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Principal Investigator
David A. Muller
David Muller is the Samuel B. Eckert Professor of Engineering in Applied and Engineering Physics at Cornell University, and the co-director of the Kavli Institute at Cornell for Nanoscale Science A major focus of David’s research has been developing quantitative electron microscopy methods for measuring and predicting materials properties. His work has demonstrated how electronic-structure changes on the atomic scale can control the macroscopic behavior of systems as diverse as turbine blades, fuel cells or transistors. His current research interests include the physics of renewable energy materials, the atomic-scale control of materials to create electronic phases that cannot exist in the bulk, and developing the hardware and algorithms for “big data” acquisition and processing from high-bandwidth pixelated electron microscope detectors. He joined the Applied and Engineering Physics faculty at Cornell University in 2003, is a graduate of the University of Sydney and completed his Ph.D. in physics at Cornell in 1996. David was a member of the technical staff at Bell Laboratories from 1997 to 2003, where he applied his research on imaging single atoms and atomic-scale spectroscopy to determine the physical limits on how small a transistor can be made. For this work, he was named one of the top 100 young innovators in 2003 by Tech Review Magazine, and recipient of the Burton Medal from the Microscopy Society of America in 2006, the Ernst Ruska Prize of the German Society for Electron Microscopy in 2021, and the John Cowley Medal from the International Federation of Societies for Microscopy in 2023. He is a fellow of the American Physical Society, American Association for the Advancement of Science and the Microscopy Society of America.
Current Members
Postdoctoral Researchers

Salva Salmani Rezaie
PhD UC Santa Barbara 2021
Office: PSB G02
Phone: 607-255-0654
Email: Salva Salmani Rezaie
Graduate Students
Zhaslan Baraissov
BSc in Physics: Nanyang Technological University
Office: PSB G06
Phone: 607-262-ninefiveninezero
Email: Zhaslan Yessembekovich Baraissov

Ariana Ray
BA Columbia University
Office: PSB G06
Phone: 607-255-0654
Email: Ariana Ray

Naomi Pieczulewski
BS Northwestern University
Office: PSB G06
Phone: 607-255-0654
Email: Naomi Pieczulewski

Aldo Chavez
Post-bac Research Assistant
BS Cornell University
Office: PSB G02
Phone: 607-255-0654
Email: Aldo Chavez

Shake Karapetyan
BS NYU Abu Dhabi
Office: PSB G06
Phone: 607-255-0654
Email: Shake Karapetyan
Alumni
Group Alumni
Prof. Yu-Tsun Shao
Assistant Professor, University of Southern California
Postdoc, Cornell University, 2018-2022
PhD MatSE, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2018
BS Physics, National Taiwan University 2012
Website
Prof. Zhen Chen
Assistant Professor, Tsinghua University, 2022-
Postdoc, Cornell University, 2016-2021
Postdoc, Monash University, 2014-2016
PhD, Institute of Physics, CAS, China
Email: Zhen Chen

Dr Paul Cueva
PhD, BS Cornell University
Office: PSB G06
Phone: 607-255-0654
Email: Paul Cueva
Website

Dr. Celesta Chang
Ph.D., Cornell University 2020
BS Physics, Yonsei University 2014
Postdoc, MIT
Email: Celesta Chang
Website

Dr. Michael Cao
PhD, Cornell University 2020
BS Cornell University
Postdoc, Rice University
Email: Michael Cao
Website

Gabriela Calinao Correa (Ela)
MS, Cornell University 2020
BS Applied Mathematics, UMass Amherst
BS Electrical Engineering, UMass Amherst
Software Engineer, Light.co
Email: Ela Correa
Website

Dr. Elliot Padgett
PhD Cornell University, 2019
BA Swarthmore College
ORISE Science and Technology Policy Fellow
Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technologies Office
U.S. Department of Energy, 2019-2020
Postdoc, NREL, 2021-
Email: Elliot Padgett
Website

Dr. Kayla Nguyen
Ph.D., Cornell University 2018
B.S., University of California, Santa Barbara
Postdoc, UIUC
Email: Kayla Nguyen
Website
Dr Barnaby Levin
Materials Applications Scientist
Direct Electron LP
Ph.D. Cornell University, 2017.
MPhys (Undergraduate), University of Oxford.
Email: Barnaby Levin
Website

Dr. Megan Holtz
Ph.D., Cornell University 2017
BS Trinity University
NRC Fellow, NIST
Colorado School of Mines, 2021-
Email: Megan Holtz
Website

Prof. Robert Hovden
Asst. Prof, University of Michigan,
Materials Science and Engineering
Ph.D., Cornell University 2014
Postdoc, Cornell University
BS Georgia Institute of Technology
Email: Robert Hovden
Website

Prof. Julia Mundy
Ph.D., Cornell University 2014
Postdoc, UC Berkeley
Asst. Prof, Physics
Harvard University
Email: Julia Mundy
Website

Prof. Pinshane Huang
Ph.D., Cornell University 2014
BA Carleton College
Postdoc, Columbia
Assoc. Prof, Materials Science
UIUC
Email: Pinshane Huang
Website

Dr Yingchao (Alex) Yu
Ph.D., Cornell University 2014
CEO, Lionano
Founder, Factorial Energy
Office: PSB G06
Phone: 607-255-0654
Email: Yingchao Yu
Website

Prof. Aycan Yurtserver
Ph.D., Cornell University 2008
Postdoc, CalTech 2008 -2014
Assistant Professor,
Canada Research Chair in
Ultrafast Dynamics of Nanoscale Systems
Institut National de la Recherche Scientifique (INRS)
Email: Aycan Yurtsever
Website

Dr Peter Ercius
Ph.D., Cornell University 2009
Postdoc, NCEM, LBL, 2009 – 2011
Staff, NCEM, LBL, 2011-
Email: Peter Ercius
Website

Dr Martin Couillard
Postdoc, Cornell 2006-2008
Ph.D., University of Birmingham
Semiconductor Insight,
Research Officer at National Research Council Canada
Email: Martin Couillard
Website

Prof Huolin Xin
Associate Professor of Physics, UC Irvine
B.S., Peking University 2005
Ph.D., Cornell University 2011
Postdoc, UC Berkeley 2011-2013
Scientist, Brookhaven National Lab 2013-2018
Email: Huolin Xin
Website

Prof. Huiqiong Wang
BSc., Department of Physics, Xiamen
Ph.D., Department of Applied Physics, Yale
Postdoc, Cornell University 2008-2009
Assoc.Prof. Physics, Xiamen University, 2009-2014
2014- Professor, Physics, Xiamen
Email: Huiqiong Wang
Website

Dr James Loudon
Postdoc, Cornell 2006-2007
Ph.D. Cambridge University, 2004
Royal Society University Research Fellow
Senior Research Associate
Cambridge University
Email: James Loudon
Website

Prof. Matthew Weyland
PhD, University of Cambridge
Postdoc, Cornell 2003-2006
Assoc. Prof, Monash University
Email: Matthew Weyland
Website

Prof. Paul Voyles
Postdoctoral Researcher, Bell Labs, 2000-2002
Ph.D., UIUC, 2001
Prof. of Materials Science, UW Madison
Email: Paul Voyles
Website

Prof. Lena Kourkoutis
Ph.D., Cornell, 2009
Assoc. Prof. of Applied Physics
Cornell University
Office: 235 Clark Hall
Email: Lena Kourkoutis
Website