Olha Mashtalir, 38
PhD materials science and engineering ’15
Associate R&D manager, Cabot Corp. (Billerica, Massachusetts)
My Greatest Accomplishment: Thinking of my years in academia, I am really proud of my contribution into development of a new generation of electrode materials called MXenes. My findings were recognized by the Journal of Laboratory Automation as one of the Top 10 breakthroughs across various research fields for 2013. The research has been further picked up by scientific community all over the world, and the materials are now on their way to commercialization. Now, working in the industry, I am looking forward to many more opportunities to turn my ideas into the real product that average consumers can benefit from.
How Drexel Helped Me: Drexel gave me the foundational knowledge and inspiration for the trajectory of my career. I have met wonderful people and had fantastic role models to learn from and grow not only as a scientist but as a person. Drexel has also introduced me to vast diversity of people I would not have met otherwise.
My Greatest Source of Motivation: It’s my family! Building the foundation for energy sustainable world makes me feel good about my kids’ future and quality of their lives.
Where I Hope to Be in Five Years: I see myself drinking nice cup of tea and leading my research team in developing frontier energy storage technology that would make the Defense Research Projects Agency (DARPA) jealous.
If My Life Were a Music Video, the Song Would Be: “Imagine,” by John Lennon. We all hope for a better world; the tricky part is how to get there, but together we can get there, eventually.