Ricardo Amaral

Ricardo received his MSc. in Materials and Chemical Processes Engineering from Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio de Janeiro (PUC-Rio); BSc. in Nanotechnology - Materials Emphasis from Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ). He joined the MMT Group in August 2021, and his PhD research at Penn State University focuses on the development and application of advanced theoretical methods based on DFT calculations to accelerate the rational design of high-performance heterostructure anode materials for  lithium-sulfur batteries

Awards/Scholarships

• 2025 Vice Provost and Dean of the Graduate School Scholarship, Penn State

• 2024-2026 IPCC Scholarship (7th Round), Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change

• 2024 EME Frank J. Vastola And Ruth J. St. Clair Vastola Graduate Scholarship (Fuel Sciences Award), Penn State

• 2024 WHF Scholarship, Wireless History Foundation

• 2024 ΦΚΦ Honor Society Elected Member, Phi Kappa Phi

• 2024 EME Outstanding TA Award (SP23 EGEE 464 - Energy Design Project, FA23 EGEE 411W - Energy Science and Engineering Laboratory), Penn State

• 2023 MATSE MVC15 Winner (15th Materials Visualization Competition, Imaging: Computational Rendering), Penn State

• 2022 SME WAAIME Scholarship, Society of Manufacturing Engineers

Henry I. Eya

Henry received his  BSc. in Metallurgical and Materials Engineering (BEng) from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Nigeria, and his MSc in Materials Science and Engineering from the African University of Science and Technology, Abuja, Nigeria. He joined the MMT Group in January 2022, and his PhD research at Penn State University focuses on interface engineering for the development of efficient, environmentally stable, and lead-free chalcogenide perovskite thin-film solar cells. 

Awards/Scholarships

• 2nd Place, Fall 2024 EME Student Poster Competition (2024) 

• EME Outstanding Graduate Teaching Assistant Award (2023)

• President, The Penn State Pan-African Professional Alliance (PAN-APA), 2024-2025

Joy A. Adul

Joy received her Master of Science in Sustainable Energy from the University of Glasgow, Scotland, United Kingdom, and her Bachelor of Engineering in Chemical and Process Engineering from Moi University, Eldoret, Kenya. She started her PhD at Penn State in 2022 but joined the MMT Group in August 2024, where her PhD research focuses on mechanistic insights into CO2 adsorption, activation, and conversion catalyzed by calcium copper titanate (CaCu2Ti4O12). She also employs data analytics, statistical learning techniques, predictive modeling, and energy-based modeling to determine the water-energy nexus, energy systems, and climate change adaptation.

Awards/Scholarships

• Vice Provost and Dean of the Graduate School Student Persistence Scholarship, Penn State -2024-2025

• Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Scholarship, Penn State -2023-2025

• Earth and Mineral Sciences travel award, Penn State - 2023

• Earth and Environmental Systems Institute, Penn State -2022-2023

• Chevening scholarship by the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office, University of Glasgow -2016-2017

Nikhil Komalla

Nikhil received his  Bachelor of Technology degree in Chemical Engineering from Osmania University, India. He has co-authored a book titled ‘How to Learn Chemical Engineering in 100 Solved Problems? & Be Industry Ready’ (ISBN: 978-93-5416-205-3). He joined the MMT Group in August 2022, and his PhD research at Penn State University focuses on the computer-aided rational design of transition metal chalcogenide electrocatalysts for the production of green hydrogen.

Awards & Scholarships

• Frank J. Vastola and Ruth J. St. Clair Vastola Graduate Scholarship-2025

• Spring 2025 Penn State Graduate Student International Travel Grants Awardee - 2025

• 2nd place, Oral Presentation - Energy Innovations Symposium, Penn State Energy Institute  - 2025

• 1st place, Student Poster Presentation - Hydrogen Americas 2024 Summit & Exhibition - 

• 2nd place, Penn State Graduate Research Exhibition - 2023 

• Anmol Awardee - Recognized for magnificent Heartwork at Thop Verse - 2021 

• 2nd place, Azeotropy Chemathon Modeling & Sim. Competition - IIT Bombay - 2021

• 2nd place,  CO2 refrigeration cycle simulation model -IIChE-HRC Inter-College competition - 2020.

