Rutgers-NJEDA Clean Energy Fellowship Program: 2026-2027 Cohort

Faculty Mentor: Dr. Matthew Weber

Chaeyeong (Margo) Lee is a Ph.D. student in the Department of Communication at Rutgers University. Her research examines the intersections of emerging technologies, organizations, public policy, and public communication, focusing on energy and digital infrastructures.

Junjie Ouyang is a Ph.D. student in the Department of Chemistry at Rutgers University–Newark, working under the supervision of Professor Huixin He. His research focuses on electrochemical clean-energy conversion and the controlled generation and transport of reactive hydrogen species through nanostructured membranes. 

Mariam Mchedlidze is a fourth-year Ph.D. student in Applied Physics, working under Dr. Xuejian Wu. Her research focuses on developing a quantum gravimeter to measure gravity, gravity gradients, and gravity curvature, with potential applications in geophysical exploration, detecting near subsurface density structures more spatially accurately, hydraulic fracture network detection for hazard mitigation and leak-off control, monitoring volcanic activity, and modeling Earth’s gravitational field.  

Faculty Mentor: Dr. Ashutosh Goel

Nedgine Joseph is a Ph.D. candidate in Materials Science and Engineering at Rutgers University whose research supports clean nuclear energy through the safe immobilization of high-level radioactive waste. Her work focuses on overcoming the low solubility of molybdenum in conventional borosilicate waste glasses.

Sewwandi Kuruppu received her B.Sc. in Chemistry from the University of Colombo, Sri Lanka, in 2021, where her undergraduate research focused on functionalized silica-based nanomaterials for latent fingerprint analysis. She is currently a fifth-year Ph.D. candidate in the Waldie Lab, where her research focuses on electrochemical catalysis for sustainable energy and chemical transformations.

Xiaofeng Wu is a Ph.D. student in Computational and Integrative Biology at Rutgers University–Camden, working under the supervision of Dr. Hong Fang. With a background in Materials Science and Engineering from Rutgers University–New Brunswick, his research focuses on solid-state electrolytes for next-generation batteries beyond lithium, including potassium-, calcium-, and magnesium-based systems.