worked as an electrical engineer specializing in Radio Frequency and Microwave Frequency circuitry. His hobbies including spending time with his dog and trolling his advisor when opportunities knock.

Chris Rom

Chris Rom is a post-doc at NREL working with the Materials Discovery team on new nitride and chloride ceramics for semiconducting and battery applications. He earned his PhD from Colorado State University in 2022, where he studied the bulk synthesis of nitrides with Dr. Jamie Neilson and Dr. Amy Prieto. When not in lab, he can also be found running the trails on South Table Mountain or digging in his garden.