Notre Dame Nanoscience and Technology (NDnano) is hosting 21 students as part of the summer 2026 NDnano Undergraduate Research Fellowship (NURF) program. The students have each been selected by NDnano affiliated faculty to join their research group for up to 10 weeks and experience academic research first-hand. The summer researchers are undertaking a variety of projects (see roster below), reflecting the breadth of NDnano faculty expertise.
Outside the lab, the NDnano students will be part of Notre Dame’s larger summer research community. The 2026 cohort of 400-plus student researchers – being mentored by faculty, postdocs and graduate students in several disciplines across-campus – have the opportunity to engage in a variety of social and professional development activities to sharpen their skills and build new connections.
NDnano’s summer researchers are students at Notre Dame, Goshen College, Trine University, Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, Grambling State University, Texas Tech University, University of Central Florida, Budapest University of Technology and Economics, and Indian Institute of Technology Indore. Funding for the students is provided by NDnano, the Woodward Family Endowment for Excellence in NDnano Undergraduate Research, and other faculty grants and program funds.
For more information about summer 2027 research opportunities with NDnano, please visit the NDnano website in early January.
Congratulations to the 2026 NDnano Undergraduate Research Fellowship Recipients
Student: Romeo Adu, Grambling State University
Project: Nanoparticle mediated reprogramming of cells to fight cancer
Faculty mentors: Professor Meenal Datta and Professor Ryan Roeder
Student: Yashkumar Dodiya, Indian Institute of Technology, Indore
Project: Electrochemical sensing of dissolved species in water
Faculty mentors: Professor Jennifer Schaefer and Professor Nosang Myung
Student: Caden Estes, University of Notre Dame
Project: A novel fluorogenic RNA-based detection platform for toxic heavy metals
Faculty mentors: Professor Saurja DasGupta and Professor Marya Lieberman
Student: Balázs Flóring, Budapest University of Technology and Economics
Project: Layer-number dependent superconductivity in doped molybdenum disulfide
Faculty mentors: Professor László Forró and Dr. Bence Márkus
Student: Bence Göblyös, Budapest University of Technology and Economics
Project: Melting magnetism with photoinduced electrons in layered magnets
Faculty mentors: Professor László Forró and Dr. Bence Márkus
Student: Sofia Hutchens, University of Notre Dame
Project: Engineering biomimetic materials to control stem cell morphogenesis
Faculty mentor: Professor Donny Hanjaya-Putra
Student: Joshua Kannappilly, University of Notre Dame
Project: Investigating the floating body effect in 3D dynamic random access memory
Faculty mentor: Professor Kai Ni
Student: Matthew Kim, University of Notre Dame
Project: Intelligent electronic nose system development using nanoengineered sensing materials
Faculty mentor: Professor Nosang Myung
Student: Keiton Klein, Trine University
Project: Automated investigations of ionic liquid-conjugated polymer composite thin films for mixed-conducting chemical sensors
Faculty mentor: Professor Bryan Paulsen
Student: Jack Latilla Campbell, University of Notre Dame
Project: Core-shell nanoparticles for targeted therapy against metastatic breast cancer cells in vitro and in vivo
Faculty mentor: Professor Prakash Nallathamby and Professor Erin Howe
Student: Daniel Liu, Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology
Project: Multi-modal nano-biosensors on engineered heart tissues for drug dosing and cardiotoxicity screening
Faculty mentors: Professor Kaiyu Fu and Professor Huibin Chang
Student: Aakarsh Misra, Texas Tech University
Project: Intelligent electronic nose system development using nanoengineered sensing materials
Faculty mentor: Professor Nosang Myung
Student: Felipe Mogollon Molina, Goshen College
Project: Additive manufacturing of functional micro/nanofibers for smart textiles
Faculty mentors: Professor Huibin Chang and Professor Tingyu Cheng
Student: Natalie Moran, University of Notre Dame
Project: RNA aptamer-based imaging tools for energy metabolites
Faculty mentors: Professor Saurja DasGupta and Professor Kaiyu Fu
Student: Gerardo Muniz, University of Notre Dame
Project: Automated investigations of nano-porous semiconductor thin films for mixed-conducting devices
Faculty mentors: Faculty: Professor Bryan Paulsen and Professor William Phillip
Student: Elizabeth Orona, University of Notre Dame
Project: Electrochemical energy devices
Faculty mentors: Professor Jennifer Schaefer and Professor Nosang Myung
Student: Samantha Sanchez, University of Notre Dame
Project: Maximizing opto-electronic properties of mixed-conducting thin films with automated post processing
Faculty mentors: Professor Bryan Paulsen and Professor William Phillip
Student: Michael Schlesier, University of Notre Dame
Project: Optimizing molecular alignment of mixed-conducting thin films with an integrated coating and characterization robot
Faculty mentors: Professor Bryan Paulsen and Professor William Phillip
Student: Kolbe Schlosser, University of Notre Dame
Project: Core-shell nanoparticles for targeted therapy against metastatic breast cancer cells in vitro and in vivo
Faculty mentor: Professor Prakash Nallathamby and Professor Erin Howe
Student: Jeonghyun Song, University of Central Florida
Project: Prototyping high-speed synthesis of gold microplates
Faculty mentor: Professor Svetlana Neretina
Student: Winston Tumbelaka, University of Notre Dame
Project: Fabricating meta-surfaces with light
Faculty mentors: Professor Gregory Timp and Dr. Apurba Paul
Originally published by at nano.nd.edu on June 04, 2026.