People

Professor

Charles Buddie Mullins / Professor
Buddie Mullins is a Professor of Chemical Engineering and Chemistry at the University of Texas at Austin. He received a Ph.D. from the California Institute of Technology in 1990 and was a visiting scientist at the IBM Almaden Research Center from 1989-1991. Mullins joined UT-Austin in 1991 and holds the Melvin H. Gertz Regents Chair.

Graduate Students

Mairead Brownell / Electrocatalysis
Mairead received her B.A. in chemistry from Scripps college in May 2022. After earning her bachelor’s degree, she worked in battery research and development at Wildcat Discovery Technologies in San Diego. She is currently pursuing her Ph.D. in Analytical Chemistry at the University of Texas at Austin. Mairead Joined the Mullins group to research electrode materials used in water electrolysis.

Yasaman Karbalaeemorad / Advanced Carbon Materials
Yasaman received her B.S. in Materials Science and Engineering from the University of Tehran in Feb 2023. She is currently pursuing her Ph.D. in Analytical Chemistry at the University of Texas at Austin, working on advanced porous carbon materials for carbon capture.

Daniel R. Amaro / Electrocatalysis
Daniel received his B.S. with honors in Materials Chemistry and Engineering from the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) in August 2024. He is currently pursuing his Ph.D. in Analytical Chemistry at the University of Texas at Austin. Daniel joined the Mullins group to research electrocatalysis, exploring novel applications of various materials to enhance the performance of water-splitting fuel cells.

Anamika Dixit / Batteries
Anamika received her M.S. in Chemistry from the Indian Institute of Technology, Hyderabad (IIT-H) in July 2023. She is currently pursuing her Ph.D. in Analytical Chemistry at the University of Texas at Austin. Anamika joined the Mullins group to research rechargeable Zn and Na-metal batteries.

Thuy Vy Le / Plasmas
Thuy Vy received her B.S. in Chemistry from the University of Texas at Austin in May 2024. She is currently pursuing her/his Ph.D. in Analytical Chemistry at the University of Texas at Austin. Thuy Vy  joined the Mullins group to research plasma catalysis for clean energy applications.

Fiaz Muhammad / Plasmas and Advanced Carbons
Fiaz received his Master of Science degree in Chemistry from the National University of Sciences and Technology, Islamabad, Pakistan. He is currently pursuing his Ph.D. in Analytical Chemistry at the University of Texas at Austin. He joined the Mullins group to conduct research on advanced porous materials for gas separation and carbon capture.

Zac Feng / Plasmas
Zac received his M.Sci in chemistry from Imperial College London in October, 2023. He is currently is pursuing a Ph.D. in analytical chemistry at the University of Texas at Austin. Zac joined the Mullins group to work in plasma catalysis and surface chemistry, collaborating with the Underwood Group in the Aerospace Engineering Department.

Sridhar S.Markandaraj / Batteries
Sridhar received his B.Tech in Chemical and Electrochemical Engineering from the CSIR-Central Electrochemical Research Institute, India in 2020. After that, he completed his Master’s in Energy Science and Technology at DGIST, South Korea in 2023. Now, he started his Ph.D. program in Analytical Chemistry at the University of Texas at Austin in Fall 2023. Sridhar joined the Mullins group to research sodium metal batteries for grid storage applications.

Wuilian A Martinez / Advanced Carbon Materials
Will received his B.S. in Chemistry from the University of Nebraska at Kearney in May 2021. He is currently pursuing his Ph.D. in Analytical Chemistry at the University of Texas at Austin. Will joined the Mullins group and has researched carbon adsorbents for carbon capture for clean energy applications.

Ziqing Wang / Batteries
Ziqing received his B.E. in Materials Science and Engineering from Central South University in June 2020. He joined the Mullins group in 2021 to pursue his Ph.D. in Analytical Chemistry at the University of Texas at Austin. His research focuses on the electrochemistry at the electrode-electrolyte interface in aqueous zinc-ion batteries, as well as the fabrication of free-standing electrodes for flexible lithium-ion pouch cells.

