Principal Investigator
Alexa S. Kuenstler, Ph.D. (akuenstl@illinois.edu)
Alexa joined the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign as an Assistant Professor in Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering in January 2023. Alexa completed a Ph.D. in Polymer Science and Engineering from the University of Massachusetts Amherst with Professor Ryan Hayward studying photochemical and photothermal methods to control shape morphing in polymer constructs. In 2020, Alexa joined the group of Prof. Chris Bowman at the University of Colorado Boulder and pursued research on how dynamic covalent chemistry can be used to control self-assembly in polymer materials and interfaced with additive manufacturing. There, Alexa’s work was recognized with an Arnold O. Beckman Postdoctoral Fellowship in Chemical Sciences. Outside of lab, Alexa enjoys cheering for Philadelphia sports teams, reading novels, and going on hikes with her partner and dog.
PhD Students
Rithwik Ghanta (rghanta2@illinois.edu)
Rithwik is developing new methods to control material properties spatially within vat photopolymerization additive manufacturing. He hopes such materials will find uses within soft robotics and biomedical engineering, among other applications. He graduated from UC Berkeley, where he studied math and chemistry. In his spare time, he enjoys cooking/baking, playing the piano, and going on runs.
Autumn Cook (autumnc3@illinois.edu)
Autumn is currently developing novel dynamic polymer systems for additive manufacturing with a focus on sustainability and re-processability of printed materials. They are also working to understand the link between molecular-scale phenomenon and polymer rheology in these systems. Autumn graduate magna cum laude from the University of Maryland, Baltimore Country with a BS in Chemistry and a BA in Gender, Women’s and Sexuality Studies and strives to increase diversity and inclusion within academia and the greater science community.
Jared Rivera-Otera (jaredjr2@illinois.edu)
Jared (JJ) is aspiring to become synthetic chemical engineer and is co-advised with Damien Guironnet.He is focusing on synthetic design of monomeric structures for the development of novel polymer structures for sustainable applications. Also, he is working to understand the relationship between polymer functionality and molecular design. JJ graduated from the University of Puerto Rico Rio Piedras Campus with a BS in Chemistry in 2023. In 2023, he earned the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship (NSF-GRF). In his free time, JJ likes to play sports, go thrift shopping, and hiking.
Ayaulym Abilova (abilova2@illinois.edu)
Ayaulym is developing methods to additively manufacture constructs with spatially-controlled properties. She obtained her BSc in biology and MSc in biomedical engineering from Nazarbayev University in Kazakhstan. In her spare time, she enjoys cycling and swimming.
Paul Lee (eunsukl2@illinois.edu)
Paul is currently studying photo-sensitive bonds in dynamic covalent networks and the link between binding kinetics to the bulk rheological properties of polymers. He wants to incorporate this understanding to the effective design of reconfigurable networks. Paul obtained his BSc in environmental engineering at Ghent University and MSc in chemical engineering at Imperial College London. Paul is a League of Legends enthusiast and an active supporter of Tottenham Hotspur.
Yu-Shen (Wilson) Liu (ysliu2@illinois.edu)
Yu-Shen (Wilson) is co-advised with Paul Kenis. His research seeks to understand the design of polymer networks for use in gas separations. He received a BS in Materials Science and Engineering from National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University in Taiwan, and an MS in Materials Science and Engineering from UIUC.
Master’s Students
Monica Sanchez (msanch98@illinois.edu)
Monica hails from Chicagoland and completed her B.S. in chemistry at UIUC. She is currently a pursuing an M.S. in bioengineering. In lab, she is working to develop structure-property relationships in crystalline polymer networks.
Undergraduate Students
Cade McAndrew (crtmca@illinois.edu)
Cade is currently a junior in Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering. He is working with Rithwik Ghanta to develop new photopolymerizable systems for additive manufacturing.
Fiona Scanu (fscanu2@illinois.edu)
Fiona works with Autumn Cook and is currently synthesizing polymer systems for the purpose of encapsulating catalytic species to control dynamic bonds. Fiona is a junior in Chemical Engineering at the University of Illinois. Upon graduation, she would like to pursue a career in R&D.