PhD Student
Isvar is a Ph.D. student at the Department of Electrical and Computer Engieering at the Pratt School of Engineering. His research focuses on:
- Optimizing metal oxide materials development for photoelectrochemical water-splitting photoanodes
- Characterizing surface properties of nanodiamond and c-BN materials
- Systematically characterizing materials’ ALD growth conditions for various nanostructure-based devices (currently supercapacitors and field emission structures)
- Aiding in the design, construction, and operation of “home-built” hot-wall atomic layer deposition (ALD) reactor
Prior to this, he worked on synthesizing, optimizing and characterizing capacitive performance of carbon-based ternary composite materials, such as CNT/RGO, MnO2, and PEDOT polymer while in professor Jie Liu's lab at Duke University . In addition, he supported the engineering of a tube furnace system designed for Vapor-Liquid-Solid nanowire growth at professor Marvin Wu's lab at NCCU.
He has a BA in Economics from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill (August 2008) and a BS in Physics (Magna Cum Laude, July 2011) from North Carolina Central University.
Positions of Responsibility
- Chair of Research Triangle Electrochemical Society (January 2014 - Present)
- Vice President of Duke Materials Research Society Chapter (February 2013 – Present)
- Electrical and Computer Engineering Graduate Student Representative (June 2012 – May 2013) and Treasurer (May 2013 - Present)
- Student Mentoring
- Undergraduate Students: Lucas Spangler (2011), Mauricio Villa (2012), and Isa Ferrall (May 2013 – July 2013, January 2014 - Present)
- Graduate: Doreen Wong (October 2013 - Present)
- Event Leader at North Carolina Science Olympiad (Spring 2013 & Spring 2014)
- Duke SHPE Graduate Student Chairman (September 2011 – August 2012)
Research Interests
- Solar fuel electrode materials development
- Supercapacitor electrode materials development
- Thin film growth via atomic layer deposition
- Electrochemical performance testing and analysis
- Nanomaterials characterization: SEM, XPS, XRD, and Ellipsometry
Awards, Honors, and Distinctions
- Best Presentation Runner-Up at 2014 Duke ECE Graduate Workshop
- Poster Award Nominee at 2013 Fall MRS Conference
- Finalist in SHPE 2013 Graduate Student Technical Paper Competition
- GPNANO Fellow (Spring 2013)
- CREST NASA Scholarship (Spring 2010 - Spring 2011)