Matthew J. McDermott, PhD
Postdoctoral Scholar at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
I am a Postdoctoral Scholar at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory working in Kristin Persson’s research group. I received my PhD in Materials Science & Engineering from the University of California, Berkeley (May 2023). I am originally from Austin, TX, where I attended the University of Texas, at Austin and graduated with a B.S. Mechanical Engineering (w/Highest Honors).
I research and develop algorithms for predicting and optimizing synthesis of inorganic materials. I am particularly interested in accelerating the synthesis of novel materials and making conventional materials synthesis recipes more efficient (quicker, cheaper, etc.).
You can catch me playing drums in a Berkeley-based indie rock band called Casachanclas. I also love to hike; I recently completed all 211+ miles of the John Muir Trail in August 2022 (see my blog for more info).
Feel free to reach out via email or LinkedIn if you’d like to chat!
news
| Aug 24, 2023 | I received a Poster Prize at the 2023 Accelerate Conference in Toronto! My poster covered our recent work on inorganic synthesis planning (see Publications). |
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| May 13, 2023 | I graduated and received my PhD in Materials Science & Engineering from U.C. Berkeley! |
| May 10, 2022 | I presented at the Materials Research Society (MRS) Spring Meeting 2022 in Honolulu, Hawaii. My talk was titled “Towards Materials ‘Synthesis by Design’—Assessing Selectivity of Solid-State Reactions Using Chemical Potential Differences at Interfaces”. |
| Apr 27, 2022 | I received the Birgenau Award (2021-2022) in the Department of Materials Science & Engineering at U.C. Berkeley. |
| Apr 26, 2022 | I presented a Visiting Scientist Seminar at the Department of Chemistry at Colorado State University. My talk was titled “Rationalizing the synthesis of inorganic materials with chemical potential diagrams from computed thermodynamics”. |
| Jun 4, 2021 | I successfully passed my Qualifying Exam and became a PhD Candidate! |
| Aug 22, 2018 | I began my PhD in Materials Science & Engineering at University of California, Berkeley as a member of Prof. Kristin Persson’s research group. |