September 15, 2025
Glass Pavilion
Johns Hopkins University
Homewood Campus
9:00-9:15 Opening Remarks
9:15-11:00 Graduate Student Poster Session
Neuronal regulation of brain organoids via electrical stimulation for induced learning Chris Acha
A PhD candidate from Johns Hopkins Whiting School of Engineering. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering from the University of Maryland, College Park, where he built a strong foundation in organic chemistry and polymer physics with early research experience investigating epithelial cellular migration at the National Institutes of Health. Under the mentorship of Dr. David Gracias, Chris’s current research focuses on advancing 3D micro-integrated bioelectronics within the field of biomedical engineering. He has developed a self-folding microelectrode array capable of interfacing with submillimeter-size human brain organoids to develop complex neuromorphic computational devices. His work contributes to the rapidly evolving concept of Organoid Intelligence (OI), which leverages human brain cells for biocomputing and neuro-engineering breakthroughs.
Tracing Cr Migration in Sb₂Te₃ with Computational Simulation: Topological Materials Engineering for Next-Generation Thermoelectrics Yi Cao
A Ph.D. student in Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at Johns Hopkins University, advised by Prof. Paulette Clancy. Her research focuses on computational materials science, with a particular interest in bridging Density Functional Theory (DFT), Molecular Dynamics (MD), and Machine Learning (ML) to accelerate the discovery of 2D thermoelectric materials. She holds a B.S. in Pharmacy from Fudan University and is passionate about applying simulation-driven approaches to advance biomedical and energy-related electronics.
Forecasting Material Criticality for Microelectronics Multilayer MMI for dense 3D photonic integration for co-packaged AI computing architectures Georgia Leigh
Currently pursuing a Ph.D. in Materials Science and Engineering, following the completion of a B.S. in the same field with a Minor in Spanish Language and Hispanic Culture (2022) and a Master of Science in Engineering (2022–2023). Their research focuses on high-throughput and combinatorial methods for the discovery and characterization of magnetic, electronic, and quantum materials. They have a particular interest in Heusler alloys for their unique tunable properties and potential applications.
Multilayer MMI for dense 3D photonic integration for co-packaged AI computing architectures Ikechi Ndamati
A 4th-year PhD student in Professor Amy Foster’s research group. His research involves the design, simulation, fabrication, and measurement of photonic integrated circuit devices for biomedical and AI computing applications.
Machine Learning for the Inverse Design of Integrated Photonic Power Splitters Aiden Tomov
A second year PhD student in Prof. Amy Foster’s Integrated Photonics Lab and a member of the NSF ADAM NRT program. Studied electrical engineering and applied mathematics at Swarthmore College.
Exfoliation and Characterization of Thin-Film Ferroelectric for Bulk Photovoltaic Devices Hunter Saylor
PhD student in Electrical and Computer Engineering, advised by Susanna Thon. In Spring 2024, Hunter received his B.S. Electrical and Computer Engineering from Morgan State University. In Fall 2024, he joined the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department at Johns Hopkins University as a PhD student with a research focus in photovoltaic technology and sustainable energy.
11:00-11:30 1st Lightning Round
Machine learning for materials discovery, from imagining to making Paulette Clancy
Paulette Clancy, the Edward J. Schaefer Professor in Engineering, is known for her work in computational materials processing. Clancy is the director of research for the JHU Data Science and AI Initiative, associate director of the Johns Hopkins Center for Integrated Structure-Mechanical Modeling and Simulation (CISMMS), and a fellow of the Hopkins Extreme Materials Institute (HEMI). She is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry and the American Institute of Chemical Engineers.
Clancy leads one of the top groups in the country studying atomic- and molecular-scale modeling of semiconductor materials, ranging from traditional silicon-based compounds to all-organic materials. Her group’s research comprises four main areas: advanced organic materials (covalent organic frameworks, antibacterial oligomers, organic electronics); algorithm development (force field development, machine learning, and Bayesian optimization); electronic materials (particularly III-IV semiconducting materials; and nucleation and crystal growth (hybrid organic/inorganic perovskites and quantum dot nanocrystals). Her lab focuses on studies of advanced materials processing and nucleation, including understanding the links between processing, structure, and function.
