Principal Investigator
Peter J. Beltramo
Assistant Professor, Chemical Engineering, UMass-Amherst, 2018 – Present
B.S., University of Pennsylvania, Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, 2009
Ph.D., University of Delaware, Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, 2014
Postdoc, ETH Zürich, Soft Materials, 2017
Peter Beltramo is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Chemical Engineering at UMass Amherst. He earned a BS in Chemical Engineering from the University of Pennsylvania in 2009 and a PhD in Chemical Engineering from the University of Delaware in 2014, where he studied the electrokinetics and self-assembly of colloidal suspensions. Before starting at UMass Amherst in 2018, he completed a postdoc in Soft Materials at ETH Zurich. At UMass, his lab studies interfacial soft matter in contexts ranging from membrane biophysics and biomimetic materials to particle stabilized emulsions and ordered 2D materials. His recent recognitions include the NSF CAREER Award, ACS-PRF Doctoral New Investigator Award, and a College of Engineering Barbara H. and Joseph I. Goldstein Outstanding Junior Faculty Award and Lilly Teaching Fellowship at UMass Amherst.
Graduate Students
Md Anisur Rahman
B.S., Shahjalal University of Science and Technology (SUST), Sylhet, Bangladesh, Chemical Engineering and Polymer Science, 2015
Ph.D. student in Chemical Engineering, UMass-Amherst, 2021 – Present
Project: Capillary interactions between ellipsoids with tunable surface topography (roughness/porosity)
Wentao Zhou
B.E., Chemical Engineering and Technology, Sichuan University, 2019
M.S. in Chemical Engineering, Texas A&M University, 2023
Ph.D. student in Chemical Engineering, UMass-Amherst, 2024 – Present
Project: Engineering rough colloids for stimuli responsive emulsions and environmental remediation
Tasnia Akter Zerin
B.S., Chemical Engineering, Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology, 2025
Ph.D. student in Chemical Engineering, UMass-Amherst, 2025 – present
Project: Dynamics of active colloids on lipid bilayers
Undergraduate Students
- Roni Coskun, ChE 2026
- Imane Amizi, ChE 2027
- Joselyn Saba, ChE 2027
- Sebastian Zamarippa, ChE 2029
Group Alumni
Former Graduate Students
- Paige Liu , MS 2020, PhD 2025, Current Affiliation: Align Technology
- Shreyas Joshi, MS 2021, Current Affiliation: Amgen
- Guinevere Tillinghast, MS 2021, Current Affiliation: UMass
- Samuel Trevenen, PhD 2023, Current Affiliation: GCP Applied Technologies (Saint-Gobain)
- Heather Hamilton, PhD 2023, Current Affiliation: Mount Holyoke
- Oscar Zabala-Ferrera, PhD 2023, Current Affiliation: Moderna
- Deepa Reddy Konuganti, MS 2023, Current Affiliation: Tesla
- Omoregie Bright, MS 2024, Current Affiliation: Micron Technology
Former Undergraduate Students
- James Trottier- ChE 2021
- Lillian Kurina- Chem 2021
- Mitchell Wheeler- ChE 2020
- Zeynep Alptekin- ChE 2022
- Emma Villares- ChE 2022
- Peter Chiaravallo- ChE 2022
- Aaron-Emiliano Portillo- Holyoke CC 2022
- Zaw Htet Lin- ChE 2025
- Taina Turner- Alcorn State 2023
- April Haines- BME 2024
- Stefan Goretskiy- Holyoke CC 2023
- Nicholas Mancini- ChE 2023
- Roni Coskun- ChE 2026
- Juan Echeverri- UF 2025