• 1st place, Miniature Microbial Fuel Cell Model - 2019

Nishant Mishra 

Nishant received his Bachelor of Science (Honours) degree in Physics from the Institute for Excellence in Higher Education, Bhopal, India, and his Master of Science (MSc) in Applied Physics from the National Institute of Technology, Silchar, India. He joined the MMT Group in January 2025, and his PhD research at Penn State University focuses on Modeling Interfacial Phenomena in Thin-Film Perovskite Solar Cells using First-Principles and Machine Learning Approaches. 

Tasseer Badri 

Tasseer has a background in Political Science & Government and holds an MBA before earning a Master of Professional Studies (MPS) in Renewable Energy and Sustainability Systems through Penn State’s College of Earth & Mineral Sciences. He is now pursuing a Doctor of Engineering (D.Eng.) in Penn State’s College of Engineering. He joined the MMT Group in May 2025, and his research focuses on developing an economically sustainable model for refurbishing and redistributing end-of-life solar photovoltaic (PV) panels, specifically tailored to Indonesia’s market realities.

Tasseer co-founded SOLAR.ID, which delivers cost-effective PV, battery storage, and inverter solutions to homes and businesses across Indonesia—hands-on industry experience that feeds directly into his research on the circular economy of solar PV. He is also a renewable energy consultant and serial entrepreneur, active in Bali and across Indonesia at the national level.

Tasseer is a two-time recipient of the Founders’ Scholarship Fund from Penn State’s John A. Dutton Institute for Teaching and Learning Excellence, supporting the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences.

Yuxiang Zhang

Summer Research Student

Yuxiang is a B.S. Energy Engineering major student in the John and Willie Leone Family Department of Energy and Mineral Engineering (EME).  He joined the MMT Group in the summer of 2025 to conduct research on the "Adsorption Mechanism of Lithium Polysulfides on NiCoP Host Material: Implications for Li–S Battery Applications. He will employ first-principles DFT calculations to investigate the suitability of a binary metal phosphide (NiCoP) as an effective material for anchoring polysulfides in Li-S batteries. 

Yuxiang is being mentored by Ricardo Amaral

Saif Almarzooqi 

Summer Research Student

Saif is a B.S. Energy Engineering major student in the John and Willie Leone Family Department of Energy and Mineral Engineering (EME).  He joined the MMT Group in the summer of 2025 to conduct research on the "First-Principles DFT Study of Structural, Electronic, and Optical Properties of CaHfS3 and SrHfS3 Chalcogenide Perovskites for Solar Cell Applications". He will employ first-principles DFT calculations to predict the electronic band structure, enabling the prediction of the bandgap and the effective masses of electrons and holes. For the optical properties, the dielectric function, absorption coefficient, reflectivity, refractive index, and extinction coefficient of the CaHfS3 and SrHfS3 will be determined.

Yuxiang is being mentored by Henry Eya

Al Khalil Al Hashemi  

Summer Research Student

Al Khalil is a B.S. Energy Engineering major student in the John and Willie Leone Family Department of Energy and Mineral Engineering (EME).  He joined the MMT Group in the summer of 2025 to conduct research on "DFT Mechanistic Insights into Water Adsorption and Dissociation of Ni3P surface: Implications for Hydrogen Production." In this project, the water adsorption chemistry and its subsequent dissociation on nickel phosphide (Ni3P) surface will be explored. The Gibbs free energy of hydrogen at the various active sites will also be calculated to ascertain the hydrogen evolution activity of Ni3P.

Yuxiang is being mentored by Nikhil Komalla Eya

Najd Alshamali 

Schreyer Honors College Thesis Student

Najd is a Schreyer Honors College student majoring in Petroleum and Natural Gas Engineering in the John and Willie Leone Family Department of Energy and Mineral Engineering. Her Schreyer Honors College research thesis research "Hydrogen Storage and its Interaction with Subsurface Minerals", employs DFT-based simulation to provide mechanistic insight into the adsorption chemistries of hydrogen on subsurface pyrite and hematite minerals.  

