People

Professor Jason Baxter


Postdoc, Yale University, 2005-2007
PhD, University of California Santa Barbara, 2005
BS, University of Delaware, 2000

Email: jbaxter@drexel.edu


PhD Students

Jesse Starger


Co-advised by Profs. Cairncross, Alvarez, and Fafarman
BS, Tufts University, 2016
Controlling crystallization in solution deposited halide perovskites

Email: js4959(at)drexel(dot)edu

Caroline Cameron


Co-advised with Prof. Creighton
MS, University of Pennsylvania, 2019
BS, Rochester Institute of Technology, 2017
Developing a circular economy for composites from wind turbine blades

Email: cc3938@drexel.edu

Gregory Manoukian


MS, Drexel University, 2019
BS, Willamette University, 2017
Quantifying recombination dynamics in Cd(Se)Te photovoltaics

Email: gam78@drexel.edu

Stefen Moeller

BS, ### University, 2022

Email: skm325@drexel.edu

Alex Ashley

BS, Lafayette College, 2022
Quantifying recombination dynamics in Cd(Se)Te photovoltaics

Email: aja373@drexel.edu


Undergraduate and BS/MS Students

Lance Steiner


Class of 2024
Dynamic material flow analysis in renewable systems

Noel Lomonaco


Class of 2024, Materials Science and Engineering
Carrier dynamics of CdTe photovoltaics

Cosmo Randazzo


Class of 2024, Chemical Engineering

Dynamic material flow analysis in renewable systems


Alumni (PhD)

Sherif Khalifa PhD 2022
Thesis Title: Environmental Sustainability of Emerging Solar Photovoltaic Technologies
Next Position: NREL postdoctoral study

Mohammad Mehdi Taheri, PhD 2021
Thesis title: Investigating Carrier Dynamics in Photovoltaic Materials
Next position: First Solar

Siming Li, PhD 2019
Thesis title: Ultrafast Carrier Dynamics within Photovoltaic Absorbers
Next position: Postdoc at National Renewable Energy Laboratory

Sergey Y. Smolin, PhD 2017
Thesis title: Dynamic Optoelectronic Properties in Perovskite Oxide Thin Films Measured with Ultrafast Transient Absorption & Reflectance Spectroscopy
Next position: Intel

Borirak Opasanont, PhD 2014
Thesis title: Dynamics of Chemical Bath Deposition of Inorganic Thin Films for Photovoltaic Applications
Next position: Alta Devices. Now at Apple.

Michael E. Edley, PhD 2016
Thesis title: Interfacial Engineering and Charge Carrier Dynamics in Extremely Thin Absorber Solar Cells
Next position: Tokyo Electronics. Now at Broadcom.

Hasti Majidi, PhD 2012
Thesis title: Extremely Thin Absorber Solar Cells
Next position: Alta Devices, Quantupscape Now at Applied Materials.

Kevin McPeak, PhD 2010
Thesis title: Chemical Bath Deposition of Semiconductor Thin Films and Nanostructures in Novel Microreactors
Next position: Postdoc at ETH Zurich. Now Associate Professor at Louisiana State University.


Alumni (Undergraduate and BS/MS with thesis or first-author papers)

Crystal Jain
Thesis Title: Controlling Crystallization of Methylammonium Lead Iodide
Next Position: Semiconductor Process Engineer at Teledyne Scientific and Imaging

Triet ‘Tony’ Truong
Thesis Title: Quantifying Recombination in CdTe Photovoltaics Using umerical Simulation of Transient Spectroscopy Data
Next Position: Quantumscape

Ryan Miller
Thesis Title:
Next Position: Process Engineer at Kline Process Systems

Jesse Efymow
Thesis Title:
Next Position: PhD Student at University of Pennsylvania

Kristine Loh, BS/MS 2020
Thesis title: Optimization of Photodetection Analysis for MXene Thin Films
Next position: PhD student at Univ. of Minnesota

Kejun Chen, BS 2018
Thesis title: Fabrication of Semiconducting Thin Films by Continuous Flow Electrophoretic Deposition
Next position: PhD student at Colorado School of Mines

Anthony Abel, BS/MS 2017
Thesis title: Solution Deposited and Modified Hematite for Enhanced Solar Water Splitting
Next position: PhD student at UC Berkeley

Anjli Patel, BS 2016
Paper title: Enhanced Photoelectrochemical Water Splitting Via SILAR-Deposited Ti-Doped Hematite Thin Films with an FeOOH Overlayer
Next position: PhD student at Stanford Univ.

Treaver Jones, MS 2014
Thesis title: Electrochemical Characterization of CdSe-Coated ZnO Nanowire Extremely Thin Absorber Solar Cells
Next position: Green Mountain Energy

Thomas Messager, MS 2014
Thesis title: Study of Surface Treatments on Thin Film Hematite for Photoelectrochemical Water Splitting

Ivan Garcia Torregrosa, MS 2013
Thesis title: Influence of morphology and oxide interlayers on hematite photoanodes for water splitting
Next position: PhD student at Utrecht Univ., Netherlands

Leah Spangler, BS/MS 2013
Thesis title: Interfacial Layers in Extremely Thin Absorber Solar Cells
Next position: PhD student at Lehigh Univ.

Erwin Fernandez, MS 2012 (co-advised by Prof. Steve May, MSE)
Thesis title: Control of Photoexcited Carrier Dynamics via A-site Isovalent Substitution in LaFeO3 Perovskite Thin Films

Tyler Perlenfein, BS/MS 2012
Thesis title: Fabrication and Characterization of Organic Photovoltaics
Next position: PhD student at Univ. of Wisconsin

Thinh Le, BS/MS 2011
Thesis title: Synthesis and Characterization of CuSCN for Extremely Thin Absorber Solar Cells
Next position: PhD student at Penn State.ll Univ.

Ishai Padawer, BS/MS 2009
Thesis title: Synthesis and Characterization of CdSe-Coated ZnO Nanowires for Extremely Thin Absorber Solar Cells


We appreciate the contributions of all of our present and past lab members, including dozens of other undergraduate and visiting researchers not explicitly listed here.