Chemical Engineering

*** ******* ***, **** ** Ames, IA *****

Rainie Nelson Cell: 425-***-**** Email: **************@*****.*** Chemical Engineer

Ph.D. Research Assistant

Advanced research professional with eight years of experience in research and six years of independent project development. Technical background in engineering, strong problem- solving ability, and trained to rapidly learn new project or subject areas. Committed team member with desire to contribute to fast-paced company environment. EDUCATION

EXPERIENCE

SKILLS

Iowa State University, Ames, IA

Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering, August 2019, GPA: 3.91/4.00 University of Washington, Seattle, WA

B.S. in Chemical Engineering: Nano and Molecular Science, June 2014, magna cum laude (GPA: 3.86/4.00)

Iowa State University, Ames, IA, August 2014 – Present. Graduate Research Assistant under Dr. Matthew G. Panthani

- Set-up new lab space and trained new lab members on instruments, safety, and protocol

- Applied solvent vapor annealing techniques from organic materials research to improve device performance over 300% and studied the role of solvent properties on the morphology of resultant bismuth iodide films

- Optimized reaction protocol to increase throughput by 700% for nanocrystals; identified growth characteristics and previously unevaluated precursor properties

- Produced a novel organic-inorganic material by combining multiple processing techniques

- Applied characterization methods including UV-Vis Spectrophotometry, PL, XPS, SEM, TEM, optical microscopy and XRD to investigate structure, morphology and optoelectronic properties

- Received individual fellowship awards totaling $150,000 over five years

- Publication of seven authored/co-authored peer-reviewed manuscripts University of Washington, Seattle, WA, June 2011 – June 2014. Undergraduate Research Assistant under Dr. Lilo D. Pozzo

- Synthesized films of fullerenes and polymers to optimize organic photovoltaics

- Investigated ligand stabilization of gold nanoparticles to enhance electrostatic stabilization of oil emulsions

- Characterized with DSC, TGA, UV-Vis, zeta potential, profilometry, and SAXS

- Competed on a team in Foster’s Business School Business Plan Competition; wrote project summaries and presented the product idea and market; team placed 5th and

received Best Technology Idea

- Teamwork, leadership, loyalty

- Innovation, creativity, curiosity

- Predictive problem solving, experimental design, optimization and troubleshooting

- Verbal and written communication, public speaking, mentorship

- Organization and planning, recordkeeping, project management

- Inorganic chemistry, crystal growth, novel material and nanoparticle synthesis

- Microscopy, structural and compositional characterization, learning new instrumentation

- Software: Microsoft Office; Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator; Igor; MATLAB; SasView; ImageJ; COMSOL; AspenPlus

HONORS

LEADERSHIP

AND

OUTREACH

PUBLICATIONS

- Silver Award, Materials Research Society Graduate Student Awards (Apr 2019)

- Winner, Iowa State 3MT Competition (Nov 2018)

- Finalist, Area 8E Graduate Student Awards, AIChE Annual Meeting (Oct 2018)

- Brown Graduate Fellowship,Office of the Vice President of Research (Aug 2018)

- Best Poster Runner-Up, Nano@ISU Conference, Ames, IA (Jul 2017)

- NASA Iowa Space Grant Consortium Fellowship (Nov 2016)

- NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program (July 2016 – July 2019)

- Catron Foundation Fellowship for Photovoltaics (Fall 2014 – Fall 2016)

- Diane Brandt Fellowship from Iowa State University (Fall 2014)

- College of Engineering Dean’s Medal for Academic Excellence (Spring 2014)

- President, Chemical Engineering Graduate Student Organization, (May 2016 – Nov 2017)

- Outreach at Ames Lab Science Bowl, Middle School Days, Fellows Elementary School

(2014 – current)

- Mentorship of, non-simultaneously: 1) five freshman students, 2) seven upper level undergraduates, 3) two high school teachers and 4) a high school student (Fall 2014 – current)

- Leadership outreach position as Engineering Ambassador (Spring 2013 – Spring 2014)

- Bryant Elementary Science Fair Mentor (Winter 2013)

- A. Hadi, B. J. Ryan, R. D. Nelson, K. Santra, M. G. Panthani, “Improving the Stability and Monodispersity of Layered Cesium Lead Iodide Perovskite Thin Films by Tuning Crystallization Dynamics,” Chem. Mater. 2019, accepted

- U. H. Hamdeh, B. J. Ryan, R. D. Nelson, M. Zembrzuski, J. Slobidsky, K. J. Prince, I. Cleveland, A. Vela-Ramirez, A. C. Hillier, M. G. Panthani, “Solution-Processed Bismuth Halide Perovskite Thin Films: Influence of Deposition Conditions and A-Site Alloying on Morphology and Optical Properties,” J. Phys. Chem. Lett. 2019, 10, 3134-3139

- (U. H. Hamdeh*, R. D. Nelson*), B. J. Ryan, M. G. Panthani, “The Effects of Solvent Coordination Strength on the Morphology of Solution-Processed BiI3 Thin Films,” J. Phys. Chem. C. 2019, 123, 133**-***** (*co-first author)

- Y. Wang, U. Ramesh, C. K. A. Nyamekye, B. J. Ryan, R. D. Nelson, A. M. Alebri, U. H. Hamdeh, A. Hadi, E. A. Smith, M. G. Panthani, “Synthesis of Germanium Nanocrystals from Solid-State Disproportionation of a Chloride-Derived Germania Glass,” Chem Commun. 2019, 55, 6102-6105

- T. M. Brenza, B. W. Schlichtmann, B. Bhargavan, J. E. Vela Ramirez, R.D. Nelson, M. G. Panthani, J. M. McMillan, B. Kalyanaraman, H. E. Gendelman, V. Anantharam, A. G. Kanthasamy, S. K. Mallapragada, B. Narasimhan, G. Kanmogne, “Biodegradable polyanhydride-based nanomedicines for blood to brain delivery,” J. Biomed. Mater. Res. Part A, 2018, 106, 2881-2890

- R. D. Nelson, K. Santra, Y. Wang, A. Hadi, J. W. Petrich, M. G. Panthani, “Synthesis and Optical Properties of Ordered-Vacancy Perovskite Cesium Bismuth Halide Nanocrystals,” Chem. Commun., 2018, 54, 3640-3643

- U. H. Hamdeh, R. D. Nelson, B. J. Ryan, U. Bhattacharjee, J. W. Petrich, M. G. Panthani,

“Solution-Processed BiI3 Thin Films for Photovoltaic Applications: Improved Carrier Collection via Solvent Annealing,” Chem. Mater. 2016, 28, 6567-6574

- J. Richards, A. Rice, R. Nelson, F. Kim, S. Jenekhe, C. Luscombe, D. Pozzo,

“Modification of PCBM Crystallization via Incorporation of C60 in Polymer/Fullerene Solar Cells,’ Adv. Funct. Mater., 2013, 23, 514-522

Contact this candidate