Hi! I'm Will

I'm a rising second-year at Northwestern UniversityNorthwestern studying materials science. I hope to work at the intersection of materials science and mechanical engineering 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 superprotonic solid acid 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 for the NASA Student Launch Challenge. 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.

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.