Conn Center Staff
Mahendra K. Sunkara, PhD
Interim Director
Ernst Hall Room 101
502-852-8574
502-852-8619 fax
Email Dr. Sunkara
Mahendra Sunkara, PhD, is the Interim Director of the Conn Center, where he directs the Center’s research themes, growth, and operations.
He received his doctorate in Chemical Engineering in 1993 from Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, OH, where he focused on Monte-Carlo simulation of diamond nucleation and growth. He holds an MS in Chemical Engineering from Clarkson University in Potsdam, NY (1988) and a B.Tech in Chemical Engineering from Andhra University in Waltair, India (1986). He served as Project Engineer at Faraday Technology Inc. in Dayton OH (1993-1996), focusing on applied electrochemical engineering technology, before joining the faculty at the University of Louisville’s Speed School of Engineering Department of Chemical Engineering, where he established a research program on advanced materials synthesis and characterization. He was granted tenure in 2002, promoted to full professorship in 2006, and appointed as University Scholar in 2010. He was the Founding Director of the Institute of Advanced Materials and Renewable Energy, and was appointed as the Interim Director of the Conn Center in 2009.
Mahendra is the author/co-author of over 100 original research papers and four book chapters and holds 10 patents in the areas of nanowires and other nanoscale materials toward energy conversion and storage applications. With M. Meyyappan of NASA Ames, he co-wrote the book, “Inorganic Nanowires: Applications, Properties, and Characterization.” Among his awards are a NSF CAREER Award, the IIChE United Phosphorus CHEMCON Award, the 2009 University of Louisville President’s Distinguished Faculty Award in Research and Scholarship, the University Scholar appointment, a Ralph E. Powe Junior Faculty Award in Engineering in 1999, and Louisville Magazine’s Top 25 Young Guns distinction. He serves as a regular reviewer for numerous journals including Journal of the American Society, Advanced Materials, Nanotechnology, and Applied Physics Letters and for federal funding agencies including NSF, DOE, and the EPA. He serves on the editorial boards of Nanotechnology and Nanoenergy journals. He also serves on boards of Karuturi Global Ltd (India/Ethiopia/Kenya) and Chemener Batteries Ltd (India). He founded a startup, Advanced Energy Materials, LLC (USA) in 2010.
Mahendra’s primary research is in the development of such renewable energy and energy efficiency technologies as solar cells, lithium ion batteries, electrochromics, production of hydrogen from water, and process development for growing large crystals of diamond, gallium nitride, and bulk quantities of nanowires.
Ernst Hall Room 102A
502-852-8597
502-852-8619 fax
Email Mr. Marsh
Andrew Marsh is the Assistant Director of the Conn Center, where he is responsible for daily operations, public relations and communications, and facilitating the growth of the Center.
He received his MFA in Studio Art & Design from Southern Illinois University in Edwardsville, IL in 2001 and holds a BFA in Art Studio from the University of Kentucky in Lexington (1995). At Kentucky (1989-1995), he helped establish the iron casting program in Sculpture, was studio assistant for sculptors Jack Gron and John Tuska, and received the T.J. Oexmann Award for Outstanding Art Studio Student. After graduation, Andrew became the Custom Metalwork Manager for the Land Cruiser Connection in Washington DC (1995-1998), producing high quality expedition-class equipment solutions for off-roading enthusiasts. In grad school at Southern Illinois (1998-2001), he fused the cast iron foundry process with sculptural steel fabrication techniques and performance art events; his elaborate Devil’s Night Ironworks is part of the Founder’s Collection at Sculpture Trails Outdoor Museum in Indiana.
From 2001 to 2004, Andrew was an Artist in Residence at the award-winning City Museum in St. Louis, MO. He is credited with constructing over 50 interactive exhibits, monumental steel playground features, and specialty environments in this most unusual museum. Concurrently, he served as Adjunct Faculty in the Art Department of Webster University, where he taught foundry, steel fabrication, and ferrous performance art, and established his freelance writing service and artist studio, Lucky 7 Arts. In 2005, Andrew relocated to Louisville to serve as Research Grant Coordinator at the University of Louisville’s James Graham Brown Cancer Center (2005-2009). He orchestrated writing and editing for over 350 manuscripts and grant proposals, curated survivor artworks, and tutored international researchers in English and technical writing. While at the Cancer Center, he was the recipient of the 2007 University of Louisville Presidents’ Professional Development Program Award. In 2010, he joined the Conn Center. To date, Andrew’s metal sculptures, photographs, paintings, videos, and performances have appeared in over 250 group and solo exhibitions and collections throughout the US and in the United Kingdom. He continues to innovate as an artist and currently serves on the Board of Directors for Josephine Sculpture Park in Frankfort, KY.
