CCM CONNECTS: Research Series
The annual Research Series comprise of monthly overviews of CCM’s research focus areas with presentations on topics ranging from composites process modeling, interface characterization, thermoplastic composites, micromechanics of composites, additive manufacturing and many more. The Research Series are free and open to the public, and speakers include graduate students, post-docs, research associates, affiliated faculty members and invited speakers from the government and industry.
Mar
11
2026
March 11, 2026 | 11:00 AM
UD-CCM, Room 106, 101 Academy Street
Speaker
Advisor
Title
Mario Junior Mencagli
Assistant Prof, ECE
Assistant Prof, ECE
Spatiotemporal Metasurfaces: Expanding the Frontiers of Electromagnetic Applications
Apr
8
2026
April 8, 2026 | 11:00 AM
UD-CCM, Room 106, 101 Academy Street
Speaker
Advisor
Title
Samruddhi Gaikwad, PhD
Postdoctoral Researcher
Postdoctoral Researcher
Prof. Srikanth Pilla
Coming Soon
Jesse Brown
Technical Manager
Technical Manager
Dr. Shridhar Yarlaggda
Coming Soon
Maneesha Sahni
Graduate Student
Graduate Student
Dr. Chelsea Davis
Coming Soon
May
13
2026
May 13, 2026 | 11:00 AM
UD-CCM, Room 106, 101 Academy Street
Speaker
Advisor
Title
Christopher DiMarco, PhD
Founder & CEO, Sindri Materials Corp.
Founder & CEO, Sindri Materials Corp.
Coming Soon
Past Events
Feb
11
2026
February 11, 2026 | 11:00 AM
UD-CCM, Room 106, 101 Academy Street
Speaker
Advisor
Title
Tania Lavaggi
Graduate Student
Graduate Student
Prof. Suresh G. Advani
Role of permeability for the improvement of carbon-carbon composites densification
Amit M. Deshpande
Graduate Student
Graduate Student
Prof. Srikanth Pilla
Investigation of the Effect of Cooling Rates on the Mechanical Behavior of Thermoformed Continuous Fiber Reinforced Semi-Crystalline Thermoplastic Composites
Erik Anderson
Graduate Student
Graduate Student
Jan
13
2026
January 13, 2026 | 11:00 AM
UD-CCM, Room 106, 101 Academy Street
Speaker
Advisor
Title
Nuwan Diwapriya, PhD
Research Associate III
Research Associate III
Prof. John W. Gillespie, Jr.
Ankita Bisht, PhD
Postdoctoral Researcher
Postdoctoral Researcher
Prof. John W. Gillespie, Jr.
Mixed-Mode Fracture Behavior of Woven S-Glass/Epoxy Composites: Role of Matrix, Fiber Sizing, and Weave Architecture
Uday Kiran Balaga
Graduate Student, Mechanical Engineering
Graduate Student, Mechanical Engineering
Prof. Suresh G. Advani
Influence of Part Geometry on the Fiber Orientation Behavior in Additive Manufacturing
Dec
9
2025
December 9, 2025 | 11:00 AM
UD-CCM, Room 106, 101 Academy Street
Speaker
Advisor
Title
Swarna Shiv
CEO, Unsmudgeable
CEO, Unsmudgeable
From Dorm Room to Customers at 24: A Materials Startup Journey
Nov
11
2025
November 11, 2025 | 11:00 AM
UD-CCM, Room 106, 101 Academy Street
Speaker
Advisor
Title
Troy Wilford
Director, Commercialization Programs, Venture Development Center
Director, Commercialization Programs, Venture Development Center
Unlocking Resources for Innovation
Navid Niknafs Kermani, Ph.D.
Research Associate III
Research Associate III
Prof. Suresh G. Advani
Strain Rate Dependent Constitutive Model for Uncured Aligned Discontinuous Fiber (Or TuFF) Composites for Forming: Development, Implementation, And Validation
Sagar Doshi, Ph.D.
Scientist
Scientist
Dr. Joseph Deitzel
Carbon Nanocomposite Coated Fabric Based Flexible Pressure Sensors — Uunderstanding Sensing Mechanism and Applications in Gait Analysis
Oct
14
2025
Aug
12
2025
August 12, 2025 | 11:00 AM
UD-CCM, Room 106, 101 Academy Street
Speaker
Advisor
Title
Sandra Milev, (Ph.D.C.E.)
Graduate Student
Graduate Student
Prof. Jovan Tater
Self-healable And Recyclable Sealants-A sustainable Solution for Aging Infrastructure
Munetaka Kubota, (Ph.D.M.S.E.)