Chikaodili Chukwuneke /Electrocatalysis
Chika earned his B.Sc. in Petroleum Chemistry from the American University of Nigeria in July 2014. He is currently a Ph.D. candidate in Analytical Chemistry at the University of Texas at Austin. As a member of the Electrocatalysis Subgroup, Chika focuses on developing novel materials for water-splitting reactions and leveraging advanced characterization techniques to evaluate their performance and stability in green hydrogen production.

Rinish R.Vaidyula / Batteries
Rinish earned his M.Tech and B.Tech degrees in Industrial Chemistry from the Indian Institute of Technology Varanasi (BHU) in 2020. He is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in Analytical Chemistry at the University of Texas at Austin. Rinish joined the Mullins group to conduct research on rechargeable sodium and lithium metal batteries.

 

Graduate Alumni

Alli Smith / Advanced Carbon Materials
Alli received her B.S. in Chemistry from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in May 2020. She is currently pursuing her Ph.D. in Analytical Chemistry at the University of Texas at Austin. Alli joined the Mullins group and has researched electrocatalysis and carbon adsorbents for carbon capture for clean energy applications. She graduated in August 2025.

Raul Marquez / Electrocatalysis
Raul Marquez received his B.S. in Chemical Engineering (2017) and M.S. in Chemistry (2020) from Universidad Autonoma de Chihuahua, Mexico. As a member of the Mullins group, he explored electrocatalysis, leveraging his expertise in reactor design and instrumental analysis to develop solutions for the water-energy nexus. He graduated in July 2025.

Kenta Kawashima / Photoelectrochemistry
Kenta Kawashima joined the Mullins group as a visiting researcher in October 2016. He received both his B.Eng. (2014) and M.Eng. (2016) in Environmental Science and Technology from Shinshu University. He is interested in crystal growth mechanisms and photocatalytic and photoelectrochemical water splitting activity of various inorganic crystals and crystal layers. He graduated in June 2025.

Jason A. Weeks / Batteries
Jason received his B.S. (2018) in Chemistry from the University of South Carolina Aiken. He is currently a Ph.D candidate in Analytical Chemistry at the University of Texas at Austin. Upon matriculation, Jason joined the Mullins laboratory to study advanced materials for Lithium-Ion batteries. Jason finished his Ph.D. in May 2023.

Austin Paul-Orecchio / Batteries
Austin received his B.S. in Chemistry from Bethany College (WV) in 2019. He came to UT Austin to pursue a PhD in Chemistry. He is currently studying battery materials for lithium ion batteries in the Mullins Group. He graduated in May 2024.

Samantha Lauro / Batteries
Samantha received her B.S. in Chemistry from the Rochester Institute of Technology (NY) in December 2018. Sam travelled to UT-Austin to pursue a PhD in Chemistry and joined the Mullins group to work on battery materials and train in product development. Sam graduated in May 2024 and joined Dow.

Yongtak Kwon / Surface Chemistry and Catalysis
Yongtak received his B.S. in Chemical Engineering from Hanyang University and M.S. from POSTECH in South Korea. He worked at SK Innovation as a researcher for 13 years prior to pursuing a Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering in the catalysis subgroup. Yongtak returned to SK Innovation as a researcher after completing his PhD. in 2022.

Ehren Eichler / Surface Chemistry and Catalysis
Ehren received his B.S in Chemistry in Spring 2018 from the University of Washington. An interest in surface science and catalysis led him to UT where he worked towards a PhD in Chemistry in the catalysis subgroup. Ehren finished his Ph.D. in May 2024 and joined Dow.

HoHyun Sun / Batteries
Sun received his B.S. (2015) in Chemical Engineering from Northwestern University and pursued a Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering in the battery subgroup. His thesis work involved Ni-rich layered oxide cathodes and lithium metal chemistry. Sun is now on the faculty at the University of Alabama.