Ernst Hall, Room 314
502-852-1558
Email Dr. Sumanasekera
Gamini Sumanasekera, PhD, is the Energy Storage Theme Leader at the Conn Center, where he focuses on material innovations in large area graphene growth, thermionics and thermoelectrics, and lithium ion battery development.
He obtained his doctorate in Physics from Indiana University in Bloomington in 1995 and worked on several projects related to quantum transport in disordered systems and heterostructures. He also holds an MS in Physics from Bowling Green State University, OH (1987), where he worked on Flux quantization in disordered bismuth films, and a BS in Physics with honors from the University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka (1981). He served as a Post-Doctoral Researcher in Physics at the University of Kentucky (1995-1999) and worked on the physical properties of nanoparticles, carbon nanotubes, and high Tc superconductors. He was a Senior Research Associate in Physics at Pennsylvania State University (1999-2002), where he continued his explorations into the electrical conductivity, thermoelectric power, Raman scattering, and electrochemical behavior of novel and functionalized nanomaterials. He joined the Physics faculty at the University in Louisville in 2002, was promoted to Associate Professor in 2007, and served as the Associate Director of the Institute of Advanced Materials and Renewable Energy.
Gamini is the author/co-author of over 75 original research papers and holds patents in the area of thermoelectric materials and processes. Among his awards are the University of Louisville’s College of Arts & Sciences Distinguished Faculty Award in Research and Scholarship and the University Scholar distinction. His research in experimental condensed matter physics now includes projects in photonic and thermoelectric materials using synthetic opals, doped nanodiamond-based thermionic emission, chemical sensors using single wall carbon nanotubes and graphene, phonon confinement effects in semiconducting nano-structures, and metal-insulator-transition in hydrogenated graphene.
Lutz Hall Room 010
502-852-6338
502-852-2535 fax
Email Dr. Jasinksi
Jacek Jasinski, PhD, is a Research Scientist at the Conn Center, where he is Materials Characterization Theme Leader. He also oversees the Materials Characterization Service Center.
He earned his doctorate in Physics from Warsaw University (Warsaw, Poland), in 1997. He served as junior faculty at the Institute of Experimental Physics at the Warsaw University, Poland (1997-2000), Post-doctoral Research Fellow in Materials Science at the Lawrence Berkley National Lab (2000-2003), and Post-doctoral Researcher in Engineering at the University of California, Merced (2004-2005). Between 2005 and 2008, he was a Research Scientist in the School of Engineering at the University of California. In 2008, he joined the Institute for Advanced Materials and Renewable Energy at the University of Louisville Speed School of Engineering as Chief Scientist. In 2009, Jacek was appointed Theme Leader in Materials Characterization at the Conn Center.
Jacek is author/co-author of 115 original research papers in refereed journals and is co-author of a book chapter in “Dilute III-V Nitride Semiconductors and Materials Systems.” He is a journal reviewer for Microscopy and Microanalysis as well as Superlattices and Microstructures. Among his awards are the Foundation for Polish Science Award (1997) and the Polish Physical Society Award (1992).
Jacek’s research interests focus on the understanding of fundamental microscopic mechanisms underlying physical properties and functionality of technologically important materials and device structures. In his research, he applies advanced electron microscopy and surface analysis methods as well as diffraction techniques to study the relationship between the structure, chemistry, and physical properties of materials.
Ernst Hall, Room 302
502-852-2265
Email Dr. Druffel
Thad Druffel, PhD, PE is a Research Engineer at the Conn Center and is focused on scalable manufacturing of photovoltaics and other renewable energy production and storage solutions.
