Former Group Members

Graduate Student, 2008 – 2012

Beate was born in Goeppingen, Germany in 1982 where she lived through high school. After volunteering for a year and working with disabled children, Beate moved to Dresden, Germany in the fall of 2002 to study Chemistry at the Technical University of Dresden. Beate started working with Prof. Peter Metz at the TU Dresden in 2007 focusing her work on the synthesis of a model system of Zaragozic acids. She successfully defended her master’s thesis in spring 2008. As part of her degree she studied for two years in Rennes, France at the Ecole Nationale Superieure de Chimie de Rennes from which she obtained a French master’s degree in fall 2007. She started her PhD studies at USC in the fall of 2008 and joined the Barry C. Thompson research group. She passed her qualifying exam in fall 2010 and focuses her research on the synthesis of novel low band gap polymers for photovoltaic applications as well as new polymerization strategies for electroactive polymers. In 2012, Beate successfully defended her dissertation and started her career at Merck in Darmstadt, Germany.

Graduate Student, 2008 – 2013

Petr Khlyabich was born in Saint-Petersburg, Russia in 1985. After finishing the gymnasium, Petr chose to study physics and subsequently entered the Department of Physics at the St. Petersburg State University in 2002. Beginning the third year he started to work as a research assistant at the Department of Polymer Physics at the Scientific Research Institute of Physics. By the end of the fourth year (2006) at St. Petersburg State University Petr successfully defended a Bachelor’s of science thesis. Continuing his education, in 2006 Petr was admitted to the Master’s program at St. Petersburg State University at the Department of Polymers, Liquid crystals and Condensed Matter Physics, without a requirement to pass the entrance exams due to his previous academic records. During his Master’s studies, Petr focused on the characterization of physical properties of polymers in solutions under the guidance of Prof. Natalia Yevlampieva. In the 2009, Petr graduated from the St. Petersburg State University with the Master’s of science degree in Physics. During his last year at St. Petersburg State University in 2008, Petr was admitted to the Department of Chemistry at the University of Southern California where he joined Prof. Barry C. Thompson group. In the Fall 2010 Petr passed his qualifying exams and became PhD candidate. His major research interests are organic solar energy conversion materials and devices, and computer modeling.

Graduate Student, 2008 – 2013

Alejandra Aviles was born in La Paz, Bolivia in 1986 where she lived until she graduated from high school in 2004. She then attended the University of Tampa in Tampa, Florida, where she majored in Chemistry and minored in Business Administration. She was an REU student at Syracuse University where she worked on the synthesis of ruthenium catalysts in 2007. In 2008 she completed her undergraduate studies and then moved to Los Angeles, California to start her graduate studies at the University of Southern California where she joined the Thompson group.  Alejandra has been focusing on synthesizing and functionalizing thiophene based polymers. Her interests also involve solar cell fabrication and optimization.

Andrey was born in Crimea, Ukraine in 1987. After finishing high-school in 2004 he moved to Saint-Petersburg, Russia to study chemistry at Saint-Petersburg State University. From 2004 to 2008 his research was focused on the transformation of substituted aziridines. In 2008 he joined the research group of Prof. Victor V. Sokolov where he participated in developing the novel approach to synthesis of aromatic cyclopentylamines. After receiving his Diploma in Chemistry Andrey started his Ph. D. program at the University of Southern California and joined the research group of Prof. Barry C. Thompson in December 2009. Currently his research focuses on the development of the novel low band-gap conjugated polymers with enhanced absorbance.

Graduate Student from 2010-2016

Sangtaik was born in Seoul, Korea in 1981. After finishing high school, he attended Seoul National University, Seoul, Korea where he majored in chemistry. After completing his undergraduate studies, he decided to continue his study through master’s degree program at the Seoul National University. During Master’s program he majored in polymer chemistry studying organic/inorganic photovoltaic cells in Prof. Yoon’s group. In 2010, he was admitted to the Chemistry Department of USC and he joined Prof. Barry Thompson’s group for the PhD studies. His major interests are fabrication and characterization of organic photovoltaic cells.

