Nick Latiolais


Nick majored in chemistry at Pitt. He joined the Laaser Lab in fall of 2022, where he worked with Tom and Victoria on synthesis of mechanochemically-active polymer networks.  Nick graduated in spring 2024, and plans to start his PhD in chemical engineering at Louisiana State University in the fall.

Jessa Flowers


About Jessa Jessa is an exchange student from the University of Edinburgh who is working with us in the Spring 2022 semester as she completes the requirements for her masters degree.  In our lab, she is working with Paige to characterize diffusion of nanoparticles in polymer hydrogels using single-particle tracking.

Tom Staunton


About Tom Tom worked in the Laaser Lab from September 2021 – April 2023, where he worked with Victoria on measuring mechanochemical activation in polymer networks.  He is now continuing research in the Wipf group for his senior year to further develop his interests in organic chemistry. Tom is a chemistry major, but is also […]

Kasey Watkins


About Kasey Kasey worked in the Laaser Lab from September 2021 through August 2022, where he worked with Zi on understanding how dispersity affects mechanochemical activation in triblock copolymers.  Outside of the lab, Kasey was involved in Air Force ROTC, and commissioned as an officer after graduation in spring 2023. Publications

Rotem Benharush


About Rotem Rotem joined the Laaser Lab in spring 2021, where she worked on understanding hydration changes in polyelectrolyte complex coacervates at high salt concentrations.  She graduated in spring 2022 and is currently looking for jobs in industry.

Taylor Tomlinson


About Taylor Taylor joined the Laaser Lab in January 2021, where she worked on understanding the phase behavior of poly(oxacyclobutane) using both experiments and molecular dynamics simulations.  Taylor graduated in spring 2022, and will be starting her Ph.D in chemistry at Penn in the fall.

Matt Bittner


About Matt Matt worked in the Laaser Lab in spring and summer of 2021, where he worked with Paige on synthesis and characterization of hydrogels.  Matt graduated in August 2021, and moved on to a position at PPG in Pittsburgh.

Lavinia Falck


About Lavinia Lavinia joined the Laaser Lab in January 2021, where she worked with Zi on simulations of mechanochemically-active block copolymers until she graduated in May 2021. In addition to her chemistry major, she completed a physics minor and a sustainability certificate. Publications

Lexi Knight


About Lexi Lexi joined the Laaser Lab as an undergraduate researcher in January of 2019, where she is worked on characterization of complex coacervates in the presence of different salts.  She graduated in spring of 2019, and plans to start her PhD in chemistry at Case Western in the fall. Publications

Marissa Puppo


About Marissa Marissa joined the Laaser Lab as an undergraduate researcher in January 2018, where she worked with Frankie on characterizing polyelectrolyte complex coacervates.  She graduated in Spring of 2019 and currently works at nanoComposix in San Diego, CA. Publications

Swati Arora


About Swati Swati is a fourth-year graduate student in chemistry. She was a member of the Laaser Lab from January 2018 through April 2021, where she developed new types of polymerizable ionic liquids for organic electronics applications.  She is now a member of Dr. Hernández Sánchez’s group, where she is completing her PhD in materials […]

Paige Moncure


About Paige Paige joined the Laaser Lab in January of 2018 (co-advised with Jill Millstone), where she studied diffusion of nanoparticles in polymeric hydrogels.  Paige graduated in spring of 2023, and is now a scientific consultant at Exponent. Publications

Caitlyn Choe


About Caitlyn Caitlyn was an undergraduate researcher in the Laaser Lab in Fall of 2017, where she worked on potentiometric titrations of polyelectrolyte complexes. After graduating in spring of 2018, Caitlyn moved to Cleveland, where she is currently pursuing her teaching credential.

Jun Huang


About Jun Jun is a sixth-year student in organic chemistry. He joined the Laaser Lab in March of 2017, where he is currently developing synthetic approaches for preparing compositionally-diverse polyelectrolyte complex libraries and screening their properties. Publications

Brandon Myrga


About Brandon Brandon joined the Laaser Lab in January of 2017, where he worked with Zi and Swati on the synthesis of mechanochemically-active block copolymers. Brandon graduated in spring of 2018, and is currently a chemist at PPG in Pittsburgh. Publications

Zijian Huo


About Zi Zi grew up in Guangzhou, China and came to the U.S. to receive his A.S. degree from Community College of Philadelphia. He then transferred to Temple University to complete his B.S. in chemistry with a minor in Mathematics. He worked in the Laaser lab from 2017 to 2023, where he completed his PhD […]

Frankie Morin


About Frankie Frankie joined the Laaser Lab in January of 2017, where she investigated the origins of viscoelastic behavior in polyelectrolyte complex coacervates.  Frankie graduated with her MS in chemistry in August 2019, and is now teaching at Pittsburgh’s City Charter High School. Publications