{"id":99,"date":"2017-01-05T14:37:02","date_gmt":"2017-01-05T19:37:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cbe.ncsu.edu\/ligroup\/?page_id=99"},"modified":"2026-05-06T10:59:48","modified_gmt":"2026-05-06T14:59:48","slug":"members","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/cbe.ncsu.edu\/ligroup\/members\/","title":{"rendered":"Members"},"content":{"rendered":"

Li Research Group (May 2025)<\/strong><\/h2>\r\n\r\n
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Left to right:<\/em><\/strong> Kyle Vogt-Lowell, Dr. Baitang Jin, Christopher Obi, Dr. Yuge Yao, Aaron Frye, Dr. Yuhan Mei, Dr. Mohammadreza Kosari, Ehsanul Hoque, Sam Portillo, Dr. Miao Miao, Seyedamin Razavi, Mahe Rukh, Dr. Andrew Pedersen, Hilal Bektas, Dr. Luke Neal, Dr. Fanxing Li, Casey Killmer, Ibrahim Sultan, Dr. Dennis Chacko\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\r\n\r\n

Principal Investigator<\/strong><\/h3>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
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Fanxing Li <\/a><\/strong>Thomas M. Clausi Distinguished Professor and University Faculty Scholar<\/p>\r\n

B.S. Chemical Engineering, Tsinghua University (2001)
M.S. Chemical Engineering, Tsinghua University (2004)
Ph.D. The Ohio State University (2009)<\/i><\/p>\r\n<\/td>\r\n

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\"headshot<\/figure>\r\n<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n
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Visiting Scholars, Senior and Postdoctoral Researchers<\/strong><\/h3>\r\n<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n

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Luke Neal<\/a><\/strong> Research Assistant Professor<\/p>\r\n

B.S. Chemical Engineering from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (2003)
Ph.D. Chemical Engineering from the University of Florida (2008)<\/i><\/p>\r\n<\/td>\r\n

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Yuge Yao<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0Postdoctoral Researcher<\/p>\r\n

B.E. Energy and Power Engineering, Tsinghua University (2018)<\/em><\/p>\r\n

Ph.D. Energy and Power Engineering, Tsinghua University (2023)<\/em><\/p>\r\n

 <\/p>\r\n

Research: <\/strong>\u201cMy research focuses on hydrogen production via biomass gasification. I\u2019m working on the design and development of gas-solid flow reactors and redox catalysis.\u201d<\/p>\r\n

Hobbies\/Interests:<\/strong> Soccer, traveling, and movies<\/p>\r\n<\/td>\r\n

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Miao Miao<\/a><\/strong> Postdoctoral Researcher<\/p>\r\n

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Yuhan Mei<\/a><\/strong> Postdoctoral Researcher<\/p>\r\n

B.S. East China Normal University (2016)<\/em><\/p>\r\n

Ph.D. Physical Science and Technology, ShanghaiTech University (2021)<\/em><\/p>\r\n

 <\/p>\r\n

Research: <\/strong>\u201cMy research interests lie in using ab initio<\/em> calculations via density functional theory (DFT) to understand and predict fundamental material properties for chemical applications.\u201d<\/p>\r\n<\/td>\r\n

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Doctoral Students<\/strong><\/h3>\r\n<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n

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Mahe Rukh<\/a><\/strong> PhD Candidate<\/p>\r\n

B.Sc. Chemical Engineering, Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (2017)<\/i><\/p>\r\n

Research:\u00a0<\/strong>\u201cMy research centers around designing effective multifunctional catalytic sorbents for converting biomass wastes into renewable syngas.\u201d<\/p>\r\n

Hobbies\/Interests: <\/strong>Playing Kalimba and reading.<\/p>\r\n<\/td>\r\n

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Aaron Frye<\/a><\/strong> PhD Candidate<\/p>\r\n

