Alumni | M-STAR

M-STAR Alumni

Even in Phase I, M-STAR is equipping talented young scientists with the knowledge and tools to make great advances in the chemistry of MXenes. A key part of M-STAR’s vision is to disseminate the science of these next-generation materials through the placement of our trainees in ideal positions for the use of MXenes as platforms for fundamental research and technological development. Junior members have become postdoctoral researchers and tenure-track faculty at top-tier institutions.

Graduates of M-STAR Dr. Di Wang (far left, with Prof. Dmitri Talapin) and Dr. Tetiana Parker (far right, with Prof. Yury Gogotsi). Dr. Wang’s work has been central to M-STAR’s efforts to prepare entirely new MXenes and uncover new MXene synthetic techniques. Take a look at some of his publications here, here, and here. Dr. Parker conducted the first wide-scope surveys of MXene infrared properties across large compositional spaces and developed methodology for the in situ infrared and Raman characterization of MXenes under electrochemical conditions. See some of her work here and here.

Di Wang

Graduate Student, Talapin Group

Dr. Wang defended his PhD thesis in 2025 and is now a postdoc at Princeton University. He contributed to the discovery of h-MXenes, introduced methods for the direct synthesis of MXenes via solid-state reaction and chemical vapor deposition, and discovered the electrochemical route for the preparation of organometallic MXenes.

Brian Wyatt

Postdoctoral Researcher, Anasori Group

Dr. Wyatt discovered an order-to-disorder transition in high-entropy MXenes and performed detailed studies of MXenes with complex compositions for applications such as hydrogen evolution electrocatalysis, high-temperature ceramics, and solid lubricants. He is now a Maria Goeppert Mayer Fellow at Argonne National Laboratory.

Anupma Thakur

Postdoctoral Researcher, Anasori Group

Dr. Thakur is now an Early Career Research Fellow at the Indian Institute of Technology, Gandhinagar. She conducted surveys defining fundamental structure-property relationships in MXene electrocatalysis for energy applications and investigated charge transport in MXenes and the synthesis of novel MXenes.

Ruocun John Wang

Postdoctoral Researcher, Gogotsi Group

Dr. Wang is now Assistant Professor of Materials Science and Engineering at the University of North Texas. He helped discover the “ultrathick” M₅X₄ family of MXenes and advanced our understanding of MXene electrochemistry for applications such as energy storage and hydrogen evolution reactions.

Ningxing Jiang

Postdoctoral Researcher, Anderson Group

Dr. Jiang is now a professor at Nanjing University. His work helped begin the study of MXenes for organometallic catalysis.

Tetiana Parker

Graduate Student, Gogotsi Group

Dr. Parker defended her PhD thesis in 2025. Her work produced a thorough and detailed catalogue of the infrared and Raman optical properties of MXenes and MXene-electrolyte interfaces under real electrochemical conditions.

Sophie Anferov

Graduate Student, Anderson Group

Dr. Anferov defended her PhD thesis in 2024 and is now a postdoc at ETH Zurich. Her work helped begin the study of MXenes for organometallic catalysis.

Maia Czaikowski

Graduate Student, Anderson Group

Dr. Czaikowski defended her PhD thesis in 2025. Her work helped begin the study of MXenes for organometallic catalysis.

Ming Lei

Postdoctoral Researcher, Jiang Group

Dr. Lei contributed to foundational work on h-MXenes through theoretical calculations with Prof. Jiang. He is now a postdoc at MIT.

Génesis Quiles-Galarza

Graduate Student, Vojvodic Group

Dr. Quiles-Galarza defended her PhD thesis in 2024 and is now Assistant Professor in Residence in the Department of Chemical Engineering at the University of Connecticut. Her theoretical work initiated a study of MXene adsorbate-surface interactions using first-principles calculations and machine learning for their use in electrochemical decarbonization technologies.

Yamilée Morency

Graduate Student, Vojvodic Group

Dr. Morency defended her PhD thesis in 2025 and is now Assistant Professor of Chemistry at the University of the Virgin Islands. Her computational work studied using first-principles calculations the physicochemical properties of MXene edge sites and identified unique edge-dependent chemistry.