The PI
Theo Dingemans, PhD
Department of Applied Physical Sciences
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
121 South Road, Murray Hall 1111
Chapel Hill, NC 27514 USA
Phone:
919-843-4048
Email:
The Group
Current Members
Ed Samulski, PhD
Professor Emeritus
Dr. Samulski is Professor Emeritus at UNC-CH. After receiving his PhD from Princeton in 1970, Dr. Samulski would go on to found the journal Liquid Crystals, create a Polymer and Materials Science program at UNC-CH, serve as chair of both the Chemistry and Applied Physical Sciences Departments, and continues to contribute to the field of polymer materials having published over 300 peer-reviewed articles.
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Office: Caudill 161
Email: et@unc.edu
Maruti Hegde, PhD
Research Associate Professor
Dr. Hegde specializes in the design, synthesis, and characterization of all-aromatic polymers for next-generation polymer and nanocomposite technologies. Dr. Hegde served as a postdoctoral fellow studying high strength polyetherimides at Virginia Tech with Dr. Tim E. Long and received his PhD from Delft University of Technology (Netherlands).
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Office: Murray Hall 1131
Email: mhegde@email.unc.edu
Thanavel Rajangam, PhD
Post-Doctoral Fellow
Dr. Rajangam earned his PhD in Biomedical Engineering from Gachon University, South Korea. Prior to joining the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC-CH), he served as a Postdoctoral Researcher at the Korea Institute of Science and Technology and as an R&D Manager at S. Biomedics in Seoul, South Korea. He is currently an AGILE Innovation Postdoctoral Fellow at UNC-CH, where his research focuses on the development and evaluation of membranes for dialysis and other biomedical applications.
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Office: Murray Hall 1131
Email: thanavel@unc.edu
Maria Furukawa
5th Year Graduate Student
Maria focuses on the structural design of linear, high-aspect-ratio polymeric materials to enhance the structure/property capabilities of current state-of-the-art separation technologies. Prior to UNC, Maria served as a chemist at Syensqo Specialty Polymers (Alpharetta, GA) and SNF Holding Company (Riceboro, GA). She earned her B.S. in Chemistry from the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta, GA. Maria currently serves as the lab safety officer for the Dingemans lab.
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Office: Murray Hall 1131
Email: mfuruk@unc.edu
Matteo Lanciotti
Visiting 3rd Year Graduate Student
Matteo focuses on X-ray diffraction and scattering techniques applied to all-aromatic polymers and to supramolecular assembly of rodlike polyelectrolytes with two-dimensional nanofillers. Matteo is a PhD candidate at the Polytechnic University of Marche (Italy), where he conducts his doctoral research in collaboration with UNC. He earned his Master’s degree in Physics, specializing in Condensed Matter Physics, from Sapienza University of Rome, completing his thesis research at the Partnership for Soft Condensed Matter and the Institut Laue-Langevin in Grenoble (France).
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Office: Murray Hall 1131
Email: lancio@unc.edu
Sam Darer
2nd Year Graduate Student
Sam studies liquid crystal mixtures of 1D rods and 2D discs for the purpose of developing high-performing polymer composites. Prior to UNC Chapel Hill, Sam received his B.S. and dual-majored in Chemistry and Computer Science at Worcester Polytechnic Institute. Sam serves as the Treasurer of UNC Chapel Hill’s Materials Research Society student chapter and the Secretary of the UNC Chemistry Sustainability Committee.
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Office: Murray Hall 1131
Email: sdarer@unc.edu
Lily Thorson
Undergraduate Researcher
William Mahoney
Undergraduate Researcher
Allegra Gray
Undergraduate Researcher
Daniel Godfrey
Undergraduate Researcher
Jake Sanchez
Undergraduate Researcher
Peter Tran
Undergraduate Researcher
Graduate Students and Postdoctoral Fellows
Alumni
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Mac McCormick
Graduate Student
Group Alumni: 2025-2026
After UNC: Virginia Tech
Chhabilal Regmi, PhD
Postdoctoral Fellow
Group Alumni: 2024-2025
After UNC: Navajo Technical University
John Migliore, PhD
Graduate Student
Group Alumni: 2020-2025
After UNC: Eastman
Bhausaheb Tawade, PhD
Postdoctoral Fellow
Group Alumni: 2022-2023
After UNC: Keva
Anna Fraser, PhD
Graduate Student
Group Alumni: 2017-2022
After UNC: Syensqo
Gabby Esposito, PhD
Postdoctoral Fellow
Group Alumni: 2020-2022
After UNC: Air Force Research Laboratory
Shreya Roy Choudhury, PhD
Postdoctoral Fellow
Group Alumni: 2019-2021
After UNC: Corning, Inc.
Ryan Fox, PhD
Graduate Student
Group Alumni: 2016-2020
After UNC: Exponent Consulting
Undergraduate Researchers, Visiting Scholars, and More...
Alumni
Florencia Nardone
Undergraduate
Researcher
Group Alumni: 2025
Abegael Johnson
Undergraduate
Researcher
Group Alumni: 2025
Jackson Gardner
Undergraduate
Researcher
Group Alumni: 2025
Joseph Delaloye
Undergraduate
Researcher
Group Alumni: 2025
Amelia
Varner
Undergraduate
Researcher
Group Alumni: 2025
David
Major
Undergraduate
Researcher
Group Alumni: 2025
Anna
Bronson
Undergraduate
Researcher
Group Alumni: 2024
Lexi Handley
Undergraduate
Researcher
Group Alumni: 2024
Michael
Bakas, PhD
Adjunct
Professor
Group Alumni: 2024
Ainsley Kaplan
Undergraduate
Researcher
Group Alumni: 2024
Alex
Allred
Undergraduate
Researcher
Group Alumni: 2023
Lenya
Schmidt-Neuhaus
Undergraduate
Researcher
Group Alumni: 2023
Christian Desimone
Undergraduate Researcher
Group Alumni: 2021
Bryan
Yang
Undergraduate Researcher
Group Alumni: 2020
Jacob
Yankey
Undergraduate Researcher
Group Alumni: 2020
Griffin
Barnes
Undergraduate Researcher
Group Alumni: 2019
Louise
Lindegaard
Undergraduate Researcher
Group Alumni: 2019
Andrew
Traywick
Undergraduate Researcher
Group Alumni: 2019
Emerald
Ollenberger
Undergraduate Researcher
Group Alumni: 2018