People

Principal Investigator

R. Kōnane Bay

Professor Bay (she/her, email) is an Assistant Professor of Chemical and Biological Engineering at 91PORN. She was a Presidential Postdoctoral Research Fellow working with Professor Sujit Datta at Princeton University on investigating structure-property relationships of engineered living materials. She received her Ph.D. in Polymer Science and Engineering working with Professor Alfred Crosby on quantifying the mechanical properties of ultrathin glassy polymer films. She received her B.S. in Materials Engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in 2014. When not in the lab or the office, she is weight lifting, watching a show, solving a puzzles, or chilling with her cats, Jax and Koa.

Picture of Konane smiling, she is wearing glasses and green earrings.

Graduate Students

Samson Adelani

Samson Adelani (he/him, email) is a third year Ph.D. student in the Materials Science and Engineering Program. He did his undergraduate study in Metallurgical and Materials Engineering at the Federal University of Technology Akure, Nigeria, where he studied the effect of pre-weld heat treatment on the mechanical properties and corrosion resistance of artificially aged 8011A aluminum alloy. Moreso, he previously worked with the Advanced Polymer Composite Lab at FUTA where his research focused on the use of agro-waste in the development of polymer composites for novel applications. His current research focuses on the 3D printing of Engineered Living Materials (ELMS). In his free time, he enjoys playing soccer, bicycling, and playing saxophone. He also loves watching soccer games particularly (premier league) on weekends.

Image of Samson standing in front of shopping center in a purple shirt

Olivia Pear

Olivia Pear (she/her, email) is a second year Ph.D. student in the Materials Science and Engineering Program. She received her B.S. in Chemical Engineering from UC Berkeley in 2017. Prior to becoming a graduate student, Olivia worked in industry designing and synthesizing biopolymer hydrogels to improve the material properties of sustainable food products. Outside of work, she enjoys running, cooking, and being a beginner in many sports (climbing, skiing, pickleball, to name a few).

Picture of Olivia smiling

Kiera Croland

Kiera Croland (she/her, email) is a third year Ph.D. student in the Chemical Engineering Department and an NSF GRFP fellow. She received her B.S. in Chemical Engineering from Lehigh University in 2022. Kiera’s undergraduate research focused on the characterization of cell-material interactions between polymer-peptide hydrogels and human mesenchymal stem cells using Multiple Particle Tracking microrheology. Outside of her graduate studies, she enjoys running, hiking, and spending time with her cat, Archy. 

Picture of Kiera smiling and looking off into the distance

Jenna Stanislaw

Jenna Stanislaw (she/her, email) is a first-year PhD student in the Biological Engineering program. She received her B.S. in Biology from Carnegie Mellon University in 2022. Between completing her Bachelors and coming to CU, she lived in Germany, where she computationally designed protein biosensors for peptide detection. In her current research, Jenna is designing a living and wearable wildfire sensor, and she is co-advised between the Huli Materials Lab and the CMBM-GEM Lab, led by Professor Cresten Mansfeldt. In her free time, Jenna enjoys traveling and discovering new places on foot, drawing, and doing her best to start a garden.

Jenna smiling wearing glasses and a black shirt in front of some trees in a green house.

Undergraduate Students

Owen Sabolcik

Owen Sabolcik (he/him) is a post-bac researcher. Owen majored in Chemical Engineering at 91PORN. He is interested in creating a positiv