Srivastava Lab
PEOPLE
Samanvaya Srivastava
B. Kollbe Ahn
Defu Li
Advait Holkar
Divya Iyer
Holly Senebandith
Fahed Albreiki
Mohammad Galadari
Vanessa Huaco
Fernaldy Wirawan
Katie Villaseñor
Principal Investigator
Samanvaya Srivastava
B.S. and M.S., Chemical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur
Ph.D., Chemical Engineering, Cornell University
Postdoc, Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering, University of Chicago
Samanvaya is an Assistant Professor in the Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at UCLA. He completed his undergraduate and master's work from the Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur and his Ph.D. with Lynden Archer from Cornell University, all in Chemical Engineering. Before coming to UCLA, he was a postdoctoral scholar with Matthew Tirrell at the Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering at the University of Chicago.
Samanvaya's research interests are in understanding the influence of intermolecular interactions on material structure and properties, with a broader aim to combine this fundamental understanding with molecular engineering and self-assembly processes to improve materials design. Samanvaya has received various awards, including the Austin Hooey Graduate Research Excellence Recognition Award at Cornell University (2013), the RSC Researcher Mobility Grant (2017), AIChE 35 under 35 (2020), and the NSF CAREER award (2020).
samsri<at>ucla<dot>edu
Visiting Research Scholar
B. Kollbe Ahn
Ph.D., Kansas State University
Postdoc, University of California, Santa Barbara
Before joining UCLA, Kollbe was a faculty member at UCSB and UCF, and has recently left his tenure-track professor position to focus on his roles at several companies located in the greater LA area as CEO, Board of Directors and Advisory Board member. He has managed several millions of dollars of multiple government/industrial R&D funds as PI, and authored numerous high-profile publications (e.g., Nature Materials, JACS, and Science) in the field of surface science and biomaterials. He is currently affiliated with UCLA and UCSB, and maintains his academic activities. His research interest is to translate the chemistry of biological organisms to synthetic materials for biomedical applications.
Graduate Students
Defu Li
B.S., Chemical Engineering, UCLA
Defu is a graduate student in the department of chemical and biomolecular engineering. His previous researches are focused on proton-exchange membrane fuel cell, synthesis of nanoscale materials, and energy conversion materials. He enjoys doing exercise and traveling.
lidefu520<at>g<dot>ucla<dot>edu
Advait Holkar
B.Tech., Chemical Engineering, IIT Delhi
Advait is a graduate student in the Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at UCLA. His research focuses on the understanding the interaction between polyelectrolytes and charged nanoparticles and investigates the structure-property relations of the resulting complexes. He enjoys listening to music and exploring different cultures.
advaitholkar<at>g<dot>ucla<dot>edu
Divya Jayaram Iyer
B.Tech., Polymer Engineering & Technology, Institute of Chemical Technology Mumbai
Divya is a graduate student in the Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering at UCLA. During her undergraduate studies, Divya worked on processing of polymer/ graphene nanocomposites and synthesis of materials from agricultural waste for application in energy storage. Apart from academics, she enjoys playing the violin, watching & playing cricket and writing articles on her blog.
divyajayaram<at>g<dot>ucla<dot>edu
Holly Senebandith
B.A., Biology, Bryn Mawr College
M.S., Biochemistry, Molecular and Structural Biology, UCLA
Holly is a graduate student in the biochemistry, molecular and structural biology program at UCLA. As a graduate student in the Srivastava Group, she is working on protein encapsulation within polyelectrolyte complex (PEC) domains. In her spare time, Holly loves traveling and is an aerial fitness enthusiast.
hollys<at>g<dot>ucla<dot>edu
Fahed Albreiki
B.S., Chemical Engineering, University of Illinois at Chicago
M.S., Chemical Engineering, University of Illinois at Chicago
Fahed is a graduate student at the Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering department at UCLA. As an undergraduate and MS student, he worked on understanding the effects of viscoelasticity on interfacial instabilities and pattern formation with a focus on purely elastic polymer solutions. He enjoys sports, art, and engaging in community-based activities.
fahedalbreiki<at>g<dot>ucla<dot>edu
Mohammad Galadari
B.S., Chemical Engineering, University of Southern California
Mohammad is a graduate student in the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at UCLA. Besides academics, he enjoys scuba diving, traveling, and collecting wristwatches.
mgaladari<at>ucla<dot>edu
Undergraduate Students
Vanessa Huaco
Vanessa is an undergraduate student at UCLA majoring in Chemical Engineering. In the future, she plans on enrolling in graduate school to pursue a doctoral degree. She began working with the Srivastava Lab through the Summer Undergraduate Research Program (SURP) and will be continuing to work with the lab this academic year. Aside from research, she enjoys baking/cooking, music, and spending time with her family.
vhuaco<at>ucla<dot>edu
Fernaldy Wirawan
Fernaldy is an undergraduate student majoring in Chemical Engineering at UCLA with a concentration in Biomolecular Engineering. In his spare time, Fernaldy enjoys hiking, sports, and is also an animal enthusiast.
fernaldy0917<at>ucla<dot>edu
Katie Villaseñor
Katie Villasenor is an undergraduate student in the Bioengineering department at UCLA. Her research within the Srivastava Lab involves the stabilization of self-assembling polyelectrolyte precipitates and coacervates with applications to pesticide and protein encapsulation. Katie’s favorite things to do outside of school are backpacking, surfing, and playing trumpet in UCLA’s Afro-Latin Jazz Band.
ktvillasenor<at>ucla<dot>edu
Alumni
Tobias Göckler, Postdoctoral Scholar, 2021-2022, currently a postdoctoral scholar at KIT
Shang Gao, Ph.D. 2021, currently a postdoctoral scholar at Stanford University
Matthew Salazar, BS 2021, currently a graduate student at the California Institute of Technology
Vaqar Syed, MS 2020, currently working at ZS Associates
Xingwu Zhou, MS 2020, currently a graduate student at the University of Michigan
Tobias Göckler, Visiting Doctoral researcher, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), 2019, currently a postdoctoral scholar at UCLA
John Neilsen, MS 2019
Harsh Srivastav, BS 2019, currently a graduate student at UC Berkeley