Instructor Information
Justin Barone
Justin Barone is a faculty member in the Biological Systems Engineering Department, the Center for Soft Matter and Biological Physics, and the Macromolecules Innovation Institute at Virginia Tech. His research interests are in polymer physics and mechanics, particularly as they apply to biopolymers and bioinspiration. He is the author of over 60 peer-reviewed publications and holds 2 patents that have been licensed. Professor Barone is the current Chair of the Blue Ridge Rubber Group and the Faculty Advisor to the ACS Rubber Division Student Chapter at Virginia Tech. He is the President and owner of Protein Q, Inc., a gummy candy manufacturing company, which is a delicious and fun example of an elastomer. Prior to joining Virginia Tech, he was a Research Scientist at the United States Department of Agriculture, a Research and Development Engineer at the PolyOne Corporation, and a Project Engineer at Utility Development Corporation. He received his Ph.D. in Macromolecular Science and Engineering from Case Western Reserve University in 2000, his M.S. in Engineering Science from the New Jersey Institute of Technology in 1996, and his B.S. in Materials Science and Engineering from Lehigh University in 1994.
Shengfeng Cheng
Dr. Shengfeng Cheng is an associate professor of Physics and the Director of the Center for Soft Matter and Biological Physics. Shengfeng has developed fun, educational physics activities for school age students. His research focuses on materials that can be easily deformed by pressure or temperature, including plastics, rubber, nanoparticles, and composite materials. He studies how these materials act during self-assembly, evaporation, wetting, adhesion, friction, and crumpling. He develops computational models to allow these materials and processes to be simulated on a computer. He teaches courses in polymer physics, soft matter physics, thermal physics and statistical mechanics.
Paul Deck
Paul Deck has been teaching general, organic, and inorganic chemistry (both lectures and labs), from first-year undergraduates to doctoral candidates, at Virginia Tech since 1995. He loves to share his enthusiasm for teaching and learning chemistry with students and colleagues. Paul is the author of his own lab manual and the creator of extensive web-based content for his courses.
Sandy Hancock
Sandy Hancock has managed the Fralin Life Sciences Institute Biotech-in-a-Box outreach program since September 2022. This position follows a long career in the VT College of Veterinary Medicine as a microscopist in the Laboratory for Neurotoxicity Studies and as the coordinator of the Good Laboratory Practice Program. Sandy also manages the Fralin Imaging Center, providing training and support for researchers using the Zeiss LSM 880 confocal laser scanning microscope.
Nadir Kaplan
Nadir Kaplan is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Physics at Virginia Tech. His research uses theory and simulations to study the interplay between the material composition, dynamics, form, and emergent function in living systems and their synthetic analogs. Prior to his appointment at VT, Nadir was raised in Turkey, before moving to the United States for his Ph.D. and post-doctoral work in Boston (Brandeis and Harvard). Some recurring themes in his research are geometry and mechanics; and he is passionate about conveying the visual aspects of problem solving in physics.
Tatsu Takeuchi
Tatsu Takeuchi has been teaching physics at Virginia Tech since 1997. He has taught physics at all levels, from algebra based introductory physics to graduate level quantum field theory. His book "An Illustrated Guide to Relativity" is based on his lecture notes for the course "Highlights of Contemporary Physics," and aims to explain special relativity without using ANY equations. He is currently serving as the President of the Chesapeake Section of the American Association of Physics Teachers.
Gordon Yee
Gordon Yee has been teaching general, inorganic, organic, and physical chemistry at Virginia Tech since 2001. He has published in the field of molecule-based magnets and also has two publications in the Journal of Chemical Education. He has won numerous teaching and advising awards. Dr. Yee is a lover of music and has established the Yee Prize for musical composing in honor of his late mother.