Graduate student from 2011-2016

Jenna was born and raised in Belfast, Maine and attended the Maine School of Science and Mathematics in Limestone, Maine. After earning her high school diploma in 2007, she moved to Rochester, New York to attend Nazareth College of Rochester. At Nazareth College, Jenna majored in chemistry and minored in mathematics, earning her Bachelors of Science degree in 2011. She worked with Dr. Richard Hartmann on solid phase catalysts for biodiesel production from waste sources from 2008 to 2011. Jenna was a 2010 NSF REU fellow at the University of Wyoming with Dr. Milan Balaz where she worked on porphyrin synthesis. In the summer of 2011, she completed a 6 week research appointment in the Thompson lab at USC. Later in the fall, Jenna officially joined Barry Thompson’s research group for her Ph.D. studies. Her current research interests include polymer design and synthesis for organic photovoltaics.

Graduate student from 2012-2017

Although he was born in Camden, New Jersey in 1988, Nemal spent his early years in Syracuse, New York before moving to Florida to attend middle and high school, where he lived in Orlando, Ft. Lauderdale, and Sarasota. He received his high school diploma from Pine View School in 2007 before returning to unreasonably chilly central New York to attend Syracuse University as a Coronat Scholar, where he received a B.S. degree in Chemistry with Renée Crowne University Honors in 2011. At Syracuse University, he worked with Prof. Yan-Yeung Luk on ternary phase diagrams for nonamphiphilic lyotropic liquid crystal formation, noncovalent polymerization and assembly in water, surface modification for anti-biofouling chemistry, and vesicle formation of bolaamphiphiles from 2008 to 2011, contributing to two papers related to colloidal chemistry. Nemal was also a 2009 NSF REU fellow at the Technical University of Graz in Austria, where he worked with Dr. Stefan Koller and Dr. Roland Fischer on novel silicon-based anodes for high energy density lithium-ion batteries. He was also a 2010 NSF REU fellow at Syracuse University, where he continued his research with Prof. Luk. After spending a year in New York City, Nemal opted for yet another change in climate and was admitted to the chemistry Ph.D. program at the University of Southern California, where he joined the research group of Prof. Barry Thompson in December of 2012.

Graduate student from 2012-2017

Seyma was born in Izmir, Turkey in 1988. In 2006, she attended the Middle East Technical University in Ankara, Turkey and received her Bachelor’s of Science degree in Chemistry in 2010. Then she was admitted to Master’s of Science program in Chemistry at Bilkent University in Ankara, Turkey. She focused on synthesis of water-dispersible conjugated polymer nanoparticles and their applications in Assoc. Prof. Donus Tuncel’s Research Group. She received her Masters of Science degree in 2012. In Fall 2012, she started her Ph.D. studies at USC Chemistry Department and joined Barry Thompson’s Research Group.

US State Department Office of Energy Diplomacy (September 2019 – )

Graduate student from 2013-2018

Betsy was born and raised in Richmond, Virginia, where she attended Maggie L. Walker Governor’s School for Government and International Studies. After graduating in 2007, she took a gap year during which she hiked the Appalachian Trail and volunteered in Costa Rica. Betsy then attended UNC-Chapel Hill, where she majored in Chemistry and minored in Hispanic Studies and Linguistics. While at UNC, she researched encapsulation methods for organic photovoltaics in the lab of Dr. Wei You. After earning her B.S. in 2011, Betsy moved to New Jersey to work at the US Environmental Protection Agency as an Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education Fellow. She left this position in 2013 to pursue further studies in Chemistry at USC.

Postdoctoral Fellow at Northwestern University with Prof. Tobin Marks (2020 – 2023)

Assistant Professor of Chemistry, University of Texas, El Paso (2023 – ) https://pankowlab.com 

Graduate student from 2015-2020

Robert was born in Albuquerque, New Mexico, but spent his formative years in Visalia, California, which is located in the San Joaquin Valley. He received his BA in Chemistry from UCSB in the Spring of 2012. As an undergraduate, he worked in the group of Dr. R. Dan Little studying electroreductive cyclization reactions and the synthesis and electrochemistry of fulvenes and green electrolytes. He then began his graduate studies at CSU Northridge in the lab of Dr. Katsu Ogawa focusing on the synthesis and electrochemical characterization of phosphole containing oligomers and polymers. After receiving his MS in Chemistry in the Spring of 2015 from CSUN, he began his Ph.D. studies at USC in the Fall of 2015.