He received his doctorate in Chemical Engineering from the University of Louisville in 2009. He holds an MS in Mechanical Engineering from Colorado State University (2000) and a BS in Mechanical Engineering from Carnegie Mellon University (1990) and is a registered Professional Engineer in the Commonwealth of Kentucky (Lic. 22550). He interned at the Robotics Institute at Carnegie Mellon University before joining the United States Peace Corps in 1990, where he served as a math, physics, and chemistry teacher in Malawi. He then joined Eco-Systems Ltd., a manufacturer of solar water heaters, in Malawi as a field/design/manufacturing engineer. Thad worked as a Mechanical Engineer for Obermeyer Hydro in Fort Collins CO (1994-2000). He relocated to Louisville to work with CDI Engineering Group (GE Appliances) and then Optical Dynamics Nanotechnology, where he served as Senior Mechanical Engineer and then Vice President of Applied Research and Development until 2010, where he led an R&D group in the area of optical nanocomposite thin films. He was the architect of the nanoCLEAR product, an antireflective coating for eyeglass lenses, which received a Nano50 Award from Nanotech Briefs in 2006. He has also consulted with industrial clients to develop products based on large area deposition of nanoparticles. He joined the Conn Center in 2010.
Thad’s primary research is investigating utilization of nanocomposites on wide area flexible substrates with intended applications in solar energy via roll-to-roll deposition techniques. He has several publications and patent applications related to this research in photonic applications of thin film nanocomposites. He is experienced as the principal investigator in grants from the National Science Foundation, Department of Energy, and the State of Kentucky as well as industry sponsored research. His background includes research and development topics in both Mechanical and Chemical Engineering and he has been involved in projects ranging from solar and water facilities in Africa to corporate research and development of cutting edge technologies.
Paul Ratnasamy, PhD, is an Emeritus Theme Leader of Biofuels for the Conn Center where he was a central figure from 2009-2011.
He obtained his doctorate in Chemistry from Loyola College, Madras. After post-doctoral experiences in the US (1967-1969) and Belgium (1969-1972), he joined the Indian Institute of Petroleum, Dehradun, in 1972. He transferred to the National Chemical Laboratory (NCL) in Pune, India in 1979, where he started the Catalysis Division in 1980. He was the Director of NCL for 7 years (1995-2002). Between 2004 and 2009, he was honored as the Indian National Science Academy’s Srinivasa Ramanujan Research Professor at NCL. Among his awards are the Padma Shree (2001), a Third World Academy of Sciences Award in Technology (1994), the Viswakarma Medal by the Indian National Academy (1994), the Om Prakash Bhasin Award (1992), the K.G. Naik Gold Medal (1989), the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize in Engineering Sciences (1984), and a Vasvik Industrial Research Award (1982).
Paul is the author/co-author of 206 original research papers in refereed journals and holds more than 100 patents including 30 U.S. patents in the area of catalysis. He has served on the editorial boards of the Journal of Catalysis, Applied Catalysis, Zeolites, Catalysis Letters, Topics in Catalysis, CATTECH, and Microporous and Mesoporous Materials and as a council member of the Internatinal Zeolite Association, from which he won the International Award for lifetime achievement in zeolite chemistry and catalysis research (2004). He is a founder-member of the Indian Catalysis Society (730 members) and past president of the Indo-Pacific Catalysis Association.
In the area of applied catalysis, he and his group have discovered, developed, and commercialized the following seven catalysts and catalytic processes in Indian chemical plants: Xylene isomerization; production of ethyl benzene from agro-ethanol and benzene (the first plant worldwide); toluene disproportionation; production of diethyl benzene, styrene, and formaldehyde; and the manufacture of TS-1 zeolites. In recognition of this feat, the President of India honored him with the Padma Shree Award in Science and Engineering, one of its highest civilian recognitions, in 2001. Paul has served as a consultant to a large number of Indian and foreign chemical companies in the area of industrial catalysis.
Ernst Hall Room 311
502-852-3923
Email Dr. Satyavolu
Jagannadh Satyavolu, PhD, is the Theme Leader for Biomass and Biofuels at the Conn Center and is focused on developing renewable feed streams for green fuel processing technology.
Dr. Satyavolu has over 20 years of experience in commercial business leadership roles, product and process technology development, industrial application research, and academia. He has led projects in the development of non-wood fiber applications for paper and other industrial markets, wet-end additives, de-inking processes, membrane separations, and other work involving chemical, food, biotechnology, and value generation from co-product streams. Prior to joining Conn Center, he worked at Cargill, Georgia Institute of Technology, and Battelle Labs.
Dr. Satyavolu received his PhD (1989) and MS (1984) in Chemical Engineering from The Ohio State University and a BTech (1982) in Chemical Engineering from Andhra University in India. He had several publications and holds 13 US and European patents on food and paper processes. He joined the Conn Center in 2011.
