Ann Chacko received her B.S. in Chemistry from the University of Texas at Dallas in May 2003. Her undergraduate research, under the guidance and supervision of Dr. Kenneth J. Balkus, was focused on the development of molecular sieve fibers of TiO2 and NbO by electrospinning. These fibers have potential application in devices for solar cells. She began her graduate studies at UTD in Fall 2003 and joined Dr. John P. Ferraris’ group working on the development of membranes for application in proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFC).

Von Howard Ebron received a B.S. in Chemistry in 1993 from the University of the Philippines Los Baños and later worked as a Chemist at San Miguel Packaging Products, Philippines. He then obtained a Ph.D. in Chemistry from the University of Texas at Dallas in 2002. Upon graduation he became a Post-Doctoral Research Associate at the Department of Chemistry and the NanoTech Institute, University of Texas at Dallas and was involved in the synthesis, characterization and fabrication of conducting polymer electrodes as well as investigating various carbon nanotube fibers, papers, and composites as electrodes in solid-state supercapacitor devices. He is currently a Research Scientist and Laboratory Manager and his research interests include fuel cell artificial muscles and energy-storage materials utilizing conducting polymer nanofibers and carbon nanotube composites.

Grace Kalaw received her Bachelor’s Degree in Chemistry from the University of the Philippines Los Baños in 2000. Immediately after, she worked for a year as a research assistant at the National Institute for Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, Los Banos, Philippines. She later worked as an instructor at the University of the Philippines Los Baños until 2004. She is currently working towards her Master’s Degree in Chemistry at the University of Texas at Dallas with her research focusing on proton exchange membranes for fuel cells.

Andrew Washington graduated with a B.S. in Chemistry from the University of Texas of the Permian Basin in 2001 and started graduate school at The University of Texas at Dallas in Spring of 2002. He received his M.S. in Chemistry in 2003 under the supervision of Dr. John P. Ferraris on conducting conjugated polymers for light emitting diode applications. He then went to MeadWestvaco for a one year internship in 2004 and worked on electrospinning polymers for paper coating applications. He is currently working on his Ph.D. degree focusing on electrospinning conducting conjugated polymers for opto-electronic devices.

Zhiwei Yang received a B.S. in Chemistry in 1993 from the University of Science and Technology of China and a M.S. in Chemistry in 1996 from Zhongshan University, and later worked as a Technical Service Engineer at Ato-Findley Adhesive Co. Ltd., Guangzhou, China. He then obtained a Ph.D. in Chemistry from the University of Texas at Dallas (UTD) in 2004. Upon graduation he became a Post-Doctoral Research Associate at the Department of Chemistry and the NanoTech Institute, UTD. His research interests include the synthesis, characterization and fabrication of novel materials for energy conversion/storage devices focusing on proton exchange membranes and fuel cells.

Danny Zepeda received his B.S. in Chemistry from the University of Texas at Dallas in 2003 and started graduate school at The University of Texas at Dallas in Fall 2003. He is currently working towards an M.S. degree focusing on the synthesis and characterization of functionalized poly-p-phenylene vinylene (PPV) di-block copolymers for optoelectronic devices.

Miaoxin (Alfred) Zhou received a B.S. in Chemistry in 1998 at the Fudan University, Shanghai, P.R. China and later worked as a Chemist at Chugoku Marine Paint (Shanghai) and Sales Representative at Nagase&Co (Shanghai). He then attended the Chemistry Dept. at the University of Texas at Dallas and obtained his master degree in 2005 under the supervision of Dr. John P. Ferraris in the research of conducting polymers (mainly ppvs). He is currently working on his Ph.D. degree focusing on functionalized conducting polymers (polyalkykthiophenes) for photovoltaic devices.