Jaewoong Hur   |   Ph.D., Computational Chemistry   |   LinkedIn  Google Scholar

Jaewoong is a computational materials scientist specializing in the multiscale modeling of carbon nanomaterial growth, oxidative reaction mechanisms, and defect dynamics. His research integrates Density Functional Theory (DFT), ab initio and classical molecular dynamics, and metadynamics to unravel complex atomic-scale kinetics and thermodynamic behaviors. He actively develops custom computational tools, including bond-order potential codes, parameter optimization workflows, and machine-learned interatomic potentials to bridge quantum precision with large-scale dynamics. Jaewoong is pursuing research interests in the fundamental, atomistic-scale mechanisms relevant to neutrino detector physics, such as defect formation transition states and phonon-mediated processes underlying the low energy excess anomaly. 

Jordan Chapman   |   Ph.D., Chemical Engineering   |   LinkedIn

Jordan is a computational materials scientist with research experience including first principles and atomistic descriptions of solid-state and biological materials. His graduate research focused on the design and rational tuning of macromolecule-nanomaterial interfaces for novel catalyst fabrication. Before coming to VT, he worked as a postdoctoral fellow at NETL where he did first principles simulations of perovskite oxides for high-temperature gas sensing. Jordan is pursuing research interests in quantum point defects in 1-dimensional materials, transition state theory of defect formation in bulk materials, and light-matter interactions in soft matter and biological materials. 

Jagannath Das (joint with Prof. Dua's group)   |   Ph.D., Physics

Jagannath Das completed his PhD at the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, India, under the supervision of Prof. Vikram Tripathi. His primary focus has been theoretical condensed matter physics, and he is now exploring quantum information. His research interests include strongly correlated systems, especially quantum spin liquid, topological phases of matter, and topological quantum computing. Apart from research, he loves watching cricket, cooking, and trekking. Email: jagannath.das0111@gmail.com