Team | Computational Materials Design Lab

Dr. Arunima K. Singh

Principal Investigator

Associate Professor, Department of Physics
Graduate Faculty, SEMTE, Materials Science and Engineering

Contact Information:
Email: [email protected]
Office: PSF 340, Department of Physics, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, USA-85287

Arunima K. Singh is an associate professor in the Department of Physics at Arizona State University (ASU) and a graduate faculty member of the Materials Science and Engineering Department at ASU. She received her doctorate in 2014 from Cornell University. Prior to joining the ASU faculty, Dr. Singh was a postdoctoral associate at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and at the National Institute of Standards and Technology. Dr. Singh is a recipient of the Department of Energy (DOE) Early Career Research Program Award and is a Thrust co-lead at ULTRA, a DOE-Energy Frontier Research Center. Her research focuses on accelerating materials discovery, synthesis, and application using first-principles computations and data science. She is particularly interested in physical phenomena occurring at surfaces and interfaces of materials.

Cody Milne

Cody L. Milne is a PhD student at Arizona State University. He graduated from Idaho State with a BS in Physics with past research experience in cosmic ray detector design and experimental neutrino physics. This experience has made him interested in pursuing computational materials science, with which he hopes to aid development of novel energy technologies. As a member of the ULTRA-EFRC and a PhD Fellow at the DEVCOM Army Research Laboratory, his work is focused on ab-initio calculations of ultra-wide bandgap semiconductors, including their alloys and interfaces, for high-power electronics applications.
In his free time, Cody enjoys spending time outdoors, weightlifting, reading sci-fi and fantasy, or playing video games.

Rachel Gorelik

Rachel is a current Ph.D. student and NSF GRFP fellow in the Materials Science and Engineering program at ASU. She joined the CMDLab in Spring 2021. Her current research interests are in developing predictive ab initio models for the passivation and electrochemical stability of materials in aqueous solutions. She received her B.S. in Materials Science and Engineering at the University of Arizona, where she graduated summa cum laude. In her free time, Rachel enjoys writing, travel, designing custom LEGO sets, and playing tennis.

Alejandro Barraza-Valdez

Alejandro will be completing his first year in the Physics PhD Program this May 2024. He obtained his bachelor’s degree in physics and biomedical engineering from The George Washington University. While working at his local utility company as a power line designer he went back to school to pursue a master’s in optical sciences from The University of Arizona. As a requirement for his degree, he completed a master thesis on analyzing the efficiency of solar-to-hydrogen utilizing a solar panel connected to an electrolyzer set up. His research experience along with his work background in the utility industry has led him to pursue the physics of novel materials with specific applications in renewable energy generation and storage. Outside of physics, he likes to keep up with the latest anime, go on hikes and bike rides, and learn new cooking recipes.