OUR PEOPLE
Academic Credentials
- Ph.D., Fiber Science, Cornell University, 2016
- M.S., Fiber Science, Cornell University, 2012
- B.S., Chemical Engineering, Cornell University, 2009
Professional Honors
- NREL PVRW 2022 Outstanding Poster Award - Feb 2022
- Materials for a Sustainable Future IGERT Fellowship 2011 - 2013
- National Science Foundation EAPSI Fellowship 2011
Dr. Smith is a fiber and textile scientist who specializes in non-woven technologies and polymers used in renewable energy sources. Her research interests include the development and characterization of non-woven materials for use in high performance lithium ion batteries as well as investigation of the material reliability of photovoltaic backsheets. Dr. Smith has experience working in a start-up environment, as well as federal and academic labs. She routinely utilizes a variety of techniques for the design and characterization of polymeric materials including mechanical and thermal analysis (DMA, DSC, and TGA), microscopy (optical, SEM, TEM), and spectroscopy (FTIR, UV-Vis, and confocal fluorescence).
Before joining Ä¢¹½tv, Dr. Smith worked as a scientist for Axium Nano LLC where she developed new materials for use in lithium ion batteries. In this position, she co-led a team that designed and optimized production processes both in the lab and pilot scale and her team was able to develop a patented polymer/ceramic hybrid separator, which exceeded thermal stability and cycling performance industry standards. In addition to her startup experience, Dr. Smith worked at NIST (National Institute of Standards and Technology) as a Materials Research Engineer where she utilized accelerated weathering techniques to study the degradation of polymer back sheets used for photovoltaic modules.