Alberto Esteban Linares received his B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Tennessee Technological University in December 2017. While at Tennessee Tech University, he played tennis for the Golden Eagles for four years, serving as a captain for two. Prior to joining MNTFL as a PhD student in August 2018, he spent a year completing a Post Bachelor Research Program in Oak Ridge National Lab in the Nuclear Material Science Department. His research interests include fabricating and characterizing novel microfluidic devices for biomedical applications. He developed platforms with probing and sensing capabilities to study the response of neurons of ex vivo retinal tissue to different stimulations. Using state-of-the-art microfabrication techniques, he constructed graphene electrode-based microfluidic perforated microelectrodes arrays that are able to monitor the dynamic extracellular electrical activity of neurons.

Virginia Pensabene

In 2005 Virginia Pensabene got her Laurea degree (equivalent to B.S. + M.S.) in Biomedical Electronic Engineering from the University of Pisa (Italy) and then got her Ph.D. in Humanoid Technologies from Università di Genova, Genova, Italy in 2009. After graduation, she worked as a PostDoc at the Center for MicroBiorobotics of the Italian Institute of Technology from 2009 to 2011. In August 2011, she came to Vanderbilt as a Post Doctoral Research Associate. Her research interests cover ultrathin films, and micro and nanofabrication.

Scott W. Waltermire

Scott W. Waltermire got his B.S. in General Engineering from the United States Naval Academy and M.S. in Mechanical Engineering from the Naval Postgraduate School. He is currently the technical director of the Test Technology Branch at Arnold Engineering Development Center. He joined MNTFL at Vanderbilt as a part-time Ph.D. student in 2005. His current research is on Thermal Transport through Nanoscale Materials.

Yang Zhao

Yang Zhao received her B.E. (2011) and M.S. (2016) in Mechanical Engineering at Southeast University, China. She joined MNTFL as a Ph.D. student in August of 2016. Her research interests are in the field of Nanoscale heat transfer and Microfluidics.

Matthew L Fitzgerald

Matthew Fitzgerald received his B.E (2012) from the University of Tennessee–Martin and his M.S. (2014) in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Illinois – Urbana, Champagne. He then spent nearly three years employed by the Boeing Company before joining MNTFL as a PhD student in August 2017. His research interests include microfluidics and the fabrication of novel microfluidics devices.

Yun Dong

Dr. Yun Dong is a Ph.D. candidate in the School of Mechanical Engineering, at Southeast University, China. He joined MNTFL as a visiting scholar in Mechanical Engineering at Vanderbilt from August 2018 to September 2019. His research interests include nano friction, nano heat transfer, and molecular dynamics. He likes playing billiards, listening to music, and exercising in his spare time. He is now a lecturer at Lanzhou University of Technology, China.

Yi Tao

Yi Tao came from the School of Mechanical Engineering, Southeast University, China. He joined MNTFL as a visiting scholar in January 2019. His research interests include nanoscale thermal transport, molecular dynamics, nonequilibrium Green’s function, density functional theory, and time-domain thermoreflectance technique. He welcomes communication with scholars in various fields.

Dongyan Xu

Dr. Dongyan Xu received her Ph.D. degree in Mechanical Engineering from Vanderbilt University in 2008. Her Ph.D. thesis is on the development of ultra-sensitive fluidic sensors and molecular dynamics studies of ion and water distribution in nanochannels. After graduation, she worked as a postdoc in Prof. Arun Majumdar’s group at the University of California, Berkeley for two years. She is currently an Associate Professor in the Department of Mechanical and Automation Engineering at The Chinese University of Hong Kong.

Saumitra K. Vajandar

Dr. Saumitra K. Vajandar completed his undergraduate in India with a major in Metallurgy. He joined MNTFL as one of Dr. Li’s first students in 2004 when the group was very much in its nascent stage. He graduated in Fall 2009 with a Ph.D. in Materials Science. His primary research was in microfluidics, where he developed micropumps from different materials. Most of his time during this work was spent in clean rooms on device fabrication, which he thoroughly enjoyed. He is currently a ‎Research Fellow at the National University of Singapore. Other than spending time in the clean room, he enjoys playing tennis, watching football…the American version, and listening to music.

Min Chen

Dr. Min Chen came from the School of Mechanical Engineering at Southeast University, China, Min Chen studied in MNTFL at Vanderbilt as a visiting student from September 2008 to September 2010. His research interest includes nano-scale electrokinetic phenomena; micro- and nano-scale phase change phenomena; and parallel molecular dynamics simulation methods. In his spare time, he likes playing soccer.

Jiashu Sun

Dr. Jiashu Sun received her B.S. degree in materials science from Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing, China, in 2006. She joined MNTFL at Vanderbilt as a Ph.D. student in the fall of 2006 and graduated with a Ph.D. degree in Mechanical Engineering in December 2010. Her research field is microfluidics with projects such as the characterization of electric current leakage through thin PDMS structures and the development of novel resistive pulse-sensing techniques to measure cell-volume growth rate and characterize cell separation performance. Jiashu is now a professor at the National Center for Nanoscience and Technology, Chinese Academy of Science, Beijing, China.