B.S. Chemical Engineering, North Carolina State University (2012)<\/i><\/p>\r\n

Research:\u00a0<\/strong>\u201cI work on an Eastman project related to oxidative dehydrogenation of alkenyl benzene compounds using tailored perovskite oxides.\u201d<\/p>\r\n

Hobbies\/Interests: <\/strong>I enjoy video games, disc golf, hiking, cooking and quality time with my wife and dogs.<\/p>\r\n<\/td>\r\n

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Hilal Bektas<\/a><\/strong> PhD Candidate<\/p>\r\n

B.S. Chemical Engineering, Bogazici University, Istanbul, Turkey (2021)<\/i><\/p>\r\n

Research:\u00a0<\/strong>\u201cI work on thermal energy storage and thermochemical oxygen capture systems.\u201d<\/p>\r\n

Hobbies\/Interests: <\/strong>Climbing and spending quality time with friends.<\/p>\r\n<\/td>\r\n

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William Martin<\/strong><\/a> PhD Candidate<\/p>\r\n

B.S. Chemical Engineering, North Carolina State University (2021)<\/i><\/p>\r\n

Research:\u00a0<\/strong>\u201cI am working with Sherafghan Iftikhar on methane dry reforming for sustainable syngas production.\u201d<\/p>\r\n

Hobbies\/Interests: <\/strong>Soccer, frisbee golf.<\/p>\r\n<\/td>\r\n

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Sam Portillo<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0PhD Candidate<\/p>\r\n

B.S. Chemical Engineering, University of Arizona (2019)<\/em><\/p>\r\n

Research:\u00a0<\/strong>\u201cMy research encompasses the development of heterogeneous catalysts for the decomposition of methane to hydrogen and carbon nanotubes. I am specifically interested in exsolvable systems that enable tuning of active metal particle sizes and metal-support interactions.\u201d<\/p>\r\n

Hobbies\/Interests: <\/strong>Reading, trying new foods, learning\/playing piano.<\/p>\r\n<\/td>\r\n

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Seyedamin Razavi<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0PhD Candidate<\/p>\r\n

B.S. Chemical Engineering, Sharif University of Technology (2022)<\/em><\/p>\r\n

Research:\u00a0<\/strong>\u201cMy research focuses on sorbents for the direct capture of CO2 from ambient air (DAC).\u201d<\/p>\r\n

Hobbies\/Interests: <\/strong>Soccer, movies, and music.<\/p>\r\n<\/td>\r\n

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Ibrahim Sultan<\/strong><\/a> PhD Candidate<\/p>\r\n

B.Sc. Chemical Engineering, University of Engineering & Technology, Lahore (2015)<\/em><\/p>\r\n

M.Eng. Materials Engineering Science, Osaka University, Japan (2021)<\/em>
<\/strong><\/p>\r\n

Research:\u00a0<\/strong>\u201cI am working on the process intensification strategies for naphtha cracking for production of valuable chemicals. I am also working on the dehydrogenation process. \u201c<\/p>\r\n

Hobbies\/Interests: <\/strong>Cycling, Cooking, Photography, Exploring new places, quality time with my family and friends.<\/p>\r\n<\/td>\r\n

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Casey Killmer<\/strong><\/a> PhD Candidate<\/p>\r\n

B.Sc. Chemical Engineering, West Virginia University (2019)<\/em><\/p>\r\n

Research:\u00a0<\/strong>\u201cDeveloping redox-catalysts capable of CO2<\/sub> capture and O2<\/sub> donation for energy efficient, sorption-enhanced hydrogen production from biogenic feedstocks.\u201d<\/p>\r\n

Hobbies\/Interests: <\/strong>Playing soccer, watching football, hiking, and reading.<\/p>\r\n<\/td>\r\n

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Micah Dickens<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0PhD Candidate and Goodnight Fellow, co-advised by Prof. Michael Dickey<\/p>\r\n

