Srivastava Lab
PEOPLE
Samanvaya Srivastava
Xiaodi Dai
Advait Holkar
Divya Iyer
Holly Senebandith
Fahed Albreiki
Caitlyn Fick
Andrew Kilby
Arthur Odenheimer
Zara Khan
Haleema Kashif
Vanessa Huaco
Tianyue Yu
Chad Nishimura
Lucas Willey
Peter Goh
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
Post Doctoral Scholar
Xiaodi Dai
Ph.D., Ghent University
Xiaodi is a postdoctoral scholar in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at UCLA. In his PhD, focused on to bridging knowledge gaps for alkali-activated materials (AAM) by applying experimental and theoretical methods. His Ph.D. subject is "rheology and setting behavior of alkali-activated cements." Now his research focuses on the rheology of cementitious suspension and its active control.
daixiaodi<at>g<dot>ucla<dot>edu
Graduate Students
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 Department of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering at UCLA. In the Srivastava group, she is working on fabricating upcycled organic-inorganic composites, and studying the fundamentals of polyelectrolyte complex coacervates. Outside of lab, she enjoys hiking, playing the violin, and following cricket.
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
Caitlyn Fick
B.A., Chemistry, Scripps College
M.S., Chemistry, UCLA
Caitlyn is a graduate student in the chemistry department at UCLA. Outside of lab she loves to hike, run, and be outside with her friends and family.
caitlynfick<at>g<dot>ucla<dot>edu
Andrew Kilby
B.S., Physics, Yale University
M.S., Physics, UCLA
Andrew is a graduate student in the Physics & Astronomy department at UCLA. He will be using microfluidics to make and study the properties of polyelectrolyte complex coacervates. He enjoys teaching, climbing, composing, and playing piano for his cat.
andrewkilby<at>g<dot>ucla<dot>edu
Arthur Odenheimer
B.S., Chemistry, Louisiana State University
B.M., Flute Performance, Louisiana State University
Arthur is a graduate student in the Chemistry department at UCLA working in both Srivastava Lab and the Caram Lab. His research aims at using spectroscopic methods to better understand the self-assembly and properties of polymers. In his free time, he enjoys playing the flute, video games, and sitting outside and enjoying nature.
aodenh3<at>g<dot>ucla<dot>edu
Zara Khan
B.Tech., Polymer Science and Chemical Technology, Delhi Technological University, India
Zara is a graduate student in the Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering department at UCLA. She has recently joined the Srivastava Lab. In her undergraduate studies she has worked on hydrogels and their characterization. Outside of work, she likes traveling, reading, and following tennis.
khanzara<at>ucla<dot>edu
Haleema Kashif
B.S., Chemistry, UCLA
Haleema is a graduate student in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at UCLA. Outside of the lab, she enjoys running, boxing, and capoeira.
hkashif316<at>ucla<dot>edu
Undergraduate Students
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
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
Tianyue Yu
Tianyue Yu is an undergraduate student in the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at UCLA. She is interested in studying adhesives using polyelectrolytes. In her spare time, Tianyue likes drawing, hiking, and fishing.
tianyueyu<at>ucla<dot>edu
Chad Nishimura
Chad is an undergraduate chemical engineering student at UCLA. He began working in the Srivastava lab over the summer and plans to continue through the upcoming academic year. In his spare time, Chad enjoys exploring LA, baking, and playing frisbee.
chadnishimura<at>ucla<dot>edu
Lucas Willey
Lucas Willey is an undergraduate Chemical Engineering student at UCLA from St. Louis, Missouri. When he’s not working in lab, he enjoys painting, surfing at Venice Beach, and cooking.
lwilley78<at>ucla<dot>edu
Peter Goh
Peter Goh is a UCLA Chemical Engineering Undergraduate from Singapore, intending to pursue a Geography/Environmental Science Minor. He started volunteering in the Summer of 2022 at the end of his first year. During his free time, Peter is an avid rock climber and enjoys other outdoor activities such as hiking and camping. His other hobbies include cooking and baking.
petergohrf01<at>ucla<dot>edu
Alumni
Mohammad Galadari, MS 2023, presently at ADNOC, UAE
Juan Carlos Vega-Vila, Postdoctoral Scholar (co-advised with Dante Simonetti) 2020-2023, presently an Assistant Professor at the University of Maryland
Alisa Grimm, Visiting Doctoral researcher 2023, presently a doctoral candidate at Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT).
Sharu Bhagavathi Kandy, Postdoctoral Scholar (co-advised with Gaurav Sant) 2019-2022, presently an Assistant Professor at NIT Trichy, India
Defu Li, Ph.D. 2022, presently a postdoctoral scholar at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
Fernaldy Wirawan, BS 2022, presently at BCD Bioscience
Tobias Göckler, Postdoctoral Scholar, 2021-2022, presently a postdoctoral scholar at KIT, presently at Cesra Arzneimittel GmbH & Co. KG
Shang Gao, Ph.D. 2021, presently a postdoctoral scholar at Stanford University
Matthew Salazar, BS 2021, presently a graduate student at the California Institute of Technology
Arkadeep Bhattacharya, MS 2021, presently at Intel
Vaqar Syed, MS 2020, presently at ZS Associates
Xingwu Zhou, MS 2020, presently a graduate student at the University of Michigan
Tobias Göckler, Visiting Doctoral researcher, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), 2019, presently at Cesra Arzneimittel GmbH & Co. KG
Jamie Salinger, BS 2019, presently a graduate student at Georgia Tech
Vito Canuso, BS 2019, presently at Technip Energies
John Neilsen, MS 2019, presently at Intel
Harsh Srivastav, BS 2019, presently a graduate student at UC Berkeley