Postdoctoral Fellow at MIT with Prof. Aristide Gumyusenge

Graduate student from 2016-2021

Sanket was born in Rourkela, India in 1993. He then moved to Bhubaneswar, India where he attended his high-school at D.A.V Public School. After completion, in 2011 he attended National Institute of Science Education and Research (NISER), Bhubaneswar, India for his 5-year integrated master’s degree in Chemistry and graduated in the spring of 2016. During his masters, he was working in the field of material chemistry, particularly examining boron based polymers for Organic Light Emitting Devices (OLED) under the guidance of Prof. V. Krishnan. In fall of 2016 he began his PhD studies in Organic Chemistry at University of Southern California (USC) and joined Prof. Barry Thompson’s Research Group in the year 2017.

Postdoctoral Fellow at Northwestern University with Prof. Tobin Marks

Graduate student from 2017-2022

Liwei was born in Shantou, China in 1994. After finishing his high school studies in 2012, he attended the University of Oregon and received his Bachelor of Science degree in Chemistry in 2016. During his undergraduate studies in Oregon, he worked in Prof. Mark Lonergan’s group focusing on organic synthesis and device fabrication for semiconducting materials. In summer 2017, he began his Ph.D. studies at USC and joined Prof. Barry Thompson’s Research Group.

Postdoctoral Fellow with. Prof. Rachel Segalman at UC Santa Barbara

Graduate Student 2017 – 2022

Pratyusha was born and raised in the state of West Bengal, India in 1994, in a city named Siliguri, located on the banks of the Mahananda River and the foothills of the Himalayas. There she attended her middle school at Nirmala Convent School and completed her high school at Army Public School, Bengdubi. In 2015, she received her Bachelor of Science degree in Chemistry from Lady Brabourne College, Kolkata affiliated with the University of Calcutta. She then attended Indian Institute of Technology, Madras to pursue her Master of Science degree in Chemistry. As a postgraduate student at IIT Madras, she worked on “Droplet synthesis of Quantum Dots using Nano Electrospray Ionisation” at the DST Unit of nanoscience under the supervision of Prof. T. Pradeep. In the Fall of 2017, she began her graduate studies in Materials Science at University of Southern California and joined Prof. Barry C. Thompson’s Research Group.

Member of R&D Staff, YTC America

Graduate Student 2017 – 2022

Negar was born and grew up in Tehran, Iran. She received her BA in Materials engineering from Tehran Polytechnic in the Spring of 2012. She then began her graduate studies at Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nürnberg in Germany in the lab of Professor Brabec focusing on organic solar cells and their characterizations. After receiving her MS in Materials engineering, she began her Ph.D. studies at USC in the Fall of 2017.

Quo Connect Management Consulting GmbH, Berlin, Germany

Graduate Student 2018 – 2023

Alexander was born and raised in Mannheim, Germany in 1994. After finishing high school in 2013, he completed a one year Propädeutikum Chinese language course with the Ruprecht-Karls University Heidelberg. In 2017 he received his BA in chemistry from the Technical University of Munich where he was working on iridium catalysts on an antimony doped tin oxide support for the oxygen evolution reaction in water electrolysis in the group of Prof. Hubert A. Gasteiger. In the fall of 2018 he began his Ph.D. studies at the University of Southern California and joined the group of Prof. Barry C. Thompson. In 2019 he received his MS in Chemistry from the Technical University of Munich for the synthesis of donor-polymers via Copper-catalyzed direct arylation and of non-fullerene acceptors for applications in organic solar cells under the co-mentorship of Prof. Thorsten Bach and Prof. Barry C. Thompson.

