Yamil J. Colón, Ph.D. - Principal Investigator

Dr. Colón is Associate Professor of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at the University of Notre Dame.

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View Dr. Colón’s Google Scholar profile for a complete listing of citations and work

Graduate Students

Orlando Mendible Barreto

My research focuses on providing fundamental knowledge of the self-assembly mechanisms of metal-organic frameworks through molecular dynamics simulations and other computational tools. A more advanced understanding of these mechanisms will allow to control the process and design new high-quality materials for a wide range of applications, including gas separation/adsorption, catalysis, and energy storage.

BSc in Chemical Engineering, University of Puerto Rico, Mayagüez

Wilson Raney

My research is centered on exploring the nonlinear optical qualities of metal-organic frameworks (MOFs). Certain MOFs are known to be capable of spontaneous parametric down-conversion (SPDC), allowing for the production of entangled photon pairs. Simulating different MOF configurations enables us to draw relationships between MOF chemistry and the degree of SPDC when exposed to high-intensity light. The motivation for this work is to develop a class of candidate designer materials that can be used in various quantum optics applications.

BSc in Chemical Engineering, The University of Alabama

Fathya Salih

I study the behavior of ionic liquids under electric fields in order to design specialized solvents and separation techniques for recovering critical materials like rare earth elements. These explorations will be expedited using machine learning structure-property models trained with novel low cost techniques.

BSc in Chemical Engineering, National University of Science and Technology, Oman

MSc in Chemical Engineering, Texas A&M University at Qatar

Ashiat Bakare

My research focuses on modeling single and multicomponent adsorption in nanoporous materials, primarily Metal Organic Frameworks (MOFs), using molecular dynamics and machine learning techniques. The goal is to develop innovative machine learning techniques based on Gaussian process regression to efficiently predict adsorption across various thermodynamic feature space and MOF space.

BSc in Petroleum and Gas Engineering, University of Lagos, Nigeria

Yan Saltar

My current project consists of the design of novel porous materials such as metal organic frameworks (MOFs) and soft porous coordination polymers (SPCPs) for use in water pollutant removal.

BSc in Chemical Engineering, University of Puerto Rico, Mayagüez

Paul Amagada

My research focuses on the application of molecular simulation and machine learning to develop deep eutectic solvent (DES) electrolytes for flow battery applications. I am working on the development of active learning methods for activity coefficient prediction and solid-liquid equilibrium (SLE) phase diagram construction of DES systems. This approach minimizes experimental workload, accelerates the discovery of high-performance DES-based electrolytes, and contributes to next-generation energy storage solutions.

BSc in Oil and Gas Engineering, Kazan National Research Technological University, Russia

Fadeshola Shodipe-Dosunmu

I am working on the development of machine learning potentials for simulating deep eutectic liquids and energetic materials.

BSc in Petroleum and Gas Engineering, University of Lagos, Nigeria

Alan Arizmendi Almaraz

My research focuses on exploring the antiviral properties of chiral graphene quantum dots (GQDs) by investigating the connection between GQD chirality and interactions with lipid bilayer membranes. Specifically, we aim to paint a clearer picture of how chirality affects GQD selectivity towards the cholesterol rich nanodomains of viral envelopes, as well as the orderliness and packing of such nanodomains. This will help us in the design of GQDs as broad-spectrum antiviral agents.

BSc in Chemical Engineering, Iowa State University

Erick Gómez Pérez

My research focuses on the computational design and characterization of metal–organic frameworks (MOFs), with particular emphasis on noncentrosymmetric structures with potential nonlinear optical properties. These characteristics make MOFs promising materials for emerging quantum technologies. By establishing relationships between MOF structures and their optical properties, my work aims to guide the design of new materials for quantum applications.

BSc in Engineering Physics, Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey, México