Following successful defense of his thesis “Harnessing Surface Chemistry and Instabilities in Silicone Elastomers to Synthesize Adaptive Systems with Mechanically Tunable Surface Properties and Functionality,” Ali Mazaltarim was officially awarded his PhD in August of 2021! Congratulations Ali!

Ali Jamal Mazaltarim watches his doctoral hood being placed over his head. Graduate Commencement at Pinnacle Bank Arena. August 13, 2021. Photo by Craig Chandler / University Communication

Ali’s paper “Dynamic Manipulation of Droplets using Mechanically Tunable Microtextured Chemical Gradients” was published in Nature Communications. This work was featured in an invited blog post in the Nature Portfolio Chemistry Community “Stop and Go: Stretchable Tracks Direct Microdroplet Traffic,” and picked up by numerous media outlets: Nebraska Today, Phys.org, Nanowerk: “New technique acts as acclerator, brake for microscopic droplets” Congrats to Ali and his coauthors!