Aaron Peng

Aaron grew up in Alamo, CA, and received his Bachelor’s in Physics at the University of California, Santa Barbara’s College of Creative Studies in June of 2020. During this time, he designed microfluidic devices in the Theogarajan group at UCSB and characterized upconverting nanoparticles with the Bradley group while studying abroad at Trinity College, Dublin. After taking a gap year studying mouse embryonic stem cells in the Doyle group also at UCSB, he joined the de Pablo group in the fall of 2021, pivoting towards applications in sustainable energy. He is currently developing machine learning methods to design metal-free polymer batteries, drawing from experimental data, density functional theory, and molecular dynamics simulations. Outside of research, his interests include education and outreach, rock climbing, cooking, traveling, and spending time outdoors when it’s not too cold.