Foundry Fireside is the Molecular Foundry’s video series featuring informal conversations with Foundry staff and postdocs about their recent and/or ongoing research. In a casual Zoom setting, they break down the basics of what they’re studying and share with us why they think it’s cool, what they think is exciting, and what they hope for in the future.
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Season 3
Semiconductors: Lighting the Way to Advanced Energy Solutions – A Chat with Raphael Moral
Crafting a Future of Sustainable Precision for Biological Testing
From Data to Discovery: Machine Learning’s Insight into the World of Topological Amorphous Materials
From Waste to Worth: The Recyclable Plastic Revolution
Free Electrons in Focus: Quantum Insights with Alexander Stibor
Season 2
A Chat with Tim Kodalle
Foundry Postdoctoral Researcher Tim Kodalle joins us to talk about his work studying the layered materials inside tandem photovoltaic cells.
A Chat with Katherine Sytwu
Foundry Postdoctoral Researcher Katherine Sytwu joins us to talk about her work using artificial intelligence to speed up TEM image analysis.
A Chat with John Thomas
Foundry Postdoctoral Researcher John Thomas joins us to talk about his work looking for novel defects in 2D materials that could be used for Quantum Information Science as well as how they harness artificial intelligence to automate the microscope.
A Chat with Alex Lin
Foundry Postdoctoral Researcher Alex Lin joins us to talk about his work understanding the structure and properties of biomaterials.
A Chat with Sean Mills
Foundry Postdoctoral Researcher Sean Mills joins us to talk about his work using TEM to study the mechanisms behind corrosion and irradiation that occur in materials used in nuclear reactors and other harsh environments.
Season 1
A Chat with Archana Raja
Archana Raja joins us to talk about her work making tiny atomic semiconductor sandwiches (or how she can manipulate the band gap of materials to control their properties). She also shares details about the lab she’s building and how the new equipment will enable her research and her collaborations with Foundry users.
A Chat with Emory Chan
Emory Chan joins us to talk about how he can see the invisible using avalanching nanoparticles, a type of ‘upconverting nanoparticle’ that can take invisible infrared light and turn it into visible light. He also shares details about the specialized robots he uses to rapidly discover and optimize nanoparticles as well as how they enable collaborations with Foundry users.
A Chat with Sinéad Griffin
Sinéad Griffin joins us to talk about her work as a theorist. She explains how quantum systems work, why they’re appealing for computing, and how her search for dark matter is related to quantum materials.
A Chat with Peter Ercius
Peter Ercius joins us to talk about two of his latest discoveries using the Foundry’s powerful TEAM microscopes – the first ever 3D image of the atoms in an amorphous solid, and the first ‘movie’ showing how atoms come together during nucleation. He also chats about why we need this kind of fundamental understanding in order to build new materials and material systems.
A Chat with Corie Ralston
Corie Ralston joins us to talk about her work with proteins – nature’s machinery – and explains her technique called ‘X-Ray Footprinting’ that allows her to map the actual structure of proteins without having to turn them into a crystal. She also talks about how the Foundry’s Bio facility works on issues related to sustainability.
