Teaching and Mentoring

Nurturing of knowledge and its diffusion into society is one of the key purposes of academia. In addition to my personal scientific endeavors, I also have the pleasure to share my knowledge with students, both as a teacher and as a mentor. I feel honored to have made contributions to the careers of many students.

I have been a guest/substitute lecturer for Solid State Physics, Classical Mechanics, and Electricity and Magnetism (University of California, Berkeley).

I have been a teaching assistant for Organic Chemistry, Solids and Surfaces, Quantum Chemistry, Ester Project, Synthesis and Analysis (Utrecht University), Physics for Biology Students (University of Groningen).

I have mentored over 20 students.

I happen to have a knack for computer-aided design, 3D printing, laser cutting and engraving, and I'm quite nifty with Inkscape and FreeCAD. In some of my projects, I combine laser engraving and 3D printing, where the larger, panel-like features are make from wood while the connectors are custom-printed out of PLA or PETG. I found that 3D creativity can tie very well together with education, as I have made use of engraving and 3D printing to make visual aides for the class room. On the left, you can see a buckminsterfullerene ("bucky ball") of carbon atoms, a rare earth metal complex I studied in the STM on a gold surface, a Sierpinski tetrahedron, a nitrogen-doped graphene nanoribbons and a substitutionally doped transition metal dichalcogenide. Below is a honeycomb Moire supercell made from engraved wood.

My philosophy is to always step back and take a moment to consider whether a gadget is really worth it or actually just creates more plastic mess, before committing to a print. I try to steer clear of frivolous use and useless trinkets that end up in the landfill.