Lab Members

BU undergraduate students: If you are interested in research during the summer or longer term research over the course of a few semesters, email Prof. Werner with a summary of your interests and availability.
Current BU graduate students (PhD and MS students): Email Prof. Werner with a summary of your research interests, experience, and CV.
Prospective PhD students: Apply to the Mechanical Engineering PhD program or the Materials Science and Engineering PhD program and email Prof. Werner with a brief statement on why you are interested in the lab and your academic and research background. Indicate in your PhD application your interest in the lab of Prof. Werner. We are also recruiting PhD students from the Department of Chemistry at BU.

Jörg G. Werner, PhD (jgwerner [at] bu (dot) edu) (CV)
Principal Investigator
Assistant Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering, the Division of Materials Science and Engineering, and the Department of Chemistry
Boston University

Jörg (Joerg) Werner received his Diplom in Chemistry (MS equivalent) in 2011 from the Johannes Gutenberg University in Mainz, Germany, and his PhD in 2015 from the Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology at Cornell University. At Cornell, he worked under the guidance of Prof. Uli Wiesner from the Department of Materials Science and Engineering and employed block copolymer self-assembly for the fabrication of 3-D ordered functional architectures for next-generation energy storage applications. Subsequently, Dr. Werner was a postdoctoral research fellow in the Experimental Soft Condensed Matter group of Prof. David Weitz at Harvard University from 2016 to 2019, where he developed reversibly stimuli-responsive microcapsules from complex emulsion templating in microfluidics. In January of 2020, Prof. Werner started his research group at Boston University as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering and the Division of Materials Science and Engineering. Prof. Werner has a courtesy affiliation with the Department of Chemistry since 2024.

Postdocs

Gunho Lee (glee4 [at] bu (dot) edu)
Ph.D. student in Materials Science and Engineering
Academic Background:
Ph.D. in Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, 2020, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, Republic of Korea
M.S. in Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, 2016, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, Republic of Korea
B.S. in Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, 2014, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, Republic of Korea
Research Background:
Interplay between soft materials and their optical properties. For his Ph.D. research, Dr. Lee developed hierarchical architectures created through colloidal assembly and also studied functional polymers to design polymer networks and crosslinking systems in chemical industry.
Research Interests:
Electrochemical reduction of CO2 to value-added products with a focus on the impact of hierarchical electrode architectures and interphases.

Graduate Students

Wenlu Wang (wwang623 [at] bu (dot) edu)
Ph.D. student in Materials Science and Engineering
Academic Background:
B.S. in Chemical Engineering, 2017, Sichuan University, Sichuan, China
M.S. in Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering, 2019, Johns Hopkins University, MD
Research Background:
Hydrogel fabrication with visible light photoinitiators; diffusion-reaction and photo-uncaging reaction in photolithography patterned hydrogel; hydrogel modification for cell culture; growth factor inhibition in bovine cartilage.
Research Interests:
Stimuli-responsive polymeric materials and their potential applications; microfluidic device design and fabrication.

Anton Resing (aresing [at] bu (dot) edu)
Ph.D. student in Materials Science and Engineering
Academic Background:
B.S. in Materials Science, 2019, University of Washington, WA
Research Background:
Anton has previously studied crystallization and morphology resulting from varied processing techniques and polymer characteristics to elucidate structure-property relationships in nanowires and organic photovoltaics. Additionally, he has experience studying lignin absorption in highly engineered carbon black to direct further battery optimization.
Research Interests:
Anton is eager to combine his experience with polymers, energy storage and nanoscale morphologies to investigate mesostructured solid-state batteries. He is excited to be working on the edge of applied and fundamental science to drive novel advances in energy storage, a key attribute in the transition to a fully renewable power grid.

Yuanzhi Li (tigerlee [at] bu (dot) edu)
Ph.D. student in Mechanical Engineering
Academic Background:
B.S. in Energy & Power Engineering, 2020, NCEPU, Beijing, China
Research Background:
Yuanzhi has previously done soft matter research with double & triple emulsion drops via droplet microfluidics to make asymmetric vesicles to mimic cell membranes. In addition, Yuanzhi has experience in energy conversion research on methanol steam reforming.
Research Interests:
Yuanzhi is interested in soft materials synthesis and self-assembly including block copolymers, their characteristics and applications in soft templating & energy storage. He is also interested in bio-related interdisciplinary research such as drug delivery and protein separation. Yuanzhi is eager to be an engineer as well as a chemist.

