Professor: Chemical Engineering & Materials Science; Physics & Astronomy

Donald Morelli is Professor of Materials Science at Michigan State University and Director of the MSU/DOE Energy Frontier Research Center on Revolutionary Materials for Solid State Energy Conversion (RMSSEC). Prior to joining MSU in 2007, he spent 21 years in industry, first at General Motors Research Laboratories as a Senior Research Scientist, before moving to Delphi Corporation Research Labs in 1999, where he was Staff Research Scientist and Group Leader of the nanomaterials group. Dr. Morelli received two GM Campbell Awards (1992 and 1997) for fundamental scientific research, the International Thermal Conductivity Conferences Fellowship Award (1993), and the Delphi Scientific Excellence Award (2004). He has been elected Fellow of the American Physical Society (2005) and was inducted into the Delphi Corporation Innovation Hall of Fame (2006). He has published over 150 scientific papers, coauthored four book chapters, and received 23 U.S. patents. His research has spanned a variety of topics, including: semimetals, conducting polymers, high temperature superconductors, wide and narrow band gap semiconductors, high thermal conductivity crystals, thermoelectric materials, and magnetism. Dr. Morelli’s research group at MSU continues to emphasize new semiconductors for thermoelectric energy conversion, as well as materials for thermal management. Dr. Morelli holds BS and PhD degrees in physics from the University of Michigan.

Senior Research Associate: Chemical Engineering & Materials Science

Dr. Vijay Ponnambalam (Ponns) is currently a Senior Research Associate working with Prof. Don Morelli in the Dept. of Chemical Engineering & Materials Science, Michigan State University. His expertise is in the broader area of materials synthesize & characterization with current focus on new single crystalline and high density polycrystalline thermoelectrics. In the last 15 years, he has worked on a wide range of materials including bulk and thin film oxides and intermetallics and successfully designed and synthesized iron based bulk metallic glasses with rod diameters larger than 1cm. He has a total of 42 publications with an average citation of 34.5 per publication. The h-index is 16. He has 3 publications cited more than 100 times. He also has 3 patents to his credit in the area of metallic glasses. Prior to joining MSU in 2010, he worked at various institutions including Indian Institute of Science, University of Virginia & Clemson University. He obtained his master’s degree in physics from University of Madras, India in 1987 and a M.E. degree in materials science from Regional Engineering College, Trichy, India in 1990. He obtained his Ph.D. degree in physics from Indian Institute of Technology Madras, India in 1997.

Research Associate: Chemical Engineering & Materials Science

Xu Lu now is a research associate in Morelli group at Michigan State University. He completed his PhD on novel thermoelectric materials at Department of Physics, Michigan State University (2014). He obtained B.S and M.S. in Material Science from Sichuan University (2005) and Institute of Metal Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences. He has published more than 15 peer-reviewed papers on thermoelectrics and nanomaterials and filed 2 US patents. His current research interests include design of novel thermoelectric materials, magnetic materials and nanocomposites.

Research Associate: Chemical Engineering & Materials Science

Gloria Lehr recently graduated from the Morelli Lab with a Ph.D. in Materials Science and Engineering. Her graduate research focused on Yb-based thermoelectric materials for the cryogenic Peltier cooling. Gloria earned a B.A. in Physics and Mathematics from Monmouth College, in Illinois. In the past Gloria researched lead silicate and lithium borovanadate glasses as a summer project at Coe College (Cedar Rapids, IA). She also spent a summer at the Kirtland Air Force base participating in the Space Scholars program, where she developed an apparatus for testing thermoelectric cooling modules. Gloria was nominated as the ChEMS department representative for the Fitch Beach award and also recieved an award for her service to the department through the ChEMS Graduate Student Association. Currently, Gloria is continuing her work on low-temperature Yb-based materials for space-based applications.

Research Assistant: Physics

Winston Carr is a 4th year graduate student in the Physics and Astronomy department. He earned his B.S. in Physics from the Missouri University of Science and Technology, where he worked with Dr. Yew San Hor studying topological insulators. His current work is focused on studying earth-abundant materials for use in high temperature thermoelectric generators. Outside of research Winston works at Ivy Ambitions as a high school and college tutor, and enjoys hiking, gardening, and cooking in his free time.

Research Assistant: Materials Science & Engineering

Spencer Waldrop is a 2nd year graduate student in the Materials Science and Engineering department at Michigan State University. While a first year student at MSU he joined the thermoelectrics research laboratory of Dr. Donald Morelli. Spencer's research has been focused on the synthesis and characterization of advanced thermoelectric materials for low temperature, space based, applications. Spencer holds two BS degrees in Physics and Biochemistry from Clemson University. While at Clemson he worked under Dr. Terry Tritt studying the van der Pauw method of measuring the electrical resistivity of thermoelectric materials.

Research Assistant: Materials Science & Engineering

Jared Williams is a research assistant at Michigan State University currently working on the synthesis and thermoelectric characterization of phase change materials. Before coming to Michigan State in 2013, Jared conducted research with Dr. Terry Tritt and Dr. Jian He at Clemson University. At Clemson, Jared worked on the synthesis of single crystal Al₂O₃ as well a number of thermoelectric materials including Si_xGe_1-x, the double filled skutterudite CoSb₃, and Ag₈GeTe₆. In addition to synthesis Jared assisted in the design and development of a new measurement system which utilized a van der Pauw technique for the quick electrical characterization of thermoelectric materials. Jared holds a B.S. in Physics from Clemson University and is currently a Materials Science and Engineering PhD candidate at Michigan State University.

Masters Student: Materials Science & Engineering

Jing Kong is a Master student in Materials Science major at MSU. She works on wide band gap thermoelectric materials. She also participated in APRA-E Project on Ce-based magnetics at General Motors.

Teaching Assistant: Materials Science & Engineering

Dan Weller is a materials science and engineering PhD student that began graduate studies at MSU in the fall of 2014. In 2008, he earned his black belt in Tang Soo Do martial arts and continued to instruct beginner and advanced karate classes for his local studio. This was an impactful experience that inspired him to pursue a career in education. He graduated from Saginaw Valley State University in 2014 with a double major B.S. in chemical physics and A.C.S. chemistry. In 2013, he completed his honors thesis on “Contactless Resistivity via an LC Oscillator,” and he went on to do research with scientists from Ames Laboratory and Iowa State University before pursuing a graduate degree. In particular, he is interested in devices which improve the efficiency our current energy infrastructure including thermoelectrics, photovoltaics, and superconductors.

Professorial Assistant: College of Engineering

Spencer Mather is a professorial assistant in the College of Engineering at Michigan State University. He is in his first year at university and plans on receiving a degree from the College of Engineering. He has a strong interest in the environmental applications of engineering. He is an Alumni Distinguished Scholar, as well as a member of the Honors College.