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PI - Dr. Yixin Liu
Dr. Liu is an Assistant Professor at the Department of Chemical Engineering at Michigan Technological University. She received the B.E. degree in Polymer Material Science and Engineering at Zhejiang University, Hang Zhou, China, in 2010. She obtained her Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering at the University of Connecticut in 2014, focusing on nanomaterials development for chemical and biological sensing applications. Before joined MTU, she worked at ABB US Corporate Research Center for 5 years, working on industrial chemical sensor development and productization. Dr. Liu has 10 years of dedicated experience in chemical sensing technologies development in both academic and industrial research settings, including nanostructured sensing material development, device design and prototyping, automated sensor testing and data analysis. Her current research interests lie in advanced sensing materials development, novel sensor device and integrated system design, and data-driven approaches for sensing performance enhancement and sensing material development expedition.
Phone: (906)487-3567
Email: yixinliu@mtu.edu
Left to right: Benjamin Reynolds, Riley Smith, Dr. Yixin Liu, Asky Fungura, Grace Dykstra
Graduate Researchers
Grace Dykstra (Ph.D. Student, Chemical Engineering)
Grace joined the lab in Spring 2021. She received her B.S. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Minnesota in 2020. Grace completed an internship and Co-Op during her undergrad, focusing on sustainability, production, and plant design. Currently, her research focuses on molecularly imprinted polymers-based sensors for the detection of biomolecules.
Asky Tatenda Fungura (Ph.D. Student, Chemical Engineering)
Asky joined the lab in Fall 2021. He holds a Master of Technology in chemical engineering from SRM university (SRM Institute of Science and Technology) from 2013 to 2015 in India. He obtained his Bachelor of Technology in chemical and process systems engineering from Harare Institute of Technology (HIT) in Zimbabwean, where he received a vice chancellor’s award. He worked at HIT as a teaching assistant from 2011-2013 and then as a lecturer from 2015 to 2021. He has previous research experience in the areas of energy and water management. His current research focuses on nanomaterials for gas sensing and electronic noses.
Rourke Sylvain (Ph.D. Student, Biomedical Engineering)
Rourke joined the lab in Fall 2022. He is a multidisciplinary researcher with a background in Economics, Neuroscience, Biomedical Engineering, and Machine Learning. His academic pursuits, combined with his intense interest in advanced medical technology, have driven his current focus on the development of next-generation wearable biosensors. During the COVID-19 pandemic, he played a crucial role in a team of scientists and engineers that developed a next-generation sequence facility capable of sequencing the SARS-CoV-2 genome in near real-time. His current research includes molecularly imprinted polymers-based sensors for the detection of biomolecules.
Isabel Chapa (Ph.D. Student, Chemical Engineering)
Isabel joined the lab in Fall 2023. They received their B.S in Chemical Engineering from the University of Texas at Austin in 2023. Isabel has previous research experience in their undergraduate education in two areas: computational chemistry studying semiconductors and experimental research synthesizing nanomaterials. Isabel is a 2023 GEM Employer Fellow in partnership with Applied Materials. Currently, their research focuses on molecularly imprinted polymers-based sensors for the detection of food contaminants.
Undergraduate Researchers
Tyler Waslawski (Chemical Engineering)
Georgia Heintz (Electrical Engineering)
Lab Alumni
Riley Smith (UG, Spring 2021-Spring 2023)
Benjamin Reynolds (UG, Fall 2021-Spring 2023)
Emily Calhoun (UG, Spring 2023)
Sara Schrader (UG, Spring 2021, Fall 2022)
Madelyn Picardat (UG, Fall 2021)
Openings
Please contact Dr. Liu for PhD opening availability. The applicants must have a BS or a MS degree in chemical engineering, material science or other related fields. Background in one or more areas of semiconductors, catalysts, polymers, electrochemistry, optics, microfluidics, is desired but not required. Interested applicants are encouraged to contact Dr. Liu with a brief cover letter describing interest in the project and relevant qualification. Also include a copy your CV, transcripts and TOEFL or IELTS (international applicants).
Current MTU MS students and undergraduate students are welcome to our group. Interested candidates should contact Dr. Liu with with a brief cover letter and resume/CV.
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