People

Wesley Reinhart is an Assistant Professor of Materials Science and Engineering at The Pennsylvania State University, with joint appointments in the Institute for Computational and Data Sciences and the Materials Research Institute. He earned his B.S. from the University of Minnesota Twin Cities and his Ph.D. from Princeton University as an National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate Fellow, and previously worked as a Research Scientist with Siemens Corporate Technology. At Penn State, his research group focuses on physics-grounded data representations and human-interpretable machine learning approaches to accelerate materials discovery across polymers, van der Waals materials, and structural alloys. His group's recent work leverages generative modeling, multi-modal characterization, and agentic AI systems to translate foundational data science approaches into real-world experimental realization.

• PhD (Science of Advanced Materials), Central Michigan University, MI, USA
• MSc (Theoretical Physics), African University of Science and Technology, Abuja, Nigeria
• BSc (Physics), Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Nigeria

Research interests: Machine learning to accelerate materials synthesis and characterization; machine learning and quantum mechanical methods for materials exploration

• Joined: Summer 2022
• Hometown: Ndanaku, Kwara State, Nigeria
• Favorite IDE: Jupyter
• Favorite Python packages: scikit-learn and PyTorch
• Favorite materials: 2D materials
• Favorite length scales: angstrom to microns

• PhD (Computer Science), University of South Carolina, SC, USA
• BS (Computer Science and Engineering), Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology, Bangladesh

Research interests: AI for science

• Joined: Fall 2026
• Hometown: Faridpur, Bangladesh
• Favorite IDE: Code::Blocks
• Favorite Python packages: PyTorch, PyTorch Geometric, and PyMatGen
• Favorite materials: SrTiO3
• Favorite length scale: meter
• Selected hobby: reading novels

• BS (Civil Engineering), Azad University, Iran

Research interests: Physics-based and data-driven structural health monitoring

• Co-advised by: Rebecca Napolitano (Architectural Engineering)
• Joined: Spring 2021
• Hometown: Tehran, Iran
• Favorite IDE: VSCode
• Favorite Python package: UMAP-learn
• Alter Ego: Polymath

• BS (Materials Science and Engineering), Texas A&M University, USA

Research interests: Soft matter, generative modeling, data-driven materials design

• Joined: Fall 2022
• Hometown: Owasso, Oklahoma, USA
• Favorite IDE: Spyder
• Favorite Python package: Matplotlib
• Instrument: Clarinet
• Selected hobby: Crochet

• MS (Materials Science and Engineering), Texas A&M University, USA
• BS (Environmental Engineering), Peking University, China

Research interests: Data-driven materials design

• Co-advised by: Zi-Kui Liu (Materials Science and Engineering)
• Joined: Fall 2024

• BS (Chemistry), University of Texas at Austin, USA

Research interests: Material informatics and simulations for energy materials and other sustainable applications

• Joined: Summer 2026
• Hometown: Austin, TX
• Favorite IDE: VSCode
• Favorite Python package: pandas
• Favorite chart: heatmaps
• Favorite length scale: microns

• BS (Chemical Engineering), University of Florida, USA

Research interests: Data-driven materials design and characterization, conducting polymers, fabrication of electrochemical devices

• Co-advised by: Enrique Gomez (Chemical Engineering)
• Joined: Spring 2026
• Hometown: Isla de Providencia, Colombia
• Favorite IDE: VS Code
• Favorite Python package: PyTorch
• Favorite material: Organic mixed ionic-electronic conductors (OMIECs)
• Favorite length scale: nanometers
• Selected hobby: Traveling

Research interests: Computational materials design and simulation, with a growing interest in nanotechnology and semiconductor applications

• Joined: Summer 2025
• Hometown: New Delhi, India
• Favorite IDE: VSCode
• Favorite Python package: NumPy
• Favorite length scale: nanoscale
• Selected hobby: film

• PhD (Materials Science and Engineering), Penn State, USA (2026)
• MTech (Chemical Engineering), Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras, India
• BTech (Chemical Engineering), National Institute of Technology (NIT) Srinagar, India

Research interests: Polymers, data-driven materials design, Molecular Dynamics simulation

• Joined: Fall 2021
• Hometown: Kolkata, India
• Favorite IDE: Jupyter Notebook
• Favorite Python package: pytorch
• Favorite material: polymers
• Favorite length scale: nanometers to microns

• PhD (Materials Science and Engineering), Penn State, USA (2025)
• MS (Chemistry), University College London, UK
• BS (Physical Sciences), St. Stephen's College, India

Research interests: Generative modeling, energy materials

• Joined: Fall 2020
• Hometown: Agartala, Tripura, India
• Favorite IDE: Jupyter Notebook
• Favorite Python package: pymatgen
• Favorite material: Silicon
• Favorite length scale: nanometer

• PhD (Engineering Science and Mechanics), Penn State, USA (2025)
• BS (Materials Science and Engineering), Texas A&M University, USA
• BTech (Mechanical Engineering), Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Indore, India

Research interests: Data-driven materials design, computational solid mechanics, composite materials

• Co-advised by: Christian Peco (Engineering Science and Mechanics)
• Joined: Fall 2021
• Hometown: Ghaziabad, India
• Favorite IDE: VSCode
• Favorite Python package: pandas
• Favorite length scale: microns

• PhD (Materials Science and Engineering), Penn State, USA (2025)
• MS (Mechanical Engineering), West Virginia University, USA
• BS (Mechanical Engineering), Islamic University of Technology, Bangladesh

Research interests: Scattering phenomena, physics-informed generative modeling

• Co-advised by: Rebecca Napolitano (Architectural Engineering)
• Joined: Fall 2020
• Hometown: Dhaka, Bangladesh
• Favorite IDE: PyCharm
• Favorite error message: Out of memory
• Favorite length scale: picometer to nanometer

Research interests: Materials science, machine learning, and acoustics

President of the Jam Club (improvised music) at Penn State

• Hometown: Lafayette, CO

• BS (Materials Science and Engineering), Penn State University, USA (2026)

Research interests: Machine learning and simulations for development of complex materials with energy and sustainability applications

• Joined: Fall 2022
• Hometown: San Pedro Sula, Honduras
• Favorite IDE: VSCode
• Favorite Python package: scikit-learn
• Favorite sport: soccer
• Selected hobby: reading

• BS (Materials Science and Engineering), Penn State University, USA (2023)

Research interests: Active learning, material property analysis using DFT

• Joined: Fall 2021
• Hometown: Incheon, South Korea
• Favorite IDE: Google Colab
• Favorite Python package: scipy
• Favorite material: electronic materials
• Favorite length scale: nanometer to micron

• BS (Materials Science and Engineering), Penn State University, USA (2022)

Research interests: Generative modeling, soft matter, inverse design of materials

• Joined: Fall 2020

• BS (Materials Science and Engineering), Penn State University, USA (2023)

Research interests: 2D materials, characterization, deep learning, inverse design of materials

• Joined: Spring 2022
• Hometown: Taipei, Taiwan
• Favorite IDE: Jupyter Notebook
• Favorite Python package: pytorch
• Favorite material: inorganic thin films
• Favorite length scale: nanometer

• BS (Materials Science and Engineering), Penn State University, USA (2022)

Research interests: additive manufacturing, composite materials, mechanical properties

• Joined: Fall 2020

• BS (Materials Science and Engineering), Penn State University, USA (2022)

Research interests: Nanoparticles, particle and polymer physics, biomaterials

• Joined: Fall 2020