Fares Albishi 

Schreyer Honors College Thesis Student

Fares is a Schreyer Honors College student majoring in Petroleum and Natural Gas Engineering in the John and Willie Leone Family Department of Energy and Mineral Engineering. His Schreyer Honors College research thesis titled  "Floatovoltaics in Saudi Arabia: Feasibility, Impacts, and Case Studies" examines the feasibility of floatovoltaic systems in Saudi Arabia, considering suitable applications, technical and economic feasibility, and socioenvironmental impacts. 

Adeline Weitknecht

MSc Energy and Mineral Engineering

Integrated Undergraduate-Graduate Student 

Adeline Weitknecht was an Energy Engineering Integrated Undergraduate-Graduate (IUG) student. The IUG program combines both baccalaureate and master’s degrees into one five-year program.  She completed her research thesis on “Identification of Community Definitions of Energy Access and their Integration into the Solar Engineering Design Process". Her research involved the design of solar energy systems,  equitable electricity access, and the impacts of microgrids on boosting access to electricity for rural communities - with a case study of Kenya, where she will be embarking on a research visit this summer to work with our collaborators at Strathmore University.

Oluwayomi F. Awe 

MSc Energy and Mineral Engineering 

Oluwayomi received her MSc in Analytical Chemistry from the University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria; and her Bachelor of Technology from the Federal University of Technology, Akure, Nigeria. Her Master thesis "UNRAVELING THE ORIGIN OF HIGH PHOTOCATALYTIC PROPERTIES OF EARTH-ABUNDANT TIO2/FES2 HETEROJUNCTION: INSIGHTS FROM FIRST-PRINCIPLES DENSITY FUNCTIONAL THEORY", employed first-principles density functional theory calculations to unravel the interfacial geometries (composition and stability), electronic properties (density of states and differential charge densities), and charge carrier transfers (work function and energy band alignment) of TiO2(001)/FeS2(100) heterojunction. 

Sami Al Azri

Summer Research Intern & Schreyer Honors College Thesis

Sami was a B.S. Energy Engineering major in the John and Willie Leone Family Department of Energy and Mineral Engineering (EME). He is interested in Renewable Energy, Photovoltaics, and Energy Consumption Behavior. During this year's summer research internship (2022), Sami is gaining skills in materials modeling and simulation, which he is applying to characterize the bulk and surface properties of CaSnS3, a promising chalcogenide perovskite for PV applications. 

Hia Schreyer Honors College thesis titled "Investigating the Viability of Chalcogenide Perovskites as Next-Gen Solar Cell Technology - A Case Study of Sn-Based CaSnS3 Absorber Material", investigated the feasibility of chalcogenide perovskites, a novel class of semiconductor materials, for next-gen solar cell applications and employs DFT calculations to characterize the properties of bulk CaSnS3 chalcogenide perovskite as a case study. 

Sami completed his Degree in December 2024 and now works as a Power Systems Engineer at Electric Power Engineers. 

Ramakrishna Santrupth

Summer Research Intern  (2023) 

Ramakrishna Santrupth was a B.S. Energy Engineering major in the John and Willie Leone Family Department of Energy and Mineral Engineering. He is interested in Renewable Energy, Solar cells, and Circular economy. Ramakrishna joined the MMT Group this summer (2023) as a research intern and worked on the project "Computer-aided Design of BaHfS3 Chalcogenide Perovskite for Photovoltaic and Optoelectronic Applications. He will apply first-principles DFT methods to unravel the bulk, surface, and interface properties of BaHfS3.

Santrupth completed his degree in May 2024 and is now pursuing his Master of Business Administration and Management at California State University, Long Beach.