His focus at the Conn Center is to develop and promote business and commercial relationships among biomass producers and biofuel producers in such a way that the cost of biofuel production is comparable to costs from synthetic sources. To this extent, he identifies the most suitable biomasses and develops processes to produce C5-rich hydrolyzate to manufacture biochemicals and biochemical intermediates.
Ernst Hall Room 144
502-852-1223
Email Dr. Liu
Jinjun Liu, PhD, is the Ultrafast Spectroscopy Theme Leader at the Conn Center, where he contributes to the advancement of renewable energy science and technology through basic spectroscopic studies conducted in the center’s Ultrafast Transient Absorption Spectroscopy facility.
He received his B.S. in optoelectronics at East China Normal University in 1999 and worked for two years in the State Key Laboratory of Precision Spectroscopy in Shanghai. For his Ph.D., he studied Chemical Physics at the Ohio State University in Dr. Terry A. Miller’s research group. At both laboratories, he examined transient molecular species or “free radicals” using various high-resolution spectroscopic techniques. He also conducted experimental and theoretical studies on the so-called “Jahn-Teller” effect, which causes spontaneous distortion of the symmetry of polyatomic molecules and crystal structures. Jinjun received his Ph.D. in 2007 and served as a post-doctoral fellow with Dr. Frederic Merkt at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Zurich. He studied atoms and molecules in the highly excited Rydberg states using a home-made Ti:Saphire-amplifier-based laser spectroscopy system. Using this system, he also determined the energies of the hydrogen molecule with unprecedented precision and invented a novel method to generate broadly tunable narrow-bandwidth terahertz radiation.
Jinjun joined the Chemistry faculty at the University of Louisville in 2012 as an Assistant Professor. Currently, he is focused on characterizing solar cell materials of interest to understand their fundamental dynamic processes and interfaces for the Conn Center. This information is essential to developing their functions and applications toward renewable energy applications.
Find out more on Dr. Liu’s research group at https://sites.google.com/site/uofllaserlabs/home
Lutz Hall Room 010
502-852-6348
502-852-2535 fax
Email Ms. McCoy
Rodica McCoy is a Research Manager at the Conn Center, where she coordinates the daily operations associated with analytical services offered by the Materials Characterization Service Center.
She received her BA in Chemistry from the University of Louisville in 1985. She holds a BS in Ceramic Engineering from Alfred University (1978) and an Associates in Applied Science from Erie Community College, Buffalo, NY (1972). Before coming to University of Louisville, Rodica gained valuable industrial experience from Corning Glass Works in Corning, NY, where she worked for 6 years in the Analytical Services Department performing X-Ray Fluorescence Analyses, and at Corhart Refractories in Louisville, KY, where she worked for 4 years as process engineer.
Rodica has been at UofL for the past 25 years. She worked in the Materials Research Laboratory in Speed Scientific School, which became the Institute for Advanced Materials and Renewable Energy in 2006. In 2009, this Institute was absorbed into the newly formed the Conn Center for Renewable Energy Research as the Materials Characterization Service Center. At the Service Center, Rodica performs advanced material analyses for industrial customers outside the university. She also works closely with university faculty and students, who use the equipment and staff expertise for their research studies.
In addition to her duties at the Service Center, Rodica serves as coordinator for the statewide workshop on Renewable Energy and Advanced Materials. These workshops bring together university researchers from Kentucky and industry partners to share ideas and discuss current issues related to renewable energy, energy efficiency, and advanced energy materials.
Ernst Hall, Room 102A
502-852-8578
502-852-8619 fax
Email Ms. Nickelson
Kelly Nickelson is the Research Grants Coordinator for the Conn Center, where she manages pre-and post award financial services, administrates human resources and payroll, and serves as liaison to university departments and sponsors.
She has worked in academia since 1998. Before coming to UofL, Kelly was employed at Indiana University as an Academic Records Specialist. She served as administrator for human resources and payroll records for tenured faculty and students. Kelly was also responsible for assisting with personnel training and implementation of PeopleSoft at IU. Kelly came to UofL in 2006 to work in Speed Research Administration. She managed pre- and post award grants and contracts, invoicing, effort reporting, and reconciliation of accounts for the entire Speed School faculty. She has 12 years of valuable experience in university administration, including budget preparation for both general funds and grants/contracts.
