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Instructors: 

Vicki Colvin is the Kenneth S. Pitzer-Schlumberger Professor of Chemistry and Professor of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at Rice University. Most recently, she has served as the Director of the Center for Biological and Environmental Nanotechnology (CBEN), which was one of the nation's first nanoscience and engineering centers. Vicki's current research explores how nanoscale particles interact with the environment and living systems. She has received accolades for her teaching abilities including the Phi Beta Kappa's Teaching Prize (1998-1999) and the Camille Dreyfus Teacher Scholar Award (2002). In 2007, Vicki was named a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), the world's largest general scientific society, and in early 2011, she was named a Fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering. In 2012 she was recognized as one of the most highly cited researchers in the ACS journal Chemistry of Materials. She is an author on over one hundred papers and holds multiple patents in the area of nanotechnology.

Daniel Mittleman is a Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Rice University.  He is currently serving as the Director of the Richard E. Smalley Institute for Nanoscale Science and Technology, which was the world's first university-based nanotechnology institute.  Dan's research background is in ultrafast optical spectroscopy and condensed-matter physics, and his current research interests involve terahertz science and technology.  He is a Fellow of the IEEE and of the Optical Society of America.

Teaching Assistants:

Natalia Gonzalez-Pech is a PhD candidate in the Department of Chemistry in Rice University. She received her B. S. in Chemistry from the Monterrey Tech in May 2010. Her undergraduate research concentrated on projects with dendrimers, nanoparticles of ZnO and TiO₂, and solar cells. Her current work is focused in the synthesis of magnetic metal-doped iron oxide nanoparticles and their application in water processes. She received the Harry B. Weiser Award for excellence in Chemistry Teaching (2012).  Natalia also served as faculty staff for Analytical Chemistry/Instrumental Analysis in Coursera.

Gabriela Escalera is a PhD candidate from the Department of Chemistry in the Colvin Lab at Rice University. She is currently working on the synthesis of magnetic nanoparticles for use as contrast agents in the oil and gas industry. In 2011 she obtained a B.S. in Chemistry from The University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP). Previously, she worked with the environmental assessment of nanoparticles using C. Elegans as the organism model.

Daniel Garcia-Rojas is a Chemistry Ph.D. student in Rice University that currently is working in the Colvin Lab improving and characterizing the mobility of nanoparticles in down-hole conditions for oil and gas extraction. He received his B.S. in Chemistry in Monterrey Institute of Technology in Mexico. His background is in analytical chemistry, developing and validating analytical methods for specific applications.