Renninger, Gabriel Karl 

Summer Research Intern  (2023) 

Gabriel K. Renninger was a B.S. Energy Engineering major in the John and Willie Leone Family Department of Energy and Mineral Engineering (EME). Gabe is interested in Earth-abundant materials for efficient solar energy conversion. As a Summer Research Intern (2023), he worked on first-principles investigation of the structural, electronic, optical, surface, and interface properties of BaHfSe3, and Earth-abundant and stable chalcogenide perovskite for solar cell applications.

Gabe completed his degree in May 2024 and now works as a junior energy Engineer at M.C. Fuhrman & Associates, LLC (MCFA), an SBA-certified service-disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business that provides planning and strategy, program management, and construction management services to a wide variety of project types for the DoD and other federal agencies, state and local agencies, and numerous other public and private clients. 

Sachin R. Rondiya

Postdoctoral Research Fellow in the MMT Group at Cardiff University (2019-2021).

Now an Assistant Professor at the Department of Materials Engineering, Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bangalore, India

Russell A Cross

PhD Chemistry (2023), Cardiff University, Wales, UK

Thesis “Computer-Aided Design of Transition Metal Phosphides Catalysts for Efficient Hydrogen Evolution Reaction (HER)”. 

Now a Data Scientist at Envelop Risk, London, UK

Cecil H. Botchway

Co-Advisor & Mentor: PhD Chemistry, (2022), Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Ghana

Thesis “Mechanistic Study of Ethanol Conversion to Hydrocarbons over Zeolites Perlialite and Ferrierite ”. 

Now, a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at North-West University, South Africa.

Kigozi Moses 

Co-Advisor: Ph.D. Materials Science and Engineering, (2021), African University of Science and Technology, Nigeria

Thesis: “Activated Carbon and Graphene Oxide for Supercapacitor and Battery Application”. 

Now a Lecturer at the Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science and Education, Busitema University, Uganda

Caroline R. Kwawu

Co-Advisor & Mentor: PhD Chemistry, 2017, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Ghana 

Thesis: “Computational studies on transition metal catalysts for CO2 conversion into hydrocarbon fuels"

Now a Senior Lecturer at the Department of Chemistry at KNUST

Elliot S. Menkah 

Co-Advisor & Mentor: PhD Chemistry, 2019, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Ghana

Thesis: “Computational design of bimetallic Ni-Ru catalysts for the conversion of syngas to synthetic fuels”. 

Now a Lecturer, Research Scientist, and HPC Specialist at KNUST 

Eloise Lewis

MChem. Project Student (2019/2020)

Now pursuing a PGCE in Secondary Science with Chemistry 

Thesis: "First-principles mechanistic insight into the adsorption of arsenic on iron-cobalt oxide (Fe2CoO4)" 

Tim Bögels    

MS.c Earth Structure and Dynamics, (2019)

Utrecht University, The Netherlands

Thesis: “Analyzing Hydrogen Evolution Reaction (HER) Catalytic Sites of Nickel Sulphides, A DFT Computational Study ”. 

Now:  Postdoctoral Researcher AT Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris.

Abdulwaheed A. Bilau   

MS.c Materials Science and Engineering, (2019)

African University of Science and Technology, Abuja, Nigeria

Thesis: “First-principles Density Functional Theory Study of the Structural and Electronic Properties of Prodigiosin as Cancer Drug ”. 

Now: The Deputy Facility Chief Engineer, UK Atomic Energy Authority

Isyaku Abdullahi Odoguje  

MS.c Theoretical Physics, (2019)

African University of Science and Technology, Abuja, Nigeria

Thesis: “Structural, electronic and optical properties of Cu2SnS3 solar absorber: a first-principles density functional theory investigation ”. 

Jasper Huijsmans 

BSc. Earth Sciences, (2018)

Utrecht University, The Netherlands

Research: “Computational study of the influence of inorganic solution components on lithium carbonate crystal growth”

Sophie Colton

MChem project student (2019/2020 at Cardiff University

Thesis: “Computational Design of Sulfide Perovskites for Solar Energy Conversion Applications" 

Jemima Moorcroft 

BSc Project Student (2018/2019) at Cardiff University

Research: "CO2 adsorption and activation on bimetallic Fe-Ni catalysts: A dispersion-corrected DFT analysis"