Elizabeth Palmiotti
Elizabeth Palmiotti has six publications including four conference papers and two in journals. Her research concerns developing low-cost high rate manufacturing process for Cu(In,Ga)Se2 solar cells. Specifically she is working on a metal halide recrystallization process that can allow high rate, low temperature deposition of the material. This can significantly reduce the capital cost of setting up a manufacturing process for these devices. Elizabeth is one of the most active and engaged students in the CCAC, coteaching one course, being recognized two years running as one of MME’s top TA’s, active mentoring, lead co-organizer of the CCAC conference, lab managers team. She does it all. She has served as a student manuscript reviewer/editor for the IEEE Photovoltaic Specialists Conference. She has talked about a faculty position for her career.
Anyka Bergeson-Keller
Anyka is a first-year MS student. She is also an almuna of our undergraduate program and has been working in the CCAC ceramics labs on oxides for solar thermochemical water splitting since her sophomore year. Her research focuses on the synthesis and testing of new oxide ceramic materials that can be used in a solar-powered thermal cycle to split water into hydrogen for renewable energy applications. She synthesizes novel oxides using solid-state reaction and sol-gel techniques, then applies XRD characterization and thermogravimetric analysis to screen the materials she has made for their potential in solar thermochemical water splitting. She conducts detailed thermodynamic analysis of the most promising materials to extract the enthalpy and entropy of reduction, which are the crucial parameters that determine the potential of candidate oxides for water splitting applications. As an undergraduate student, Anyka led authorship of a conference paper and presented her work at the Materials Research Society Spring Meeting in 2019. She was the only undergraduate student presenter in her session!
Congratulations Elizabeth and Anyka!