Yanyan Ge

Came from the School of Mechanical Engineering at Southeast University, China, Dr. Yanyan Ge studied at MNTFL at Vanderbilt as a visiting student from September 2009 to August 2011. Her research interest includes Nanoscale molecular transport phenomena, Molecular dynamics, Nanofluidics, and microfabrication techniques.

Juekuan Yang

Dr. Juekuan Yang received his Ph.D. degree in Mechanical Engineering from Southeast University (2004), China. He worked at MNTFL as a postdoc research associate from March 2008 to October 2011. His research activity at MNTFL included contact thermal resistance measurement between individual nanostructures, and thermoelectric properties investigation of Boron-based one-dimensional nanostructures. He is currently a full professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Southeast University.

Yandong Gao

Dr. Yandong Gao graduated with B.E. (1999) and M.E. (2002) degrees from Huazhong University of Science and Technology, China, respectively. He joined MNTFL as a Ph.D. student at Vanderbilt in the fall of 2006 and graduated in the fall of 2011. His research at MNTFL focused on developing a microfluidic cell culture platform for neuronal and cancer biology studies. Yandong is now working at the Mayo Clinic.

Yang Yang

Dr. Yang Yang obtained his B.E. in Materials Science and Engineering (2004) and M.E. in Materials Processing Engineering (2007) from Shanghai Jiao Tong University, China, respectively. After working at Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC), he joined MNTFL at Vanderbilt as a Ph.D. student of Mechanical Engineering in the fall of 2008 and earned his doctor’s degree in the summer of 2013. His research at MNTFL focused on thermal transport through individual nanostructures and their contacts. Yang is now working at Seagate Technology as a Senior Mechanical Engineer.

Kyle G. Otte

Born in Huntsville, Alabama, Kyle received his B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Auburn University in the fall of 2011. He joined MNTFL in Mechanical Engineering at Vanderbilt in the spring of 2012 and graduated with a master’s degree in the summer of 2013. His research interests are focused on Nanoscale Heat Transport and other related engineering areas. His hobbies include backpacking, mountain biking, sports, travel, and weightlifting. Kyle is now an Assistant Project Manager at The Comfort Group.

Bryson M. Brewer

Dr. Bryson Brewer received his B.S. in Physics from the University of Southern Mississippi in May 2010. He joined MNTFL as a Ph.D. student in Mechanical Engineering at Vanderbilt the following Fall. He is interested in microfluidic technologies. Bryson is a recipient of an NSF Graduate Research Fellowship and a former college basketball player for the Southern Miss Golden Eagles. He also enjoys golf, intramural sports, weightlifting, and playing guitar. Bryson is now a Senior Associate at Exponent Inc. in Atlanta, GA.

Jian Ma

Dr. Jian Ma came from the School of Mechanical Engineering at Southeast University, China. He joined MNTFL as a visiting scholar in September 2013. His research interests include the fabrication of solid-state nanopores,  the use of nanopore technology in DNA sequencing, and electrospinning nanofibres. He defended his Ph.D. dissertation at Southeast University in May 2016. He enjoys tennis, movies, and music in his spare time. Jian is now a lecturer at Southeast University.

Kirsten Heikkinen Dodson

Dr. Kirsten Heikkinen Dodson received her B.S. in Mechanical Engineering and Applied Math from Lipscomb University in May 2012. She joined MNTFL as a PhD student in Mechanical Engineering at Vanderbilt in Fall 2012. Kirsten is a recipient of an NSF Graduate Research Fellowship. Her research interests include microfluidic platforms for localized probing in whole retina tissue as well as tissue culture. While at Lipscomb, she played soccer for the Lady Bisons for four years serving as captain for two years. She enjoys the outdoors, traveling, and live music. Kirsten is now an Assistant Professor at Lipscomb University.

Yin Zhang

Dr. Yin Zhang came from the School of Mechanical Engineering, Southeast University, China. He joined MNTFL as a visiting scholar in December 2014. His research interests include Micro/Nano-fluidic biosensor design and fabrication. He will stay at Southeast University as a lecturer.

He enjoys travel, swimming, playing badminton, and basketball.

Lijie Yang

Dr. Lijie Yang got her B.E.(2009) and M.E.(2012) in Thermal Energy Engineering from Harbin Engineering University, China. She joined MNTFL at Vanderbilt in the fall of 2012 and graduated in June 2017. Her Ph.D. research involves microfluidic devices for biomedical applications including mechanotransduction and neuronal electrical signal sensing. She likes traveling, music, playing badminton, reading, and creative writing. She is currently working as an engineer at Exponent Inc.

Qian Zhang

Dr. Qian Zhang was born in Mengcheng, Anhui Province, Central China. He graduated from the University of Science and Technology of China(USTC) with a B.E.(June 2011) in Thermal Science and energy Engineering. He joined MNTFL as a Ph.D. Student in Mechanical Engineering at Vanderbilt in fall, 2011. His research interests include Micro/Nanoscale Heat Transport and related engineering areas. He is a Senior Electron Optics System Engineer at ASML-HMI.

Lin Yang

Lin Yang received his B.E. (July 2014) from the Energy and Power Engineering School at Xi’an Jiaotong University, China. He joined MNTFL as a PhD student in August 2014. His research interests include but are not limited to Micro/Nanoscale thermal transport and fabrication of nanostructures. He is currently a Postdoc at Berkeley Lab.