B.Sc. Chemical Engineering, University of South Alabama (2023)<\/em><\/p>\r\n

Research:\u00a0<\/strong>\u201cI work to understand gallium-based liquid metals for catalysis. This work has multiple applications, such as the dehydrogenation of alkane, CO2 reduction reactions, and the catalytic decomposition of methane. My project is developing more effective synthetic routes for catalytic synthesis and then applying these newly developed catalysts to standard model systems, such as the dehydrogenation of propane.\u201d<\/p>\r\n

Hobbies\/Interests: <\/strong>Reading (Tolkien and theology), Hiking, Playing Baseball and other sports, and playing Chess.<\/p>\r\n<\/td>\r\n

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Christopher Obi<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0PhD Student<\/p>\r\n

B.Sc. Chemical Engineering, Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Nigeria (2012).\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\r\n

Research:\u00a0<\/strong>\u201cDesign and Mechanistic Understanding of Redox-Active Catalysts for Sustainable Energy and Chemical Conversion. Applications of my materials include chemical looping partial oxidation of methane coupled with CO\u2082 utilization, chemical looping oxidative dehydrogenation of ethane to ethylene, and electrocatalysts for anode catalysis in proton-conducting solid oxide electrolysis cells.\u201d<\/p>\r\n

Hobbies\/Interests:\u00a0<\/strong> Watching soccer, following the news, reading, and talking research.<\/p>\r\n<\/td>\r\n

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Ehsanul Hoque<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0PhD Student<\/p>\r\n

B.Sc. Applied Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, University of Dhaka, Bangladesh. (2023)<\/em><\/p>\r\n

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Kyle Peters<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0PhD Student<\/p>\r\n

<\/i>Education: <\/strong>B.Sc. Chemical Engineering, <\/em>University of South Florida (2025)<\/em><\/p>\r\n

Research:\u00a0<\/strong>\u201cExploring use of modified zeolite catalyst with redox-active material for cracking naphtha to light olefins\u201d<\/p>\r\n

Hobbies\/Interests: <\/strong>Playing\u00a0<\/strong>basketball, badminton, and video games<\/p>\r\n<\/td>\r\n

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Undergraduate Researchers<\/strong><\/h3>\r\n<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n

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    \r\n
  • Josh Sellers<\/li>\r\n
  • Rosie<\/span>\u00a0Revell<\/li>\r\n
  • Kaitlyn Rosenberg<\/li>\r\n
  • Tochukwu Aniekwensi<\/span><\/span><\/li>\r\n
  • Connor O\u2019Brien<\/li>\r\n
  • Sam Crowley<\/li>\r\n
  • Luis Valdez Mata<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n<\/tbody>\r\n<\/table>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
    \r\n

    Former Group Members<\/strong><\/h2>\r\n<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n

    \r\n

    Graduate Students<\/strong><\/h3>\r\n<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n

