Post-Doctorates and Visiting Scholars
Vagelos Institute for Energy Science and Technology Post-Doctoral Fellow
Sam Veroneau
grew up in Virginia and received his B.S. in Chemistry from the University of Chicago. At Chicago, Sam researched the application of metal-organic frameworks to renewable energy in the group of Prof. Wenbin Lin. He returned to the East Coast and received his Ph.D. in Chemistry from Harvard University in 2024 under the guidance of Prof. Daniel Nocera. His graduate studies focused on the electrochemistry of water splitting catalyst for green hydrogen production. His postdoctoral research will explore reactive nitrogen-based compounds as alternative fuels under the supervision of Profs. Tom Mallouk and Daniel Mindiola. Outside of chemistry, Sam enjoys making gumbo, doing puzzles, and camping.
Graduates
Graduate Student (4th Year)
Matthew R. Mena
was born and raised in El Paso, Texas. He attended New Mexico State University (NMSU) in Las Cruces, New Mexico where he graduated with a B.S. in Chemistry and a minor in Physics as an NIH MARC Fellow. He worked under the guidance of Dr. Jessica P. Houston on contrasting mitochondrial metabolism with glycolysis in cancer cells with time-resolved flow cytometry. During his time at NMSU, he spent the summer of 2017 at the University of Missouri working under Dr. Heather K. Hunt on the synthesis of silica films for the inhibition of biofilm formation in joint replacement coatings. After graduating in 2018, he went on to Arizona State University to work under Dr. Ryan J. Trovitch on exploring small-molecule activation utilizing earth-abundant metals featuring redox non-innocent ligands. Following his time at ASU, Matthew moved to the University of Pennsylvania July of 2021 to continue his education and research in metal-ligand multiple bonds under the supervision of Dr. Daniel Mindiola.
Master’s Student (2nd Year)
Tingkai Zhang
was born in Tangshan, Hebei, China, and grew up in Beijing. He attended college at the University of Washington, Seattle, where he expanded his interests in chemistry laboratory. During his internship at Primetals in the summer of 2022, he worked with a group of senior engineers in the development of “Smart Guide” technology as part of an intelligent digital assistant system. Tingkai joined the Mindiola Group as a Master’s student in the Chemical Sciences Program in August 2023, and his research focuses on modifying ligands in titanium-catalyzed polymer synthesis. Currently, he is working on the metal-pnictogen multiple bonds of vanadium complexes. Outside the campus, he enjoys traveling, karting, and playing soccer with friends.
Master’s Student (2nd Year)
Yuxuan Sun
Yuxuan Sun was born and raised in Shandong province, China and attended the University of California, Irvine, graduated in spring of 2023. He chose chemistry as his major and concentrated in medicinal chemistry. He worked with Dr. Olivier Civelli for two years analyzing the mechanism of yanhusuo (yhs), a traditional chinese medicine as a pain relief with no tolerance and addictive effects. After joining University of Pennsylvania fall 2023, he tried to pay much more attention to inorganic chemistry and joined Dr. Mindiola research group to delve into the early transition metal of the catalyst for polymerization. He focus synthesize vanadium catalysis for cyclic polymerization. Outside of the lab, Yuxuan likes to play badminton, video games and road trips.
Graduate Student (1st Year)
Dylan Grigas
was born and raised in Albany, New York. He received his Bachelor’s with magna cum laude in Chemistry from Cornell University, where he worked under Prof. Kyle Lancaster studying the electronic structure of low coordinate late 1st-row transition metal complexes. Moving a few hours south to the University of Pennsylvania in 2024, he aimed to continue in a new area of transition metal chemistry, beginning research on early metal complexes under the mentorship of Prof. Daniel Mindiola. His work currently focuses on vanadium complexes used as polymerization catalysts for the synthesis of cyclic polyalkynes. Outside of the lab, Dylan enjoys cooking, hiking, fishing, powerlifting, and painting.
Undergrad (2nd Year, Chemistry Major)
Rishi T. Bhandari
grew up in Nutley, N.J. He is currently an undergraduate (2nd year) at the University of Pennsylvania pursuing a degree in Chemistry. On campus, he is also a member of the Phi Chi Theta (PCT) business fraternity. Currently, he is working on the metal-pnictogen multiple bonds of titanium and zirconium complexes. Outside of campus, he enjoys hiking, board games, and watching football.
Amy Metlay
was raised in the suburbs of Philadelphia. She attended the University of Chicago where she graduated with a B.S. in chemistry with honors in 2019. While at UChicago she conducted polymer research under the mentorship of Professor Stuart Rowan at the Institute of Molecular Engineering. Specifically, she synthesized and characterized dynamic liquid crystal networks containing disulfide bonds. Following the completion of her undergraduate studies, Amy began her graduate studies at the University of Pennsylvania. Here she has a joint mentorship from Professor Dan Mindiola and Professor Tom Mallouk. Amy is interested in energy storage and is looking forward to see where her experience at UPenn takes her!