Group Members

Group picture - May 2018

Current members

I am a 2nd year Ph.D. student, currently constructing a levitation apparatus for various experimental setups related to measuring aerosol physical properties. Previously I have been involved in astro-particle physical instrumentation, but my current interests are in designing experiments to measure the direct single- and group-particle electrical charge lifetimes of coarse mineral dust (>5 microns) in the atmosphere. This is being done concurrently with particle-resolved modeling in order to improve current climate modeling discrepancies in large-scale Earth climate models, which substantially underestimate the amount of dust mass in the atmosphere. 

I am Zaid Bakri from Amman, Jordan. I received my bachelor's and master's degrees in physics from The University of Jordan in 2018 and 2021, respectively. I started my doctoral program in Atmospheric Sciences at Michigan Technological University in Spring of 2022. My research interests are numerical modeling, aerosol physics, cloud and aerosol optics, and remote sensing of clouds. 


My hobbies are mostly summer activities including water sports like swimming, kayaking,  jet skiing, diving, and beach volleyball. Besides that, I really enjoy writing diaries and reading Arabic poetry. 

Shreya is a student of atmospheric science and meteorology in the department of physics. His research focus is on studying the effects of cloud processing on black carbon particles. The cloud processing is performed using an array of instruments including but not limited to the single particle soot photometer, pumped counterflow virtual impactor, and the photoacoustic spectrometer. Shreya also studies the long-range transport of aerosol, specifically to the marine environment in the Azores. 

I am Susan Mathai, pursuing a Ph.D. in Atmospheric Sciences in the Department of Physics at Michigan Technological University. I received a Bachelor's degree in physics from Mahatma Gandhi University, Kerala, and a Master's degree in Physics from the National Institute of Technology, Calicut, Kerala. Currently, I'm working on 1) optical properties of tar balls collected from the free troposphere at Mt. Cimone using electron energy loss spectroscopy 2) physical and chemical properties of aerosols emitted from biomass burning using scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy, 3) deriving wavelength-dependent optical properties of brown carbon using a broadband cavity enhanced extinction spectrometer.

Former members

I received my Bachelor's in Physics at Michigan Technological University (2020) and decided to stay for my Master's in Applied Physics. My work focused on data analysis of the physical and optical properties of aerosols collected from Pico Mountain in 2015. I continued working with the group after graduating until April of 2023, refining my work from during graduate school.

My name is Tyler Capek, and I was a Ph.D. student in the physics program at Michigan Technological University. I received a B.S. in mathematics and physics at the University of Wisconsin - River Falls. I worked on: a) developing a Raman-based system to measure water vapor and temperature in the air; b) developing a multiwavelength photoacoustic system for measuring the aerosol optical properties; c) investigating the effect of water uptake on the optical properties of different aerosol types.

I recently graduated with a Ph.D. in Atmospheric Sciences in the Department of Physics at Michigan Technological University. I received my B.Sc. and M.Sc. (2011) in Physics from Tribhuvan University, Kathmandu, Nepal. My research area is in the characterization of the morphology and mixing state of black carbon aerosol.

I was a visiting research scholar at Michigan Technological University coming from the University of Trento in Italy where I graduated in 2016. At Michigan Technological University I worked on characterizing the morphology of atmospheric particles using electron microscopy. The main interest was to study carbonaceous aerosols such as those emitted during biomass burning.  

I earned a B.S. in physics at Michigan Technological University. I worked on a Quartz Enhanced Photoacoustic Spectroscopy (QEPAS) device in the Environmental Optics Lab; in an effort to create a relatively compact sensor for analyzing the optical properties of aerosols for on-site measurements. Along with constructing a high-stability, low-noise laser current driver with digital control.

I have a Ph.D. in Atmospheric Sciences. My research interest is in the characterization of the physical and optical properties of aerosol and ice nucleation. Specifically, I’m interested in looking at the morphology of aerosol particles and finding associations with their optical properties. My current research interest is in heterogeneous ice nucleation in the contact mode.

I have a Ph.D. in Atmospheric Sciences. During my Ph.D. I worked on the development of a multi-wavelength Integrated Photoacoustic Nephelometer spectrometer and its utilization in the measurement of optical properties of lab-generated as well as ambient aerosols. I also performed extensive electron microscopy analysis on aerosols collected from various sites.

Kendra graduated with a B.S. in physics and mathematics from Northern Michigan University and earned an M.S. in Physics at Michigan Technological University. Kendra worked on developing photoacoustic/nephelometer integrated instruments to measure aerosol absorption and scattering and on measuring water vapor using DFB tunable diode lasers. She was awarded a NASA graduate student fellowship that began in the Fall of 2013 to perform measurements and data analysis from the Pico Mountain Observatory.

Sumit was a postdoctoral fellow at the Department of Physics, Michigan Technological University, Houghton. He finished his doctoral work at the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology, Pune, India, and received a Ph.D. degree from Pune University. The research at MTU exploited the unique location of the Azores and the Pico Mountain Observatory, to improve the scientific understanding of aerosol lifecycles and aerosol-cloud interactions and the role these processes have on radiative balance and climate. Sumit's research interests are remote sensing of atmospheric aerosols; aerosols' radiative effects; the sources and transport of aerosols; air quality and climate change. Sumit's interest in aerosols stems from the fact that the chaotic, non-linear nature of the aerosols makes the subject interesting and dynamic.

Jordan worked on the development of a new photoacoustic detection method for the measurement of aerosol light absorption.  For his research activity, he was awarded funding through Michigan Tech’s Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship in 2011.

Stephen J Stassen was awarded funding through Michigan Tech’s Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship for his work on an Integrated Photoacoustic/Nephelometer Spectrometer. He hopes to eventually get a Ph.D. in physics.

I have recently received my B.S. in physics at Michigan Technological University and have been accepted to the Ph.D. program in Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences at University of Colorado in Boulder.  My research at Michigan Tech dealt with characterizing the concentration of aerosols as a function of time inside an acoustic resonator primarily used to levitate water droplets.  I also designed and constructed electronic devices and created LabView programs to interface various equipment such as DAQ cards and particle counters with a computer.

Chaoxun Hang was a summer graduate student in the EOL until June 9, 2012. His research was about determining the concentration of carbon dioxide in an experimental cell by using a tunable diode laser. By acquiring the signal on an infrared detector through a transmission cell, and by using Beer-Lambert law, the path-integrated carbon dioxide concentration can be determined. Chaoxun will move to Utah in the Fall of 2012 to begin a Ph.D. in the department of mechanical engineering.