Hi! I'm Will

I'm a rising second-year at Northwestern UniversityNorthwestern studying materials science. I hope to utilize materials science to solve problems in the energy sector.

I'm an undergraduate researcher in the Haile Group (energy materials research lab) and education lead & payload engineer for NUSTARS (rocketry society).

Get in touch at willwang2028@u.northwestern.edu Copied!

Education

Research

I'm an undergraduate researcher in Prof. Sossina Haile's energy materials group. I'm currently investigating conductivity in Ba_3−xK_xH_x(PO₄)₂, a solid acid proton conductor with potential applications as an electrolyte in fuel cells. I recently implemented a method to accelerate electrochemical impedance spectroscopy measurement times.

I previously worked with Prof. Robert Topper at Cooper Union where I conducted density functional theory and Monte Carlo simulations of HF clusters. I also developed Lennard-Jones parameters of noble gas clusters for TransRot, a molecular simulation software.

I was part of the Stan-X molecular biology program where I developed a novel transgenic insertion of a SX4 P-element in the tapas gene of drosophila melanogaster (fruit flies).

Activities

I'm part of NUSTARS (Northwestern University Space Technology and Rocketry Society). Last year, I worked as a wind tunnel engineer where I developed testing procedures for full-scale rockets at Embry Riddle Wind Tunnel Facility, used CAD to design mounting hardware, and analyzed wind tunnel data with pandas as part of NASA's Student Launch Challenge.

I was also recently L1 certified by the National Association of Rocketry (NAR) where I built my own high powered rocket and collected flight data.

As education lead, I am currently developing the onboarding program for new members as the team transitions to the Spaceport America Cup for the 2025-2026 school year.