Materials Engineer
Materials Engineer
Prof. John W. Gillespie, Jr.
Designing a Functionally Graded S-2 Glass/Epoxy Composites for Improved Energy Absorption
Sophie Sharafi, (Ph.D.M.E.)
Graduate Student
Graduate Student
Prof. Suresh G. Advani
Additive Manufacturing of High Temperature Polymer Composites
Jul
8
2025
July 8, 2025 | 11:00 AM
UD-CCM, Room 106, 101 Academy Street
Speaker
Advisor
Title
Shagata Das
Graduate Student
Graduate Student
Prof. Jovan Tatar
Development of a Height-Tapered Double Cantilever Beam Test Method for Mode I Interlaminar Fatigue Testing
Lukas Fuessel
Graduate Student
Graduate Student
Prof. John W. Gillespie, Jr.
Limits of Stretch Steering of Highly Aligned Discontinuous Carbon Fiber (TuFF) using Laser Assisted Tape Placement
Dhanashree Shinde
Graduate Student
Graduate Student
Prof. Srikanth Pilla
Jun
3
2025
June 3, 2025 | 11:00 AM
UD-CCM, Room 106, 101 Academy Street
Speaker
Advisor
Title
Alireza Zarei
Postdoctoral Researcher
Postdoctoral Researcher
Prof. Srikanth Pilla
Laser Ultrasonics for Nondestructive Testing of Composite Materials
James Haliburton
Lab Coordinator I
Lab Coordinator I
Dr. Joseph Deitzel
Laboratory Safety and Housekeeping Policies
Aidan Ford
Materials & Process Engineer
Materials & Process Engineer
Dr. Shridhar Yarlagadda
Draw and Stretch Forming of Complex Geometries with TuFF
Apr
1
2025
April 1, 2025 | 11:00 AM
UD-CCM, Room 106, 101 Academy Street
Speaker
Advisor
Title
Md Habib Khan
Graduate Student
Graduate Student
Dr. Kelvin Fu
Topology Optimization and 3D Fiber Tethering of a Continuous Carbon Fiber/Thermoset Composite Bracket
Nazmul Haque
Graduate Student
Graduate Student
Dr. Chelsea Davis
Visualizing Stress Distributions in Polymer Composites Using Mechanophores
Sandra Baji
Visiting Researcher
Visiting Researcher
Prof. Suresh Advani
Characterization of Voids in the RTM Process
Mar
4
2025
March 4, 2025 | 11:00 AM
UD-CCM, Room 106, 101 Academy Street
Speaker
Advisor
Title
Shahrear Md Emtiaz
Graduate Student
Graduate Student
Prof. Suresh Advani
Role of Fiber Clusters on Void Formation for Additvely Manufactured Continuous Carbon Fiber Thermoset Composites
Corinne Hamed
Manager of Business Operations
Manager of Business Operations
Navigating Travel Policies & Procedures
Gerald Poirier
Director, Advanced Materials Characterization Lab
Director, Advanced Materials Characterization Lab
Introduction to Advanced Materials Characterization Facilities and Keck Center for Advanced Microscopy in ISE Lab
Feb
4
2025
February 4, 2025 | 11:00 AM
UD-CCM, Room 106, 101 Academy Street
Speaker
Advisor
Title
Megan Maher
Financial Analyst
Financial Analyst
Therese Stratton
Effort Certification and Reporting
Paul Samuel
Ph.D. Candidate, Mechanical Engineering
Ph.D. Candidate, Mechanical Engineering
Prof. John W. Gillespie, Jr.
Mode-I (opening) Fracture Experiments and Cohesive Zone Modeling for Predicting Delamination Growth in Glass Epoxy Composites
Jan
14
2025
January 14, 2025 | 11:00 AM
UD-CCM, Room 106, 101 Academy Street
Speaker
Advisor
Title
Sagar Doshi, Ph.D.
Associate Scientist
Associate Scientist
Prof. Joseph M. Deitzel
Environmental Durability and Damage Tolerance of Glass-Epoxy Composites: Resin Characterization and Adhesion Mechanisms with Ductile Interlayers
Munetaka Kubota, (Ph.D.M.S.E.)
Materials Engineer
Materials Engineer
Prof. John W. Gillespie, Jr.
Improving Durability and Damage Tolerance of Glass Fiber Reinforced Polymer Composites
Dec
10
2024
December 10, 2024 | 11:00 AM
UD-CCM, Room 106, 101 Academy Street
Speaker
Advisor
Title
Nithin Parambil, Ph.D.
