Tamar Kadosh ( tamarka@mit.edu )

Tamar is a third-year PhD student in Prof. Harry Tuller’s and Prof. Vladimir Bulovic’s group where she carries research about hybrid halide perovskite solar cell deposition by vaporization techniques. She received her B.Sc. and M.Sc. from the Technion in Israel and enrolled in graduate school after working in industry on ceramic materials. Tamar was trained in REFS in July 2021. She moved with her family to the Boston area in 2019 and would happily talk about international students concerns and struggles, as well as struggles of students with families.

Chris Mallia ( cmallia@mit.edu )

Chris is a fourth-year in Prof. Fikile Brushett’s group working on the use of redox mediated processes for energy storage applications. He received his BA/MA from CUNY Hunter College in Physics and subsequently became interested in electrochemistry and energy storage related materials. Chris experienced an advisor change early on in his career at MIT and hopes to provide support to his peers who go through similar experiences. Outside his research, Chris likes to hike and spend time with animals of all kinds.

Cécile Chazot ( cchazot@mit.edu )

Cécile is a fifth-year PhD student in Prof. A. John Hart's group where she carries research about carbon nanotube/polymer composites for aerospace applications. She received her M.S. from Ecole des Mines de Paris in France. Cécile was trained as a REFS in January 2019 and is the creator of the DMSE REFS program.

Sonia Zhang ( szhang19@mit.edu )

Sonia is a third-year in Prof. Yet-Ming Chiang’s group working on the application of electrochemistry to materials recovery from municipal waste. She enrolled in graduate school after working in industry for a couple of years as a Battery Engineer. Sonia has had her own struggles in grad school including mental health issues, Imposter Syndrome, and work-life balance, and hopes to support her peers as others have done for her. Outside of research and REFS, Sonia likes to cook/bake, dance, and admire her cat Charlie.

Paul Gabrys

Paul was a PhD student in Prof. Rob J. Macfarlane’s group where he researched the self-assembly of DNA-grafted nanoparticles. He graduated in May 2020. He hails from Eagle River, Alaska and loves to hike and snowboard with his fiancé. In his free time, Paul performs with the Boston Gay Men’s Chorus.

Amina Matt ( aminam@mit.edu )

Amina was a Masters student in Prof. Craig Carter’s and Prof. Mathias Kolle’s group. Her research focused on the optics of structural colors, especially the blue of Morpho butterflies. Amina spends her extra energy doing activism in local collectives in Boston area, where she cares about housing struggles and would happily talk about queer-feminism struggles.