    \r\n
      \r\n
    • Kyle Vogt-Lowell, Ph.D. Chemical Engineering, NC State University (2025) \u2014<\/em>\u00a0<\/em>currently at Susteon Inc.<\/li>\r\n
    • Dennis Chacko,\u00a0Ph.D. Chemical Engineering, NC State University (2025) <\/em><\/li>\r\n
    • Leo Brody, Ph.D. Chemical Engineering, NC State University (2024) <\/em>\u2014 <\/em>currently a postdoc at the University of Washington.<\/li>\r\n
    • Jack Hughes, M.S. Chemical Engineering, NC State University (2024)<\/em><\/li>\r\n
    • Lauren Teague, M.S. Chemical Engineering, NC State University (2024) \u2014 <\/em>currently at North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality.<\/li>\r\n
    • Sherafghan Iftikhar, Ph.D. Chemical Engineering, NC State University (2023) <\/em>\u2014 <\/em>currently a postdoc at Berkeley Labs.<\/li>\r\n
    • Junchen Liu, Ph.D. Chemical Engineering, NC State University (2023) \u2014 <\/em>currently at Eastman Chemical.<\/li>\r\n
    • Yuan Tian,\u00a0Ph.D. Chemical Engineering, NC State University (2022) \u2014 <\/em>currently at MSA Safety Appliances.<\/li>\r\n
    • Emily Kryzstowczyk, Ph.D. Chemical Engineering, NC State University (2022) \u2014 <\/em>currently in Future Leaders Program at BASF.<\/li>\r\n
    • Alajia Thornton,\u00a0M.S. Chemical Engineering, NC State University (2021) \u2014 <\/em>currently at U.S. Army Chem Corps.<\/li>\r\n
    • Joey Funderberg,\u00a0M.S. Chemical Engineering, NC State University (2021) \u2014 <\/em>currently at KBI BioPharma.<\/li>\r\n
    • Yunfei Gao, Ph.D. Chemical Engineering, NC State University (2019) <\/em>\u2014 <\/em>currently an associate professor at East China University of Science and Technology.<\/li>\r\n
    • Ryan Dudek, Ph.D. Chemical Engineering, NC State University (2020) \u2014\u00a0<\/em>currently a AAAS Science and Technology Fellow.<\/li>\r\n
    • Seif Yusuf,\u00a0Ph.D. Chemical Engineering, NC State University (2019) \u2014\u00a0<\/em>currently at Clariant Specialty Chemicals.<\/li>\r\n
    • Vasudev Haribal, Ph.D. Chemical Engineering, NC State University (2019) \u2014\u00a0<\/em>currently at Susteon, Inc.<\/li>\r\n
    • Daniel Jackson,\u00a0M.S. Chemical Engineering, NC State University (2019) \u2014\u00a0<\/em>currently at Cree.<\/li>\r\n
    • Amit Mishra, Ph.D. Chemical Engineering, NC State University (2018)<\/em> \u2014 currently at Advanced Semiconductor Materials.<\/li>\r\n
    • Arya Shafiefarhood, Ph.D. Chemical Engineering, NC State University (2016)<\/em> \u2014 currently at Advanced Semiconductor Materials.<\/li>\r\n
    • Nathan Galinsky, Ph.D. Chemical Engineering, NC State University (2016)<\/em> \u2014 currently an assistant professor at West Virginia Technical University.<\/li>\r\n
    • Feng He, Ph.D. Chemical Engineering, NC State University (2015) \u2014 <\/em>currently at Tesla Motors.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n

      Just a few places where some of our previous group members have found employment:<\/p>\r\n

      <\/p>\r\n

      \"\"<\/figure>\r\n

      <\/p>\r\n<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n

    \r\n

    Postdoctoral Researchers & Visiting Scholars<\/strong><\/h3>\r\n<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n

    \r\n
      \r\n
    • Mohammadreza Kosari, Ph.D., National University of Singapore (2022) \u2014 <\/em>currently at NC State University Forestry & Biomaterials<\/li>\r\n
    • Baitang Jin, Ph.D., Missouri University of Science and Technology \u00a0(2022)<\/em> \u2014 currently at UL Research Institutes<\/li>\r\n
    • Kunran Yang, Ph.D., ShanghaiTech University<\/em> (2021) \u2014 currently at UL Research Institutes<\/li>\r\n
    • Chongyan Ruan, Ph.D., Chinese Academy of Sciences<\/em> (2019)<\/li>\r\n
    • Runxia Cai, Ph.D., Tsinghua University (2020) \u2014 currently Assistant Professor at Shanghai Jiao Tong University<\/em><\/li>\r\n
    • Shuang Wang, Ph.D., Jilin University (2011) <\/em>\u2014 currently at Taiyuan University of Technology<\/li>\r\n
    • Xing Zhu, Ph.D.<\/em> \u2014 currently at Kunming University of Science and Technology<\/li>\r\n
    • Young-Min Chung, Ph.D.<\/em> \u2014 currently at Kunsan National University<\/li>\r\n
    • Xin Tian, Ph.D.<\/em> \u2014 currently at Huazhong University of Science and Technology<\/li>\r\n
    • Yun Chen, Ph.D.<\/em> \u2014 currently at South China University of Technology<\/li>\r\n
    • Moti Herskowitz, Ph.D. Chemical Engineering, UC Davis (1978)<\/em> \u2014 currently at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev<\/li>\r\n
    • Junshe Zhang, Ph.D., National University of Singapore<\/em> \u2014 currently at Xi\u2019an Jiaotong University<\/li>\r\n
    • Yang Liu, Ph.D., Harbin Institute of Technology (2003)<\/em><\/li>\r\n
    • Tianyang Li, Ph.D. Chemistry, Ohio State University (2016)<\/em> \u2014 currently at Duke University<\/li>\r\n
    • Matthew Cooper, Ph.D., Ohio University (2008)<\/em> \u2014 currently at NC State University<\/li>\r\n
    • Yan Huang, Ph.D.<\/em> \u2014 currently at Xiangtan University<\/li>\r\n
    • Yanguang Chen, Ph.D.<\/em> \u2014 currently at Northeast Petroleum University<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n
    \r\n