Zhaoyi Zheng (zhaoyiz [at] bu (dot) edu)
Ph.D. student in Materials Science and Engineering
Academic Background:
B.S. in Applied Chemistry, 2018, Kunming University of Science and Technology
M.S. in Applied Chemistry and Physics, 2021, Kunming University of Science and Technology
M.S. in Materials Science and Engineering, 2023, Boston University
Research Background:
Zhaoyi has research experience in organic synthesis and electrochemical analysis: 1) the decarboxylation coupling reaction of 1-p-phenylmethyl-1,2,3-triazole-4-carboxylic acid and 2) investigation the localized electrochemical reactivity on PbO₂ electrode using SECM.
Research Interests:
Zhaoyi has a passion for the synthesis and fabrication of materials for energy and sustainability technologies. He believes the advancement of novel functional materials can address the energy and environmental challenges our society faces.

Jin Yan (jin2024 [at] bu (dot) edu)
Ph.D. student in Materials Science and Engineering
Academic Background:
M.S. in Materials Science and Engineering, 2024, UCAS, Beijing, China
B.S. in Materials Science and Engineering, 2021, USTB, Beijing, China
Research Background:
Jin has previously focused on the development of MXene-anchored structures for solar steam generation, the synthesis of sulfide solid electrolytes with tailored particle sizes for ASSLBs, and the fabrication of microstructured medical flexible electrodes.
Research Interests:
Jin is interested in designing multiscale material structures to advance clean energy and sustainability technologies. Her current work focuses on the fabrication of functional thin polymer films and the development of surface modification strategies.

Brendon Jaeger (bjaeger1 [at] bu (dot) edu)
Ph.D. Student in Material Science and Engineering
Academic Background:
B.S. in Chemistry Materials, 2024, Binghamton University, NY
Research Background:
Brendon has a background in battery research, specifically in lithium-ion battery alternatives. He has worked on layered-cathodes materials for sodium and calcium ion batteries, improving material synthesis along with improving battery performance through the use of doping and the pillaring effect.
Research Interest:
Brendon is interested in improving energy storage in the field of batteries to help alleviate environmental concerns. His work currently involves the synthesis of batteries with low tortuosity channels to facilitate mass transfer.

Master Students

Tyler Critz (MSE ’26)
Academic Background:
B.S. in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, 2024, Boston University, MA
Research interest:
Energy-efficient carbon capture and conversion

Jianyu Wu (MSE ’26)
Academic Background:
B.E. in Polymer Materials and Chemistry, 2023, University of Science and Technology of China
Research interest:
Block copolymer gels and in-gel

Colin Howard (MSE ’26)
Academic Background:
B.A./M.S. in Chemistry, 2025, Clark University, Worcester MA
Research interest:
Electrodeposition of polymer networks

Undergraduate Students

Aldiyar Tuktin (Chem/Phys ’27)
Research Interests: Hierarchical carbon sorbent materials from phase inversion

Alumni:

Leensyn Rivera Asmen (ME ’26)
Research project (2024-2025): Electrodeposition of polymer networks for ultrathin coatings

Amira Oladokun (CHEM BS ’25)
Research project (2023-2025): Accessible electrodeposition of polymer networks for functional coatings from random copolymers

Greg Robben (MSE MS ’25)
Research project (2023-2025): High-throughput and autonomous electrodeposition of multifunctional polymer thin films

Karl Valter (MSE MS ’25)
Research project (2024-2025): In-situ and in-silico studies of the electrodeposition of polymer networks

Zhang Wu (SEAS Harvard Ph.D. ’24)
Research project (2021-2024): Dynamic and stimuli-responsive microcapsules from complex emulsions

Mariam Dobosz (MSE MS ’24)
Research project (2023-2024): Phase inversion processing to fabricate porous electrode architectures for advanced lithium batteries

Ruiyang Chen (MSE MS ’24)
Research project: Tunable electrodeposition of reactive polymer networks as conformal thin films

Harrison Peairs (BME ’24)
Project (2023): Swelling of self-assembled and crosslinked nanostructured block copolymers

Nashr El Auliya (ME ’24)
Project (2022): Swelling of self-assembled and crosslinked block copolymer nanostructured materials

Chase Fukuda (ME ’24)
Project (2021-2022): Hybrid inorganic phase inversion for bottom-up architected battery electrodes

Old group pictures:

Group Bowling Spring 2024

Group Lunch Fall 2023

SMART Supergroup Collaborative BBQ in Summer 2023