Graduate Student from 2010-2015

Alia Latif was born and raised in Los Angeles, California. After high school, she worked in early childhood education for two years before returning to school. In 2007 she transferred to UC Davis, where she majored in Chemistry and worked with William H. Casey on the fractionation of magnesium in cyanobacteria. She obtained her bachelor’s degree in 2009, and in the fall of 2010 she began her graduate studies at USC where she became a joint student in the Barry Thompson and Mark Thompson labs. Her research interests include organic photovoltaics and solar cell fabrication.

Graduate Student from 2016-2018

Qingpei was born in Chengdu, China in 1994. He then moved to Shenzhen, China where he completed his middle and high school studies. In 2012, he attended Shenzhen University and received his Bachelor’s of Science degree in Applied Chemistry in Spring of 2016. As an undergraduate, Qingpei worked in the group of Prof. Hong Meng at Peking University, Shenzhen (PKUSZ) where he studied organic synthesis and device fabrication for Organic Thin-Film Transistors (OTFTs). In fall of 2016 he begain his Master’s of Science in Materials Science at the University of Southern California and joined Prof. Barry Thompson’s Research Group.

Graduate Student from 2018-2020

Başak was born and raised in Istanbul, Turkey. She attended Boğaziçi University where she received her undergraduate degrees in Chemistry and Molecular Biology and Genetics in 2017. During her undergraduate studies she worked on anionic polymerization reactions and also computational chemistry. In the Summer of 2016, she worked in Prof. Barry C. Thompson’s group as a visiting research student and worked on organic photovoltaics. After she received her undergraduate degree, she started her graduate studies at the University of Southern California in the fall of 2018 and joined Barry C. Thompson’s research group.

Melanie was born in Boston, MA and grew in Methuen, MA. After graduating high school in 2015, she studied chemistry at the University of Massachusetts Lowell. At UMass Lowell, Melanie worked in the lab of Prof. Dionysios Christodouleas on low-cost electrode development. After graduating with a BS in Chemistry in 2018, she began her graduate studies at USC and joined Prof. Barry C. Thompson’s group.

Undergraduate Researcher, 2009-2011

Undergraduate Researcher, Fall 2011

Undergraduate Researcher, 2013

Undergraduate Researcher, 2014

Undergraduate Researcher, 2015

Undergraduate Researcher, 2015-2016

Undergraduate Researcher, 2017

Undergraduate Researcher, 2017

Undergraduate Researcher, 2017-2018

PhD student at the University of Michigan

Mami was born in Urayasu City in Japan, which is best known as the city of Tokyo Disneyland. In 2016, she started her college education at Foothill College in the SF Bay Area, where she later received AS degrees in chemistry, mathematics, and physics. At the end of her freshman year, she started research at Prof. Chester Simocko’s Lab in San Jose State University, focusing on polymer synthesis. In the fall of 2018, she transferred to USC and joined Prof. Barry Thompson Research Group.

Khushi was born and raised in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. She graduated from high school after completing the IB curriculum from GEMS Wellington Academy, Silicon Oasis in Summer 2021. She then began her undergraduate studies in Chemical Engineering at USC in the Spring of 2022.

Postdoctoral Fellow, 2009-2010

Visiting Graduate Student, 2008-2009

REU Student, Summer 2009

Visiting Graduate Student, Spring 2011

High School Student from St Paul’s School, Summer 2011

REU student, Summer 2011

Visiting graduate student from the Technical University of Denmark, Department of Energy Conversion and Storage, Fall 2014

Visiting student from Animo Leadership Charter High School

Summer 2015

Visiting student from Cerritos College

Summer 2015

Visiting student from Ecole normale supérieure de Cachan

Summer 2015

Visiting student from Cerritos College

Summer 2016

Visiting student from Bogazici University

Summer 2016

Visiting student from Cerritos College

Summer 2017

Visiting student from Beloit College

Summer 2018

Visiting student from Cerritos College

Summer 2019

Visiting student from Cerritos College

Summer 2022

Visiting Summer Student from Cerritos College

Summer 2023

Visiting Summer Student from Los Angeles Pierce College

Summer 2023