Team Members

Principal Investigator

Dr. Chunmei Ban

Chunmei Ban is an Associate Professor in the Paul M. Rady Department of Mechanical Engineering, as well as a member of the Materials Science and Engineering Program at the University of Colorado Boulder in Boulder, CO. Prior to 2019, she served as a Senior Scientist (V) in the Chemistry and Nanoscience Center at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) in Golden, CO. Ban earned both her Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees from the Department of Chemical Engineering at Tianjin University in China, and she holds a PhD in Chemistry from the State University of New York at Binghamton. Her doctoral research was supervised by Professor M. Stanley Whittingham, a 2019 Nobel Laureate in Chemistry.


Her research focuses on surface and interface chemistry, specifically examining how interphase properties influence electrochemical processes in rechargeable batteries. This includes nonaqueous sodium batteries, lithium-ion batteries, and solid-state batteries. She aims to advance the development of electrode and electrolyte materials by improving our understanding of the electrolyte-electrode interphase. Ultimately, her goal is to design next-generation electrochemical materials for energy storage applications.

Postdoctoral Researchers

Graduate Students

Kaitlin Garman

Ph.D student

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Education

B.S. in Chemistry at Montana State University (2021)
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Research Area

Synthesis of solid-state electrolytes for battery applications.

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Evan Flitz

Ph.D student

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Education

B.S. in Chemistry at Pomona College (2022)
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Research Area

Engineering interfaces of battery materials.

Dakota Rodriguez

Ph.D student

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Education

B.S.ÌýinÌýEngineering from Fort Lewis College, Magna Cum LaudeÌý(2023)
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Research Area

Surface engineering of current collectors for next generation Na-ion batteriesÌý

Mohammad Sufiyan Nafis

Ph.D student

ÌýÌýmohammad.nafis@colorado.eduÌý

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Education

B.Tech Mechanical Engineering from Aligarh Muslim University (2022)

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Research Area

Surface modification of electrodes. Synthesis and optimization of solid electrolytes for next generation solid state batteriesÌý

Cindy Wong

PhD StudentÌý


ÌýÌýÌýcindy.wong@colorado.eduÌý

Education


B.S. in Chemical Engineering, Oregon State University (2022)
M.S. in Chemical Engineering , Massachusetts Institute of Technology (2024)

Research Area


Characterization of liquid electrolytes for sodium-ion batteries. Co-advised with Michael Toney.

Caitlyn Komar

PhD StudentÌý


ÌýÌýÌýcaitlyn.komar@colorado.eduÌý

Education


B.S in Chemical Engineering at the University of Minnesota - Twin Cities (2024)

Research Area


Surface engineering of materials for battery applications.Ìý

Alumni

Education
Postdoctoral Researcher at University of Colorado Boulder (August 2019- Jan 2020)
Ph.D. in Materials Science and Engineering, University of Kentucky (2019)
M.S.E. in Materials Science and Engineering, Central South University (2015)
B.E. in Chemistry of Materials, Central South University (2012)

Professional Experiences:
Research Scientist at Albemarle Corp

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Education:
Ph.D., Applied Chemistry, Colorado School of Mines, 2017
Master, Physical Chemistry, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, 2013
Bachelor, Materials Chemistry, University of Science and Technology Beijing, 2010

Professional experiences:
Battery Cell Engineer, Rivian, 2020-present
Cell design engineer, A123 Systems, 2019-2020
Postdoctoral researcher, National Renewable Energy Laboratory, 2017 – 2019
Graduate researcher, National Renewable Energy Laboratory, 2016 - 2017

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Simon Hafner

SimonHafner - Class of 2019, BS-MS concurrent, Mechanical Engineering
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Simon began working in Dr. Se-Hee Lee's Electrochemical Energy Lab in 2014 and joined NREL under the direction of Dr. Ban as a graduate student beginning in 2017. In his two years at NREL, he worked under the co-advisement of Dr. Lee and Dr. Ban on joint ÃÛÌÒ´«Ã½Æƽâ°æÏÂÔØ and NREL projects including anodes surface coatings,Ìýsolid-state sulfide-based electrolytes, and fabrication methods for all-solid-state batteries. Simon received two Undergraduate Research Opportunity Program Grants as an undergraduate, and during his two years in graduate school, the Renewable and Sustainable Energy Institute funded his research. Simon was named Outstanding Graduate for Research in the College of Engineering and Applied Science and is currently working at Tesla in Palo Alto, CA. Outside of research, Simon was a BoettcherÌýScholar, member of the CU Club Taekwondo team, and remains an avid cyclist.Ìý
Simon

Wei Zhang

Education:
Postdoctoral Research: Brown University,Providence, RI (2022)
Postdoctoral Research: Brown University,Providence, RI (2019)
Ph.D., Materials Science and Engineering, Alfred University, Alfred, NY, GPA3.7 (2016)
MS, Materials Science and Engineering,HuazhongUniversity of Sci. & Tech.,P.R. China, (2012)
Bachelor, HuazhongUniversity of Sci. & Tech., P.R. China (2008)

Wei

Dr. Yangyang Wang

Education:
Ph.D. in Material Science, Nankai University, China (2021)
M. E. in Material Engineering, Nankai University, China (2018)
B. E. in Polymer Material and Engineering, North China University of Science and Technology, ChinaÌý(2015)

yang photo

Martin Nguyen

Education:
B.Sc Mechanical Engineering at University of Florida, Cum Laude (2019)
Ph.D. in Mechanical Engieering at University of Colorado, Boulder (2025)
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Martin's Headshot

Jackson Pope

Education:
B.Sc Materials Science and Engineering at the Ohio State University Columbus (2017)
Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering at University of Colorado, Boulder (2025)
PhD student 2021

Charlotte Thomas

Education:
B.S.E.Ìýin Chemical Engineering from theÌýUniversity of Michigan Ann Arbor (2020)
Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering at University of Colorado, Boulder (2025)
Charley's headshot

Kangmin Kim

Education:
B.S in Chemical Engineering, University of Colorado Boulder (2025)

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kangmin headshot

Chiminh Liang

Education:
Ph.D. in Material Science, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY, USA
B.S. in Material Science, Sichuan University, Chengdu, SC, PRC

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Chimih‘s pic

Nick Singstock

Education:
Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering, University of Colorado Boulder (2022)
B.E. in Chemical Engineering, Ohio State University (2017)

Professional Experiences:
Co-Founder and CTO at Mana Battery 2024-Present