Moureen Kemei

Moureen Kemei

Dr. Moureen Kemei, Ph.D., hails from Nairobi, Kenya and is passionate about enhancing education and science opportunities for the next generation. She completed her bachelor’s degree in Physics at Mount Holyoke College in 2010 studying magnetic state transitions in microrings controlled by an azimuthal field for her senior thesis under the mentorship of Professor Kathy Aidala. She went on to graduate studies in Materials Science at the University of California, Santa Barbara in the group of Professor Ram Seshadri. Her dissertation examined structure-property correlations in frustrated magnetic spinels such as ZnCr2O4 and MgCr2O4.

Her expertise is in material characterization using techniques that include high-resolution variabletemperature synchrotron x-ray diffraction, magnetometry, and magneto-capacitance measurements. Through understanding the role of structure in determining material properties, one can create functional materials by design. The American Physical Society (APS) recognized Moureen’s Ph.D. work in 2014 through the Richard L. Greene Dissertation Award in Experimental Condensed Matter or Materials Physics.

After her graduate studies, Moureen joined the research group of Professor Sossina Haile at Caltech as a Resnick Prize Postdoctoral Scholar, where she studied the local structure of solid oxide fuel cell materials to understand the role of cation-substitution in enhancing electronic and ionic mobility. She also studied solar fuel generation through the thermochemical process using the perovskites (La,Sr)MnO3-? as a catalyst. During her tenure as a post-doctoral scholar, Moureen participated in the Caltech women mentoring women program and was awarded the Dr. Candace Rypisi mentor of the year 2015 award.

In October 2015, Moureen joined Intel Corporation as a Module engineer where she is contributing to the development of next generation micro-processors in the test and reliability group. Moureen is an affiliate if the African Academy of Sciences. She enjoys participating in outreach activities that engage local education institutions.

Plenary Speaker: Saturday Jan 19, 6:00 – 8:00 pm, Campus Center Auditorium