TMI Newsletter | October 2025
Featured News
Dr. Vaibhav Bahadur, an affiliate member of the Texas Materials Institute, has recently published in the Chemical Engineering Journal on a practical and cost-effective way to sequester CO₂ on the seabed.
Dr. Arumugam Manthiram, a professor in Mechanical Engineering and affiliate of Texas Materials Institute, along with Tianxing Lai, a graduate researcher in his lab, have recently published an article in The Bridge about the role artificial intelligence (AI) can play in discovering new materials and battery chemistries for the future.
Dr. Sean Roberts, a faculty affiliate of the Texas Materials Institute, and his group have had their work on quantum dots recently published in ACS Energy Letters. Using naphthalene-based molecules, the team studied how these different molecules stuck to quantum dots and affected their ability to transfer energy.
Dr. Devleena Samanta, a faculty affiliate of Texas Materials Institute, and a small team from her lab, have recently published a new article introducing the use of single-moledule DNA tweezers (SMDTs) to control enzymes and turn them on and off. Dr. Shivudu Godhulayyagari, a postdoctoral fellow, and Sara Nixon, a graduate student in chemistry, developed this new way to control enzymes without needing to change the enzyme itself.
Dr. Huiliang "Evan" Wang, an associate professor in Biomedical Engineering and a faculty affiliate of the Texas Materials Institute, was one of the fifteen recipients to receive the National Academy of Medicine's Healthy Longevity Catalyst Awards. Dr. Wang will be awarded $50,000 in seed funding to support his design of wearable, non-invasive system for sleep enhancement.
Dr. Deji Akinwande, a professor in Electrical and Computer Engineering department and an affiliate of TMI, was awarded a contract for up to $2.5 million from the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H), a governmental agency aimed at funding research that supports biomedical and health breakthroughs. This award will help advance Dr. Akinwande's development of a wearable blood pressure monitoring system, a key vital sign for assessing cardiovascular health.
Weixin Guan and Yaxuan Zhao, graduate researchers with the Texas Materials Institute and the Walker Department of Mechanical Engineering at UT’s Cockrell School of Engineering, were recognized for their innovative and cost-effective device, AirGel, which extracts drinking water from humidity in the air. Their invention also won the competition’s People’s Choice Award and received a USPTO Patent Acceleration Certificate from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
Tushare Telmasre, a graduate student in the Materials Science & Engineering Program, has recently published an article in ECS Advances that explores the connection between battery usage, recharging, and the surface of the zinc anode. A student in Dr. Venkat Subramanian's lab and along with postdoctoral researcher Dr. Lubhani Mishra, and other UT researchers from the CMES Lab, the paper finds that how a battery is use and then recharged directly impacts the surface of the anode and dendrite growth.
Dr. Arumugam Manthiram, an affiliate member of the Texas Materials Institute, received the Electrochemical Society's Olin Palladium Award at the 248th Meeting on October 13th, 2025.
Fall 2025 MSE 397 Seminar Series: November
Dr. Scott Roberts, Sandia National Laboratories
"X-Ray to Exascale: Image-Based Multiphysics Modeling of Batteries and Thermal Protection Systems"
Wednesday, November 5 at 12pm
EER 1.528
Dr. Oleg Gang, Columbia
"DNA-Programmable Nanoscale Materials"
Wednesday, November 12 at 12pm
EER 1.528
Dr. Jeetain Mittal, Texas A&M
"From Disorder to (Dys)Function: Simulating the Multiscale Dynamics of Biomolecular Condensates"
Wednesday, November 19 at 12pm
EER 1.528
Meet TMI Staff: Alyssa Peterson
How long have you been at the University of Texas?
I came to UT in 2017 when I started my PhD in History. It was between UT and the University of Michigan, but after doing my undergraduate and master's in a place that snows, I decided that I didn't want to hike to class in the snow anymore and picked Austin!
What did you study for your PhD?
I looked at how the understanding of "air" changed throughout the 18th century in the British Atlantic World. I compared how physicians and chemists understood air, miasmas, and vapors from around 1650 through to about 1820. I found that as chemistry became it's own field, they began to see and describe air in terms of what it was made of - often elements or things like acids and alkalis. In contrast, the majority of physicians continued to see air by what it could do to the body and only incorporated popular chemical terms in order to give themselves credibility. Some of the comparison had to do with air that came out of the ground during earthquakes and volcanic events, so I got to study the history of earthquakes and natural disasters too, which was really interesting!
Why did you join TMI?
I came to grad school to teach and help students. I am a first-generation college student and the first in my immediate and extended family to get a doctoral degree, so I had to navigate the academic waters by myself and I know how hard that can me. During my degree, I was a TA and taught my own class, and I loved interacting with and helping students understand the material. After graduation, I wanted to continue helping students and my position as the MS&E Graduate Program Coordinator lets me help graduate students through many of the same processes and struggles I went through as a grad student!
What do you like to do when you're not working?
I'm married and have a toddler, so much of my free time is spent playing and entertaining him. In the small amount of time he sleeps (which never feels like enough!), I like to read, binge-watch tv shows (like the Great British Bake-Off and Bones), and cross-stitch funny or snarky things.
Upcoming Events & Announcements
Graduate School November Events
- Fall Graduate School Open House: November 3
- Lunch & Talk: Navigating Graduate School as First-Gen Students: November 4
- Mastering the Hidden Curriculum: Influence, Presence and Networking for Grad Students: November 5
- Hidden Curriculum: Talking about Yourself, Advocating for Yourself: November 6
- International Job Search Summit: November 20
Fall 2025 Academic Dates
- Spring 2026 registration: November 3-14
- Last day to apply for a graduate degree: November 14
- Last day to hold a dissertation defense: November 21
- Fall Break & Thanksgiving: November 24-29
