Jorgen Rufner

Contact: jrufner@ucdavis.edu

Educational Background:

B.S. in Chemical Engineering with materials focus, Montana State University – Bozeman, 2007

M.S. in Chemical Engineering with a minor in Materials Science, University of California, Davis, 2011

PhD in Chemical Engineering, University of California, Davis ( Dec 2014 expected)

Research:

Jorgen became a member of both Prof. Klaus Van Benthem’s Imaging Nanofunctionality and Prof. Ricardo Castro’s Nanoceramics groups in 2010. Together, they are working on understanding the process of nanoparticle sintering under an electric field along with fundamental mechanisms. The primary material system of interest is MgAl2O4 for its interesting optical properties, toughness, and high temperature thermal stability. Many techniques are utilized including in-situ Transmission Electron Microscopy to observe, in real time, the processes on the nano-scale. Electric field assisted sintering is achieved through a custom made setup to apply a non-contact electric field, i.e. no current on the sample, during thermal sintering. The resulting sample microstructure is investigated both on the meso (µm) and atomic (Å) length scales. Material phase and grain boundary characterization is investigated using experimental techniques including scanning and high resolution transmission electron microscopy, Nanodiffraction Orientation Mapping (ASTAR – NanoMEGAS), dilatometry (TMA), differential thermal and gravimetric analysis (DT/TGA), unique surface water adsorption calorimetry, x-ray powder diffraction (XRD), BET gas adsorption, and Fourier transformed infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR).

While at MSU he was a member of the High Temperature Corrosion Lab under Prof. Paul Gannon and performed research on lanthanum strontrium manganite (LSM) thin films deposited as thermal barrier coatings on stainless steel interconnects for use in solid oxide fuel cell systems.

Leadership Positions:

1) THERMEC 2013, Conference Student Organizer in Las Vegas, NV, Dec. 2013

2) Lab Safety Coordinator for van Benthem Laboratory (2011 – Present)

3) Graduate Teaching Assistant at UC Davis

4) CHMS Graduate Student Organization: GSA Representative (2011- 2012)

5) Material Research Society, UC Davis Chapter, President (2012 – 2014)