Yoon Jun Son / Electrocatalysis and Photoelectrochemistry
Yoon Jun received his B.S. in Chemical Engineering from Korea University and M.S. from Seoul National University in South Korea. His interest in electrocatalysis for clean energy conversion and storage brought him to UT Austin where he worked on a Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering with the photoelectrochemistry subgroup. Yoon Jun finished his Ph.D. in May 2023 and joined Shell in Houston.

Joe Guerrera / Advanced Carbons
Joe received his B.S. in Chemistry from Florida State University in 2017. He joined the Mullins Lab at UT Austin where he studied solid sorbents for carbon capture and gas separations. Joe completed a MS degree.

Michael Floto / Surface Chemistry and Catalysis
Michael received his B.S. in chemistry from Texas A&M University in spring 2017. He joined the Mullins group and pursued his PhD in chemistry with an interest in surface science for catalysis. Michael graduated in May 2024.

Alan Guo / Batteries
Alan graduated from Iowa State University in December 2012 with a B.S. degree in Chemical Engineering. He worked as an engineer in East Texas prior to starting his PhD studies at UT-Austin in June 2016. Alan completed a M.S. in Chemistry involving lithium ion battery electrode materials.​

James Burrow / Advanced Carbons
James graduated from the University of Arkansas in 2018 with a B.S. in Chemical Engineering.  An interest in materials for sustainability led him to pursue a PhD in Chemical Engineering at UT Austin in the Mullins lab.  James worked in the subgroup for advanced carbon materials and finished his Ph.D. in May 2024 and joined the University of Chicago for postdoctoral studies.

Joseph Hyungseob Lim Photoelectrochemistry
Joseph received his B.S. in Chemistry from the University of Georgia in December 2014 where he worked as an undergraduate researcher on the computation of probabilities in quatum mechanical tunneling control of reaction kinetics. Joseph completed a M.S. in Chemistry with the photoelectrochemistry subgroup in 2017.

Sungmin Han / Catalysis
Sungmin received his Bachelors degree in Materials Science and Engineering from Hanyang University and also a Masters degree from the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST). Sungmin worked on his Ph.D. in Chemistry in the Catalysis subgroup and then joined Intel.

Josh Pender / Lithium- and Sodium-Ion Batteries
Josh received his B.A. in Chemistry from Albion College (MI) in May of 2015. Josh worked on developing materials for energy applications in the Battery group and earned a Ph.D. in Chemistry and then joined Milwaukee Tool as a research scientist.

Rodrigo Rodriguez / Lithium- and Sodium-Ion Batteries
Rodrigo received a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from New Mexico State University in May 2015. He joined the battery subgroup of the Mullins research group and completed his Ph.D. in 2020 and then joined the Air Force Research Laboratory.

John E. Davis / Surface Chemistry and Catalysis
John completed his Ph.D. in December 1996 with a dissertation entitled “Kinetics and Dynamics of Gas-Surface Interactions: Mechanisms of Dissociative Chemisorption and the Role of Molecular Intermediates.” He started his career at Union Carbide/Dow Chemical in South Charleston, WV as a senior engineer in research and development, and later transferred with Dow Chemical to Freeport, TX where he became a senior process development specialist. John then joined Syngenta Crop Protection in Greensboro and became a group leader in formulation engineering technology. John is currently Global Product Supply Chain Manager. John and his wife Ana are both on the Advisory Board for the Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering Department at North Carolina State University.

Peter D. Nolan / Surface Chemistry and Catalysis
Pete completed his Ph.D. in December 1998 and his dissertation was entitled “High Kinetic Energy Molecular Precursors to Oxygen Dissociation on Transition Metal Surfaces.” He then joined Exxon-Mobil in Houston in 1999. After two years in the research division with Exxon-Mobil he joined the MBA program at Duke University. A few years ago he co-founded the hedge fund QMS Capital Management in Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina. Pete and his wife Patricia have two children.

