Alumni Highlight: Yevgeny Rakita
Our next alumni highlight features our previous postdoctoral scientist, Yevgeny Rakita!
Position in DCG: Postdoctoral Scholar (joint with Columbia University), 2021-2022
Current Role: Assistant Professor in Materials Engineering Department at Ben Gurion University of the Negev. It has been a fun place to explore new materials and lots of connections to real-world applications!
Yevgeny’s fondest memory of the DCG is working with an out-of-the-box, forward-thinking group with deep roots in both classical and most advanced materials and characterization techniques.
Alumni Highlight: Steven R. Spurgeon
Our next alumni highlight features our previous PhD student, Steven Spurgeon!
Graduation Year: 2014 (Drexel University)
Thesis Project: Understanding mechanisms of magnetoelectric coupling in manganites through high-resolution STEM and neutron scattering
Current Role: Staff Scientist PNNL and Affiliate Associate Professor of Physics UW
Steven’s best memories of the DCG are the fun times visiting user facilities and working all night collecting measurements; they were tiring but very rewarding. These experiments taught me the value of perseverance and realizing that failure is just part of the process. As a materials scientist, Steven gets to study the fabric of the world around us. He believes are able to shape the basic building blocks of the universe into amazing technologies and devices that have an impact on our everyday lives. At PNNL, he enjoys working with some of the best scientists in the world using incredible instrumentation and being on the cutting edge of materials science and electron microscopy.
Alumni Highlight: Katie Jo Sunday
Our first alumni highlight features our previous PhD student, Katie Jo Sunday!
Graduation Year: 2017 (Drexel University)
Thesis Project: Development of Ferrite-coated Soft Magnetic Composites: Correlation of Microstructure to Magnetic Properties
Current Role: Additive Manufacturing Lead, Joby Aviation
As a student in the DCG group, Katie Jo enjoyed getting a complete understanding of materials characterization techniques and the applications they can/should be used for. She has been able to think outside the box and consider all possibilities when managing a challenging project. She believes the best part about an MSE degree is having a breadth of knowledge on materials and processes. Her MSE degree has allowed her to become a subject matter expert in multiple disciplines and become a Full-MRB (material review board) member at Joby Aviation. In her new position, Katie Jo enjoys making history producing FAA certified parts to revolutionize human transportation with one of the first eVTOL aircrafts!
(Photos of Katie Jo from Joby’s NYSE Day)
