Welcoming New Faculty

Prof. Martin Trebbin

Prof. Trebbin joined the Department of Chemistry and RENEW in Fall 2018 as an Empire Innovation Assistant Professor. He earned his PhD degree in Chemistry at the University of Bayreuth in Germany in 2013 (summa cum laude), and in the following year started his independent career at the University of Hamburg in Germany in 2014 as an Assistant Professor at the Excellence Cluster “Centre of Ultrafast Imaging”. Trebbin’s expertise in chemistry includes training in physical chemistry, microfluidics, material sciences and structural biology. He has mentored young scientists from BSc to postdoctoral level in these disciplines. Trebbin’s leadership in these research areas is also recognized by the scientific community and reflected in a large number of international invited seminars.

Trebbin’s interdisciplinary research focuses on experimental methods for the generation of “molecular movies” - the time-resolved structure determination of matter on ultrafast time scales with atomistic resolution.

It is his goal to unravel the dynamics and structure-function relationship of nanomaterials, polymers and bio-macromolecules in order to design new materials and revolutionize medicine. Specifically, the Trebbin lab harnesses modern structure determination techniques in combination with state-of-the-art microfluidics. The primarily used characterization methods are X-ray scattering and diffraction at X-ray free-electron lasers and synchrotrons as well as cryo-electron microscopy. Using lithography and microfabrication techniques, the Trebbin lab creates tailored microfluidic devices that can handle the smallest fluid volumes with great control and which are optimized for the mentioned structure determination techniques. This combination does not only enable high-resolution structure determination from scarcely available materials, but it also enables the collection of high throughput and time-resolved structural data of the sample systems. Trebbin’s broad background and expertise in chemistry includes specific training in physical chemistry and structural biology which are key research areas for this research program.

Prof. Shenqiang Ren

Prof. Ren joined the Department of Chemistry in January 2019 as a Professor. He earned his PhD degree in Materials Science and Engineering at the University of Maryland College Park, and then served as a postdoctoral fellow at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. After starting his independent career at University of Kansas and Temple University, he joined UB as a Professor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering in 2018, and joined the Department of Chemistry the following year. The Ren group works at the forefront of material science and nanotechnology, including materials-by-design, synthesis and self-assembly of emerging multifunctional materials with an emphasis on novel magnetic, electronic and excitonic properties for energy-critical applications. In recognitions of his achievements, Prof. Ren received numerous

awards, including 2015 National Science Foundation – CAREER Award, 2014 Army Research Office – Young Investigator Award, 2014 RSC Emerging Investigator – Journal of Material Chemistry, 2013 NSF EPSCOR First Award, 2013 Air Force Summer Faculty Fellowship, 2012 KU New Faculty General Research Fund, 2009 China’s National Award for Outstanding Graduate Students Abroad, 2009 Dean’s Doctoral Research Award and Distinguished Doctoral Dissertation Award at University of Maryland, College Park.

The Ren group is committed to realizing their vision by focusing on three main thrusts: (1) Self-assembly of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons for unusual magnetic and electronic properties; (2) Two-dimensional organic materials for energy transduction; (3) Rare-earth-free high energy density nanomagnets. The Ren group offers research opportunities for graduate, undergraduate and visiting students and postdocs, who are interested in nanochemistry, materials science, engineering work, or a combination of these.