Beth Nowadnick

Associate Professor, Department of Chemical and Materials Engineering

Beth grew up in Washington state and did her B.S. in physics and mathematics at Stanford University. She continued at Stanford for her Ph.D. in condensed matter physics, where she worked with Prof. Tom Devereaux. After postdoc positions at Columbia and Cornell Universities with Profs. Andrew Millis and Craig Fennie, she started as an assistant professor in physics at New Jersey Institute of Technology in 2017. In 2019, she joined the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at UC Merced as an assistant professor. Outside the lab, Beth enjoys running, hiking, cooking, and spending time with her family.

Contact: enowadnick [AT] ucmerced [DOT] edu

Kuntal Talit

Postdoctoral Research Associate, Department of Chemical and Materials Engineering

Kuntal is from West Bengal, India. He completed his M.Tech in materials engineering and M.Sc in applied physics from Indian Institute of Engineering Science and Technology, Shibpur. After completing his masters, Kuntal worked as an application developer in Mainframe for 5 years at IBM. He finished his Ph.D.  in physics from University of California, Merced in 2022 where he worked with Prof. David Strubbe. His Ph.D. research investigated the local strain, symmetry, and elastic properties of methylammonium lead iodide (MAPI) hybrid perovskites using density functional theory. His research interests include energy and storage materials, superconducting materials, machine learning, and AI. Outside lab, Kuntal enjoys cooking, swimming, long road trips, and spending time with his kid.

Contact: ktalit [AT] ucmerced [DOT] edu

Haseeb Ahmad

Ph.D. student, Physics

Haseeb is interested in applying computational and numerical methods to simulate materials to find their applications in the real world. He is from Pakistan and completed his MS in Physics from Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS). He loves hiking, playing cricket and foosball, and science outreach.

Contact: hahmad4 [AT] ucmerced [DOT] edu

Tharushi Ekanayake
Ph.D. Student, Physics

Originally from Sri Lanka, Tharushi earned her B.Sc. (Honors) in Physics from the University of Peradeniya. Following graduation, she worked as a Junior Research Scientist at the Foundation for Environment, Climate and Technology (FECT), where she contributed to research on environmental and climate issues, including atmospheric pollution and its long-range transport across Southern Asia and the Central Indian Ocean. Her work focused on data analysis and visualization to support regional climate research. She is currently pursuing her Ph.D. at the University of California, Merced, where her research aims to advance the understanding of the fundamental behavior of materials in connection with emerging technologies, using DFT. Outside the lab, Tharushi enjoys traveling, gardening, playing badminton and table tennis, and solving jigsaw puzzles.

CONTACT: tharushinimnakumar [AT] ucmerced [DOT] edu

Imran Hasan

Ph.D. student, Materials and Biomaterials Science and Engineering

Imran Hasan joined the Nowadnick group in 2024, where his research focuses on utilizing DFT to predict the ferroelectric and piezoelectric properties of complex layered perovskite oxides with the aim of enhancing electronic devices. Imran is from Dhaka, Bangladesh. He earned his Bachelor's degree in Materials and Metallurgical Engineering from the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET). Outside of research, he enjoys playing cricket and football, as well as traveling and hiking.

Contact: imranhasan [AT] ucmerced [DOT] edu

Md Kamal Hossain

PhD student, Physics

Kamal’s research focuses on ferroelectric perovskite oxide materials. He is experienced in using density functional theory (DFT) simulations and symmetry analysis, and is passionate about exploring new and innovative ways to understand and predict the fundamental behavior of materials. Kamal was born in Dhaka, Bangladesh. He pursued his education in physics, earning both his B.Sc. and M.S. degrees from Jahangirnagar University, Bangladesh.

Contact: mhossain5 [AT] ucmerced [DOT] edu