Quantum Emission from Confined Excitons in a 2D Semiconductor–Molecular Lattice Heterostructure Thomas J. Kempa
Associate Professor of Chemistry and of Materials Science and Engineering (by courtesy) at Johns Hopkins University. After receiving a bachelor’s degree in chemistry from Boston College (2004) and after being awarded a Marshall Scholarship, Tom completed two years of post-graduate study at Imperial College London. Returning to the United States, he began graduate studies under the direction of Prof. Charles Lieber at Harvard University and earned his PhD in 2012. Thereafter, Tom conducted postdoctoral studies in the laboratory of Prof. Daniel Nocera, first at MIT and then Harvard. Professor Kempa’s research group develops new methods to prepare and study low-dimensional (low-D) inorganic crystals from nanoparticles (0D) to few-atom thick sheets (2D) whose exceptional properties render them intriguing platforms for optoelectronic, energy conversion, and quantum science studies. Professor Kempa is the recipient of numerous awards including a Moore Foundation Investigator Award, DARPA Young Faculty Award, an NSF CAREER Award, a Kavli Frontiers of Science Fellow (NAS), a Dreyfus Foundation Fellowship, a Mercator Fellowship, a Toshiba Distinguished Young Investigator Award, two Hopkins Discovery Awards, and others. He was also named an Emerging Investigator by the Journal of Materials Chemistry A and was recently selected by Matter as one of 35 early career PIs leading breakthroughs in materials science. In 2023, Tom was appointed a member of the Nano Letters Editorial Advisory Board. In December 2024, Tom began an appointment as Associate Editor at npj 2D Materials and Applications. Tom was elected the co-Vice Chair and Chair of the 2026 and 2028, respectively, GRCs on “2D Electronics Beyond Graphene.” He is also a founder and co-director of the Hub for Imaging and Quantum Technologies, an institute at JHU.
Using Nested AutoEncoders to Resolve Multiscale Material Properties Rigoberto Hernandez
Gompf Family Professor in the Department of Chemistry at the Johns Hopkins University since 2016, and the Director of the Open Chemistry Collaborative in Diversity Equity (OXIDE). He is also a Professor in the Departments of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, and Materials Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University. He was born in Havana, Cuba and is a U.S. Citizen by birthright. He holds a B.S.E. in Chemical Engineering and Mathematics from Princeton University (1989), and a Ph.D. in Chemistry from the University of California, Berkeley (1993). He has published over 180 articles in theoretical and computational chemistry.
11:30-12:00 2nd Lightning Round
Biochips for future AI computers David Gracias
Dr. Gracias has been on the faculty at JHU for 22 years, and is an elected fellow of leading cross-disciplinary scientific and engineering societies, including APS (physics), RSC (chemistry), AAAS (science), AIMBE (biomedical engineering), NAI (National Academy of Inventors) and IEEE (electrical engineering).
Bioelectronics for Brain-Machine Interface Xiao Yang
Assistant Professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering at Johns Hopkins University since 2025 and is an affiliate member of the Translational Tissue Engineering Center and the Center for Microphysiological Systems. Previously, Dr. Yang was a Wu Tsai Neurosciences Institute Interdisciplinary Postdoctoral Scholar at Stanford University, and she received her Ph.D. in Chemistry from Harvard University. Her lab works on developing bio-inspired and art-inspired bioelectronics for brain-machine interfaces and regenerative medicine.
Soft-Material Biolectronics Data Analyzed by Machine Learning Howard Katz
Professor of Materials Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University specializing in polymer and electronic device design. He has >340 papers and 57 patents, and H-index ~100. His research includes material synthesis with applications in semiconductor devices, chemical/biomolecule sensors, dielectric heterostructures, and energy conversion. He published the first high-charge-mobility demonstrations of several conducting polymer subunits and multi-transistor sensing systems, and varied works on polymer assembly, interactions, and patterning. He is a Fellow of four professional societies, was named to the National Academy of Inventors, and has two R&D100 Awards.
12:00-1:30PM Lunch Keynote Address by Dr. Kartik, Vast Data
1:30-2:30PM Industry Roundtable
2:00-2:45 Break
2:45-3:15 3rd Lightning Round
Physics Based Perception using Polarization Imaging: Design and Microfabrication of the first CMOS polarization camera Andreas Andreou
Professor of electrical and computer engineering, and co-founder of the Johns Hopkins University Center for Language and Speech Processing. Research in the Andreou lab is aimed at brain-inspired microsystems for sensory information and human language processing. Notable microsystems achievements over the last 25 years include a contrast sensitive silicon retina, the first CMOS polarization-sensitive imager, silicon rods in standard foundry CMOS for single-photon detection, and a large scale mixed analog/digital associative processor for character recognition. Significant algorithmic research contributions in pattern analysis and machine intelligence include the vocal tract normalization technique for speech recognition and heteroscedastic linear discriminant analysis, a derivation and generalization of Fisher discriminants in the maximum likelihood framework.
