Ph.D. Students

Ani Nazari

Ani Nazari earned her bachelor's degree in chemical engineering from California Polytechnic University, Pomona in June 2016. After finishing her undergraduate studies, she transitioned into the industry, working first as an environmental engineer and later as a quality engineer at Marathon Petroleum Company, the California Air Resources Board, and Biosense Webster. She is currently pursuing her PhD in chemical engineering at Arizona State University. Her research centers on the degradation studies of sorbents used in moisture-swing applications for the direct air capture of CO2. Outside of academia, Ani enjoys traveling, scuba diving, hiking, swimming, kickboxing, weightlifting, playing with her puppy, and reading horror stories.

B.S., Chemical Engineering (Minor in Materials Engineering) – California State Polytechnic University, Pomona (2016)

Deepak Narayana Murthy Akundi

Deepak earned a B.T. in Chemical and Engineering at National Institute of Technology Calicut, India in May 2022, working with polysulfone nanofiber membrane for waste water treatment. He is currently working in Centre for negative carbon emissions, under the advisory of Dr. Matthew Green, with goal of obtaining a PhD in chemical engineering by 2027. Deepak’s research revolves around developing polymer sorbents for  new carbon dioxide capture techniques. Deepak loves dancing, playing badminton and squash and watching movies. 

Kacie Niimoto

Kacie Niimoto received her BS in biological engineering and MS in mechanical engineering. She is currently working on her PhD in chemical engineering, studying sorbent design, characterization, and operation conditions for passive, moisture-swing direct air capture. Her work focuses on physico-chemical studies that identify the main parameters or combinations thereof that drive the uptake of CO2 in ambient conditions. Kacie loves weightlifting, DIY projects, bicycles, and her puppies, pcake and pcake jr.

B.S., Biological Engineering – University of Hawaii at Manoa M.S., Mechanical Engineering – University of Hawaii at Manoa

Lindsey Hamblin

Lindsey Hamblin earned her BS in chemical engineering from University of Colorado-Boulder in May 2021. She moved to Arizona State University to pursue her PhD in chemical engineering under Dr. Matthew Green at the Center for Negative Carbon Emissions. Her research focuses on waste heat utilization and process engineering for integrated direct air capture applications in industrial processes.

Mitesh Patil

Mitesh Patil earned his bachelor’s in Surface Coating Technology from Institute of Chemical Technology Mumbai, India in May 2022 working on waterborne polyurethane dispersions and biobased epoxy coatings. He is currently pursuing a PhD in Materials Science and Engineering under the guidance of Dr. Matthew Green. Working with the Center for Negative Carbon Emissions (CNCE) at ASU, Mitesh is currently working on the systems design for Autothermal Direct Air Capture of CO2 tackling materials characterization and scale up for synthesized sorbents. He loves dancing and has an avid passion for gaming and graphic design.

Romina Keshavarz

Romina received her B.S. in Materials Science and Engineering from K. N. Toosi University of Technology (2020) and her M.S. in Engineering Science from Clarkson University (2023). She is currently a Ph.D. student in Materials Science and Engineering at ASU. Her research is focused on stimuli-responsive polymer nanocomposites. She is interested in hiking, researching, and skating in her free time.

Taysha Telenar

Taysha earned a B.S. in Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at Georgia Institute of Technology in December 2019, working in the Lively Lab with molecularly mixed composite membranes. She is currently co-advised by Dr. Matthew Green & Dr. Timothy Long, joining both labs in Spring 2021, with the goal of obtaining a Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering in 2025. Taysha's research aims to utilize and improve membrane separation techniques, such as nonwoven membranes, microfiltration, and pervaporation to separate polyurethane degradation products. She enjoys board games, video games, reading, origami, and cross-stitch.

Postdoctoral Researchers

Mani Modayil Korah

B.T., Chemical Engineering – National Institute of Technology-Calicut (2011)

M.S., Chemical Engineering — Cornell University (2014)

Ph.D., Chemical Engineering — Arizona State University (2023)

B.T., Chemical Engineering – National Institute of Technology-Calcutta (2011) M.S., Chemical Engineering — Cornell University (2014)

Marlene Velazco Medel

Proudly mexican young scientist with experience in stimuli-responsive polymers and modification of polymeric surfaces for biomedical applications and organic synthesis. Ph. D in Chemistry n– UNAM, Mexico – Working on modification of polymers and hydrogels using ionizing radiation to obtain antifouling surfaces and drug-delivery materials. Experience in polymer characterization, synthesis and antimicrobial test. MS in Chemistry – UNAM, Mexico – Working on organic synthesis of small molecules for mechanism of reaction determination, fundamentals of organic chemistry. BS in Chemistry, pharmaceutics and biological sciences – Experience in synthesis of biological active coumarins and rational drug design. Currently working on synthesis of polymers for CO2 capture and degradable polymers as Postdoctoral Research Scholar at ASU. Swimming lover.

Undergraduate Students