Spirit of discovery motivates Rales Fellows

Materials science and engineering master's degree students Cameron Drewery and Nisha Shah are among the inaugural cohort pursuing graduate degrees at Carnegie Mellon through the Rales Fellows Program. Launched in 2023, the program is dedicated to cultivating the next generation of science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) leaders while also increasing access to graduate-level education. Their work aims to pioneer 3D printing techniques that can aid in disaster relief and to explore new battery materials to contribute to decarbonization technologies.

Drewery aspires to use 3D printing for disaster relief

As a Hurricane Katrina survivor originally from Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Drewery recognized an opportunity to use her knowledge and future research in additive manufacturing to help families in coastal areas that are repeatedly subjected to heavy storms.

“I’ll still see roofs that have tarps on them from hurricanes that happened years and years ago,” she said. 

While earning her bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from Howard University, Drewery spent a summer as an undergraduate researcher at Florida International University that solidified her interest in applications for the industrial process.

She used a digital light processing 3D printer that combined resin with tantalum carbide, a ceramic compound, to create a small rocket nozzle. Even though it was about half the size of a person’s index finger and it took all day to print, Drewery said it inspired her to dig deeper.

“If we're able to 3D print ceramics using a variety of additive manufacturing methods, then we can print very complex geometries that could be manufactured,” Drewery said.

New innovations are already using additive manufacturing to 3D print houses using concrete but have not yet been applied to portions of existing buildings, she said.

“Why not bring that to the communities that are being battered over and over and over by these storms?” Drewery said. “That way these families don’t have to start over every time a storm hits.”

Structural components could be recreated to replace shingles or reinforce roofs, she said.

“I want to know if we can use ceramics and metals to print composite materials on exteriors of structures in hurricane-bound or tornado-bound areas to protect from projectiles and debris in high-wind environments or from flooding damaged homes,” she said. “Maybe we can strengthen these homes or improve the overall structural integrity of them.”

When searching for ways to contribute to future innovations by gaining more focused experience in the field, Drewery realized Carnegie Mellon is one of the few universities with a master’s degree program in additive manufacturing.

“With climate change, these storms are only getting more intense and we’re seeing a rise in newly constructed homes, but they’re all being constructed out of the same things they were 20 years ago,” she said. “The possibilities are endless. If I can be a pioneer in the industry, that’s something that I would love to do.”

After her participation in the fourth cohort of the Karsh STEM Scholars at Howard, Drewery said she appreciated the similarities between that program and the Rales Fellows Program, including mentoring and advising.

Combining those specific resources with the others available at Carnegie Mellon, “makes it a luxury to be a student,” she said. “There's no financial barrier, there's no administrative barrier, no academic barrier. Everything you need is right here.”

Shah hopes to make better batteries more sustainable

After graduating from the University of Pennsylvania with an undergraduate degree in materials science, Shah found out about the Rales Fellows Program when she was applying for jobs and master’s degree programs at the same time.

Shah first developed her interest in materials science taking chemistry courses, wanting to apply what she was learning to decarbonization technologies, which include renewable energy systems and sustainable transportation.

“I found myself most interested in working at the cell level of batteries,” she said. “If you think of a Tesla (electric car), you’ve got to pack a bunch of really small, cylindrical cells all stacked up in series, in parallel, and they build up a high-powered battery pack. Each of the individual cells are made of many different materials in contact with each other in varying forms and geometries, so the cells themselves have really interesting materials challenges.”

During her undergraduate degree, she interned at Vermont-based electric aviation startup Beta Technologies. Combining that experience with her introductory electrochemistry and renewable energy materials courses, Shah said the field came more into focus for her.

"I want to apply my engineering background to a career developing higher-performance battery cells,” she said. “I saw firsthand the efforts exerted by my colleagues to design around the safety and performance limitations of externally sourced cells. The introductory electrochemistry and renewable energy materials courses I’ve taken have reinforced this desire."

Now, she’s doing research alongside MSE professor Jay Whitacre, who is also jointly appointed in the Engineering and Public Policy program and is affiliated with the Wilton E. Scott Institute for Energy Innovation.

The lab works on materials and energy policy for electrochemical energy storage and generation. Specifically, Shah focuses on cobalt-free cathode materials in order to make more environmentally sustainable batteries instead of relying on the mined metal, she said.

“Taking cobalt out of the battery material while still trying to maintain cost and the same sort of performance characteristics are really important for battery development,” Shah said. “Batteries have really interesting materials challenges, because they are a stack of several different materials where all their transport and charge mechanisms interplay.”

In addition to joining Tartan Salsa, Shah said she’s been enjoying exercise classes on CMU’s campus and otherwise exploring Pittsburgh. She also volunteered with the Girls Advancing in STEM conference in November, and she wants to be sure she’s making a positive difference through outreach.

“I want what I do to have an impact on others or the climate in order to keep my motivation going,” she said.

 

Rales resources build cohort community

Drewery said so far she has enjoyed events that have helped the Rales fellows build a community outside of the classroom.

“I think the Rales staff did an amazing job picking a cohort that would mesh very well together from various demographic and academic backgrounds,” she said. “While this is still an academic program, we also find the value in hanging out in non-academic settings.”

Shah said she has enjoyed the Rales Fellows Gathering Space, a community space featuring a kitchenette, lounge and conference rooms, in the WQED building on Fifth Avenue.

“Having that as a stopping place in between the day, a place to get work done, or just sit and chat with the other fellows — school is stressful, there’s so much to do, but when you’re able to just sit together and work — those little moments have been the best ones to get to know the cohort a little deeper,” she said.