    Undergraduate Researchers<\/strong><\/h3>\r\n<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n

    \r\n
      \r\n
    • Elizabeth Nguyen<\/li>\r\n
    • Anna Lawrence<\/li>\r\n
    • Azin Saberi Bosari<\/li>\r\n
    • Eric Giavedoni<\/li>\r\n
    • Lexi Pierce<\/li>\r\n
    • Madison Baldwin<\/li>\r\n
    • Millicent Blivin<\/li>\r\n
    • Megan Boland<\/li>\r\n
    • Timothy Brantley<\/li>\r\n
    • Shivalik Daga<\/li>\r\n
    • Arjun Devarajan<\/li>\r\n
    • Carl Druebbisch<\/li>\r\n
    • Farrah Haeri<\/li>\r\n
    • J. Clay Hamill<\/li>\r\n
    • Soveth Hourn<\/li>\r\n
    • Dylan Jackson<\/li>\r\n
    • Gaochen Jin<\/li>\r\n
    • Daniel Kim<\/li>\r\n
    • Alan May<\/li>\r\n
    • Finlay O\u2019Donnell<\/li>\r\n
    • Patrick O\u2019Shea<\/li>\r\n
    • Samir Patel<\/li>\r\n
    • Courtney Paulus<\/li>\r\n
    • Benazir Asifa Mohamed Raffi<\/li>\r\n
    • Thomas Robbins<\/li>\r\n
    • Evan Scott<\/li>\r\n
    • Marwan Sendi<\/li>\r\n
    • Ji-Young Shin<\/li>\r\n
    • Elizabeth Shively<\/li>\r\n
    • Dharshan Sivaraj<\/li>\r\n
    • Brian Todd Smith<\/li>\r\n
    • Amy Stewart<\/li>\r\n
    • Grant Thomas<\/li>\r\n
    • Ziren Wang<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n<\/tbody>\r\n<\/table>\r\n\r\n\r\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

      Li Research Group (May 2025) Left to right: Kyle Vogt-Lowell, Dr. Baitang Jin, Christopher Obi, Dr. Yuge Yao, Aaron Frye, Dr. Yuhan Mei, Dr. Mohammadreza…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":124,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"page-fullwidth.php","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-99","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cbe.ncsu.edu\/ligroup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/99","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cbe.ncsu.edu\/ligroup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cbe.ncsu.edu\/ligroup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cbe.ncsu.edu\/ligroup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/124"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cbe.ncsu.edu\/ligroup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=99"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/cbe.ncsu.edu\/ligroup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/99\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":671,"href":"https:\/\/cbe.ncsu.edu\/ligroup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/99\/revisions\/671"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cbe.ncsu.edu\/ligroup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=99"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}