Research Associate III
Research Associate III
Prof. John W. Gillespie, Jr.
Shih Wen Chen, (Ph.D.M.E.)
Graduate Student
Graduate Student
Prof. Suresh G. Advani
Nov
18
2024
November 18, 2024 | 11:00 AM
UD-CCM, Room 106, 101 Academy Street
Speaker
Advisor
Title
Prof. Dr.-Ing. Prof. h.c. (RGU) Jens Schuster
Hochschule Kaiserslautern University of Applied Sciences
Hochschule Kaiserslautern University of Applied Sciences
3D-Printing Under High Pressure
Nov
12
2024
November 12, 2024 | 11:00 AM
UD-CCM, Room 106, 101 Academy Street
Speaker
Advisor
Title
Nicholas Rorrer, Ph.D.
Manager and Sr. Researcher – Polymer Science and Engineering Renewable Resources and Enabling Sciences Center
Manager and Sr. Researcher – Polymer Science and Engineering Renewable Resources and Enabling Sciences Center
Scaling Recyclable and Dynamic Thermosets: From Beaker to Wind Blade and Beyond
Oct
1
2024
October 1, 2024 | 11:00 AM
UD-CCM, Room 106, 101 Academy Street
Speaker
Advisor
Title
Navid Niknafs, Ph.D.
Research Associate III
Research Associate III
Prof. Suresh G. Advani
Tom Cender, Ph.D.
Scientist
Scientist
Prof. John W. Gillespie, Jr.
Forming Properties of Highly Aligned Discontinuous Fiber Lamina
Andrew Stack, (M.M.E.)
Graduate Student
Graduate Student
Prof. Suresh G. Advani
Aug
12
2024
August 12, 2024 | 11:00 AM
UD-CCM, Room 106, 101 Academy Street
Speaker
Advisor
Title
Dr. Francois Mahe
University of Rennes, Rennes, France
University of Rennes, Rennes, France
Development of a Staistical Mechanics-Based Approach to Model the Compression Flow of Long-Fiber Composite Materials
Aug
6
2024
August 6, 2024 | 11:00 AM
UD-CCM, Room 106, 101 Academy Street
Speaker
Advisor
Title
Abdalsalam Fadeel, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Researcher
Postdoctoral Researcher
Dr. Joseph Deitzel
Effect of Consolidation Pressure on the Deformation and Void Content Reduction within a Stochastic Array of Fibrils
Amit Deshpande, (Ph.D.M.E.)
Graduate Student
Graduate Student
Prof. Srikanth Pilla
Investigation of Woven Composite Lattice Reinforcements for Thermoforming of Thermoplastic Composite Sturctures
Maximilian Pitto
Graduate Intern
Graduate Intern
Prof. Suresh G. Advani
Jul
9
2024
July 9, 2024 | 11:00 AM
UD-CCM, Room 106, 101 Academy Street
Speaker
Advisor
Title
Molla Ali
Research Associate III
Research Associate III
Dr. Joseph Deitzel
Influence of Consolidation Pressure on Tensile Strength of Thin Ultra High Molecular Weight Polyethylene Composites
Pavel Simacek, Ph.D.
Research Associate III
Research Associate III
Prof. Suresh G. Advani
Jun
4
2024
June 4, 2024 | 11:00 AM
UD-CCM, Room 106, 101 Academy Street
Speaker
Advisor
Title
John Tierney, Ph.D.
Sr. Scientist
Sr. Scientist
Prof. John W. Gillespie, Jr.
TuFF: The Evolution and Revolution of the World’s Strongest Short Fiber Composite Material for Sustainability and Recycling
Sai Aditya Pradeep, Ph.D.
Research and Development Engineer
Research and Development Engineer
Prof. Srikanth Pilla
May
7
2024
May 7, 2024 | 11:00 AM
UD-CCM, Room 106, 101 Academy Street
Speaker
Advisor
Title
Lukas Fuessel, (Ph.D.M.E.)
Graduate Student
Graduate Student
Prof. John W. Gillespie, Jr.
Determination of a Stabile Stain Window for Highly Aligned Discontinuous Fiber Tapes using Stretch – Tape – Placement
Tekin Ozdemir, Ph.D.
Research Associate III
Research Associate III
Dr. Joseph Deitzel
Stabilization of TuFF Material by Electrospinning Ultra low Areal Weisht Binder Veils from Aqueous Solutions
Colin Bonner, (Ph.D.E.C.E.)
Graduate Student
Graduate Student
Prof. Mark Mirotznik