people
Members of the Petersen Lab at USC
Principal Investigator
Thomas A. Petersen
Assistant Professor, CEE & AME, University of Southern California
Ph.D. MIT (2019) · S.M. MIT (2015) · B.S. NC State (2011)
thomasp3@usc.edu · KAP 230C
Ph.D. Students
Amirmahdi Rabiee
Ph.D. Student, 2023–present
Poromechanical network models; flow through elastic membranes; desalination and porous electrode energy storage
Pouya Golchin
Ph.D. Student, 2023–present
Brownian dynamics simulations as numerical experiments to validate cDFT theory
Tarikul Islam
Ph.D. Student, 2024–present
Fabrication of bicontinuous cement composites with multifunctional structural and electrical properties
Nusrat Jahan
Ph.D. Student, 2025–present
Dissolution and fracture of clay networks in microfluidic domains
Olesia Zelenina
Ph.D. Student, incoming Fall 2026
cDFT modeling of colloidal transport through porous media; co-advised with Prof. Felipe de Barros
M.S. Students
Fai Almulla
M.S. Student, 2025
Finite element modeling of heterogeneous elastic membranes (FEniCSx)
Undergraduate Researchers
| Name | Program | Year |
|---|---|---|
| Luke Bayliss | SURE Fellow | Summer 2025 |
| Landon Allen | CURVE Fellow | 2024–2025 |
| Jana Fladd | CURVE Fellow | 2023–2024 |
| Sophia Li | CURVE Fellow | 2023–2024 |
| Kevin Kumar | CURVE Fellow | 2023–2024 |
Interested in joining the lab? See the Join Us page.