Principle Investigator
Jeffrey Sakamoto is a Professor in the Department of Materials and mechanical Engineering in the Robert Mehrabian College of Engineering at UC Santa Barbara. Prior to joining UC Santa Barbara, he was a professor at the University of Michigan (10 years) and at Michigan State University (6 years). Before transitioning to academia, he was a Senior Engineer at the California Institute of Technology, Jet Propulsion Laboratory for 7 years where he worked on the Mars Rover batteries and developed thermoelectric technology for space exploration. He earned his Ph.D. (2001) in Materials Science and Engineering from UCLA. As a mechanical engineer and materials scientist with an interest in synthesis, processing, and functionalization of advanced and state-of-the-art battery materials, his research is highly interdisciplinary guided by the fields of energy storage/conversion and transportation.
Graduate Students
Cathy Wang (2024 - Present)
Cathy is researching the development of anode-free all-solid-state batteries using NaSICON as the electrolyte.
Santiago Edinger (2024 - Present)
Santiago is researching the aqueous stability and applications of solid-ion conductors.
Seneca Stevens (2024 - Present)
Seneca is working on understanding NaSICON's mechanical properties and performance in aqueous environments.
Magdalena Ravello (2024 - Present)
Magdalena is studying the nature of interfaces that exist in polymer-ceramic solid electrolyte composites using a variety of solid-state NMR and electrochemical techniques.
Jordan Bream (2025 - Present)
Jordan is researching NaSICON's mechanical properties after novel synthesis methods and heat treatments.
Masters Students
Nate Irgang (2026 - Present)
Nate is working on thin films of LLZO.
Undergraduate Students
Egan Macleod