Gas Phase (Dry) Processing of EUV Resists and 2D Materials for the Semiconductor Industry Howard Fairbrother
Dr. Fairbrother joined the Chemistry Department at Johns Hopkins University in 1997, is a recipient of a Career award from the National Science Foundation and an ACS Fellow. He is currently the Associate Chair of the Chemistry Department at Johns Hopkins. His main research interests are in understanding the role of surfaces and interfaces in environmental science and in the deposition of materials. Of specific relevance to the NRT program Dr. Fairbrother is interested in understanding the structure-function relationships that underpin the behavior of metal-based resists for EUV lithography, and in developing solvent free (dry) process for, (i) creating resists and (ii) controlling the deposition and etching of next generation semiconductors (e.g. 2D materials).
Integrated Photonics for next-gen AI Computing Amy Foster
Associate Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering, expert in the nanoscale design and control of silicon-based photonic devices for optical interactions.
Foster’s Integrated Photonics Laboratory utilizes CMOS-compatible fabrication techniques to develop integrated photonic devices for next-generation communication systems at both the on-chip and off-chip level. These devices have applications in optical communications, sensing, imaging, spectroscopy, high-speed processing, precision measurement, and security. Her research has been funded by the Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity (IARPA), the National Science Foundation (NSF), Applied Physics Laboratory (APL), and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA).
Dr. Foster serves as associate editor of the OSA (Optical Society) journal Optics Express and is chair of the OSA Frontiers in Optics Photonic Integrated Devices for Computing, Sensing, and Other Applications Committee. She also serves on the IEEE Photonics Conference Optical Interconnects Committee and is a guest editor for the IEEE Journal of Selected Topics in Quantum Electronics for 2021, among other appointments. Her co-authorship on “End-Fire Silicon Optical Phased Array with Half-Wavelength Spacing” was selected for the January 2018 cover of APL Photonics, adding to more than 45 journal publications in the area of silicon photonics.
From Quantum Materials To Microelectronics and AI Tyrel McQueen
Professor McQueen is a professor of chemistry, physics and astronomy, and materials science and engineering at the Johns Hopkins University, and co-director of the Platform for the Acceleration Realization, Advancement, and Discovery of Interface Materials (PARADIM). He graduated with a PhD in Chemistry and Materials from Princeton in 2009, and started a faculty position at JHU in 2010 after a brief postdoctoral stint at MIT. McQueen is the recipient of numerous awards including the Packard Science and Engineering and Sloan Research Fellowships. His research focuses on the synthesis, discovery, and analysis of new quantum materials, with a vision of their current and future utility. He has authored more than 160 peer-reviewed publications, and pioneered new approaches to single crystal growth and materials design.
3:15-3:45 PM 4th Lightning Round
Using AI to Accelerate Optoelectronics Characterization and Design Susanna Thon
Associate professor of electrical and computer engineering. She studies nanomaterials engineering for optoelectronic devices, with a focus on solar energy conversion and sensing.
Her work applies techniques from nanophotonics and scalable fabrication to produce devices and materials with novel optical and electrical functionality. Thon’s team is currently working on a number of projects, including the development of plasmonic-photocatalytic systems that use nanoparticles containing aluminum to enhance light absorption in titanium dioxide. Team members are also researching ways to use nanostructured materials, such as colloidal quantum dots and plasmonic metal nanoparticles, to build multicolored, transparent, and next-generation devices.
Insights from Thon’s research on photovoltaics are helping to push the boundaries of efficiency and cost-effectiveness through the use of flexible platforms and new materials. Using 3-D printing, Thon and her colleagues recently developed a flexible and transparent lens array that can increase the amount of power produced by solar cells twentyfold.
Multiscale Modeling for Electronic Materials Nam Le
Senior staff scientist whose research focuses on applying atomic-scale simulation methods to solve problems in materials science and engineering. His recent work relates to autonomous design of small organic molecules, phase change materials for thermomechanical actuation, and materials to counter chemical threats. He is also an expert in nanomaterials for energy.
3:45 Closing Remarks
4:15-5:15PM ADAM NRT Board Meeting (By invitation only)