Christopher Reeves
Ph.D. August 2001
Kinetics and Dynamics of Adsorption on Single Crystal Semiconductor and Metal Surfaces

Doug Safarik / Studies of Amorphous Solid Water
Doug completed his Ph.D. in August 2001 and his dissertation was entitled “Crystallization of Amorphous Solid Films.” Doug then joined the Los Alamos National Laboratory as a post-doctoral fellow and was hired as a permanent staff member a few years later. Doug and his wife Tamara live in Santa Fe with their three sons.

Paul L. Tanaka / Air Quality and Thin Film Growth
Paul completed the work for his Ph.D. in May 2004 with a dissertation entitled “The Contribution of Chlorine Radicals to Tropospheric Ozone Formation in Southeastern Texas.” Paul was co-supervised in his thesis work by Professors Dave Allen and Buddie Mullins. Paul joined ExxonMobil after finishing his graduate work and is currently in Corporate Strategic Planning with ExxonMobil. Paul and his wife Jocelyn have five children.

James Stiehl / Ph.D. December 2004
James completed the work for his Ph.D. in December 2004 with a dissertation entitled “Model Catalyst Studies of the CO Oxidation Reaction on Titania-Supported Gold Nanoclusters” and then moved to Portland, OR to join Intel. Most recently he has moved into Web Development.

Sean M. McClure / Studies of Amorphous Solid Water
Ting finished her Ph.D. work and graduated in May 2013 with a dissertation entitled “Catalysis Research Using Model Catalysts.” She then took a position near Portland, OR with Intel.

Evan Barlow
M.S. May 2007
“Multi-Nozzle Molecular Beam Apparatus and Experiments/Theory of Vapor-Phase Mixing in Amorphous Solid Water”

Todd R. Engstrom / Surface Chemistry and Catalysis
Todd joined the group in 2004 and completed an M.A. in Chemistry in December 2007. Todd is currently the Executive Pastor of Ministries at the Austin Stone Community Church in Austin, TX. Todd’s thesis is entitled “Construction of a Surface Science System for the Study of Reactive Ballistic Deposited Thin Films.”

Rotimi A. Ojifinni / Surface Chemistry and Catalysis
Rotimi completed his Ph.D. in May 2008 and his dissertation is entitled “The Surface Chemistry of Atomic Oxygen Pre-covered Gold.” He then joined Exxon-Mobil as a research scientist where he continues to work.

Minta C. Akin / Studies of Amorphous Solid Water
Minta completed her Ph.D. in May 2008 and her dissertation was entitled “Low-energy Electron Driven Reactions in Layered Methanol/Amorphous Solid Water Films.” Minta then joined the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory as a research scientist in the Shock Physics group where her research includes high pressure chemistry and physics.

Jinlong Gong / Surface Chemistry and Catalysis
Jinlong received his Ph.D. in December 2008 and his dissertation is entitled “Oxidative Chemistry on Gold: Unraveling Molecular Transformations at Surfaces.” Shortly after defending his thesis work Jinlong moved from Austin to Cambridge, MA to work with Professor George Whitesides at Harvard as a postdoctoral fellow. Jinlong is now a Professor of Chemical Engineering at Tianjin University in Tianjin, China continuing to work in catalysis and energy research.

David W. Flaherty / Catalysis and Surface Chemistry
Dave Flaherty finished his Ph.D. in 2010 and joined the group of Professor Enrique Iglesia at the University of California, Berkeley to pursue postdoctoral studies. After completing two-years of postdoc he joined the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign as an Assistant Professor of Chemical Engineering continuing to work in the areas of advanced materials, catalysis, and surface chemistry. The title of Dave’s dissertation is “Methods for Modifying the Physical and Catalytic Properties of Surfaces.”

Nathan T. Hahn / Solar Photocatalysis
Nathan completed the research for his Ph.D. in August 2012 and his thesis was entitled “Synthesis and Characterization of Semiconductor Thin Films for Photoelectrochemical Energy Conversion.” He then joined Sandia National Laboratory in New Mexico as a postdoctoral fellow to study battery electrode materials and chemistries.