Profile Details

Create Project

★★★★★

☆☆☆☆☆

USD 20 /hr

★★★★★

☆☆☆☆☆

Hire Sylvester M.

United States

USD 20 /hr

PhD. Materials engineer

Profile Summary

A PhD graduate in Materials Science and Engineering from the University of Utah with strong expertise in first-principles atomistic simulations of thermal and electronic transport in nanomaterials and heterostructures. Skilled in developing and applying numerical modeling that combines density functional theory (DFT), density functional perturbation theory (DFPT), and Boltzmann transport equation (BTE) to compute phonon and electron transport properties, including thermal conductivity, thermal boundary conductance, and thermoelectric properties. Experienced in using codes such as Quantum ESPRESSO and VASP together with Phonopy, Phono3py, and BoltzTraP2, and in automating high-performance computing (HPC) workflows with MATLAB and Linux scripting. Hands-on experimental experience using instruments such as atomic force microscopy (AFM) for mechanical and electrical measurements and using the Keithley 6430 for gas sensing/electrical conductivity measurements. Demonstrated leadership, teamwork, and student mentoring abilities.

Subject Matter Expertise

• ☆ Materials Science & Engineering
• ☆ Nanotechnology & Nanomaterials
• ☆ Carbon Materials
• ☆ Nanotechnology
• ☆ Powders & Bulk Materials
• ☆ Composite Materials
• ☆ Electronic, Optical & Magnetic Materials
• ☆ Engineering Education
• ☆ Engineering Physics
• ☆ Wave Mechanics
• ☆ Theoretical Physics
• ☆ Computational Physics
• ☆ Applied Physics
• ☆ Applied Mathematics
• ☆ Mathematical Models
• ☆ Mathematical Optimization
• ☆ Mathematics Education
• ☆ Computational Sciences
• ☆ Mathematical Physics
• ☆ Computational Mathematics
• ☆ Educational Psychology
• ☆ Education Policy
• ☆ Educational Sociology
• ☆ Educational Administration

Services

• Writing
• Research
• Consulting
• Data & AI

Writing Technical Writing, General Proofreading & Editing

Research User Research, Technology Scouting, Gap Analysis, Gray Literature Search, Scientific and Technical Research, Systematic Literature Review, Secondary Data Collection

Consulting Scientific and Technical Consulting

Data & AI Predictive Modeling, Statistical Analysis, Algorithm Design-Non ML, Algorithm Design-ML, Data Visualization

Work Experience

Research assistant

University of Utah

August 2022 - Present

Teaching

Teachers Service Commission (TSC) - Kenya

May 2013 - 2022

Education

PhD (Materials science and engineering)

University of Utah

August 2022 - Present

PhD (Physics)

Kenyatta University

June 2019 - Present

Msc (Physics)

Kenyatta University

April 2013 - December 2017

Thesis research (Physics)

Uppsala University

August 2014 - June 2015

Certifications

• Certification details not provided.

Publications

JOURNAL ARTICLE

Sylvester W. Makumi, Stefanie Haugg, Bojan Bosnjak, Robert Zierold, Robert H. Blick, Zlatan Aksamija (2024). Enhanced field emission of electrons from wrinkled graphene: A unified approach . Physical Review Applied.

Sylvester Makumi, Stefanie Haugg, Sven Velten, Robert Zierold, Zlatan Aksamija, Robert H. Blick (2024). Thermally Driven Field Emission from Zinc Oxide Wires on a Nanomembrane Used as a Detector for Time-of-Flight Mass Spectrometry . ACS Omega.

Observation of defect density dependent elastic modulus of graphene @article{10.1063/5.0157104,author={Li, Hu and Gürbüz, Emel and Haldar, Soumyajyoti and Hussain, Tanveer and Zheng, Xiaoxiao and Ye, Xiaoling and Makumi, Sylvester Wambua and Duan, Tianbo and Jafri, Syed Hassan Mujtaba and Daukiya, Lakshya and Simon, Laurent and Karton, Amir and Sanyal, Biplab and Leifer, Klaus},title={{Observation of defect density dependent elastic modulus of graphene}},journal={Applied Physics Letters},volume={123},number={5},pages={053102},year={2023},month={08},abstract={{The recent decade has witnessed a tremendous development of graphene applications in many fields; however, as one of the key considerations, the mechanical properties of graphene still remain largely unexplored. Herein, by employing focused ion beam irradiation, graphene with various defect levels is obtained and further investigated by using Raman spectroscopy and scanning tunneling microscopy. Specially, our atomic force microscopy based nanomechanical property measurement demonstrates a clear defect density dependent behavior in the elastic modulus of graphene on a substrate as the defect density is higher than a threshold value of 1012 cm−2, where a clear decay is observed in the stiffness of graphene. This defect density dependence is mainly attributed to the appearance of amorphous graphene, which is further confirmed with our molecular dynamics calculations. Therefore, our reported result provides an essential guidance to enable the rational design of graphene materials in nanodevices, especially from the perspective of mechanical properties.}},issn={0003-6951},doi={10.1063/5.0157104},url={https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0157104},eprint={https://pubs.aip.org/aip/apl/article-pdf/doi/10.1063/5.0157104/18071175/053102\_1\_5.0157104.pdf}} . Applied Physics Letters.

Hu Li, Emel Gürbüz, Soumyajyoti Haldar, Tanveer Hussain, Xiaoxiao Zheng, Xiaoling Ye, Sylvester Wambua Makumi, Tianbo Duan, Syed Hassan Mujtaba Jafri, Lakshya Daukiya, et al. (2023). Observation of defect density dependent elastic modulus of graphene . Applied Physics Letters.

Sylvester W Makumi, Daniel Bem, Nicholas Musila, Cameron Foss, Zlatan Aksamija(2023). In-plane thermoelectric properties of graphene/xBN/graphene van der Waals heterostructures . Journal of Physics: Condensed Matter. 35. (15). Microsoft.AspNetCore.Mvc.Localization.LocalizedHtmlString 155701. {IOP} Publishing

Design and Fabrication of an Electric Power Generator Prototype: The Road as a Source of Clean Energy Sylvester W. Makumi, Philiph James Kiamba, Harun Bett, Tom M. Pius "Design and Fabrication of an Electric Power Generator Prototype: The Road as a Source of Clean Energy", International Journal of Engineering Trends and Technology (IJETT), V56(1),54-61 February 2018. ISSN:2231-5381. www.ijettjournal.org. published by seventh sense research group . International Journal of Engineering Trends and Technology.

REPORT

(2015). Determination of Electrical and Gas sensitivity Properties of Graphene Sheets . Uppsala University.

(2015). NANOMECHANICAL MAPPING OF DEFECTED GRAPHENE BY MULTIMODE 8 . Uppsala University.