Mechanical engineering professor awarded AFRL Summer Faculty Fellowship

March 7, 2024 - by Kim Delker

photo: Sakineh Chabi

Sakineh Chabi, an assistant professor in UNM’s Department of Mechanical Engineering, has been selected for a 2024 Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) Summer Faculty Fellowship.

For the three-month fellowship, beginning in May, she will conduct work at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio. She will work with researcher Michael Snure in his lab with the AFRL Sensors Directorate. Chabi will also include one of her UNM students in the project there.

Chabi’s proposal is titled “Research on Nano-Semiconductor Heterostructures.” The research is focused on the development of two-dimensional electronic materials and their heterostructures to advance the next wave of nanoelectronics.

The work will involve developing growth, integration, and characterization methods of various 2D materials and their 2D/3D heterostructures, including 2D hexagonal boron nitride, graphene, phosphorus materials, as well as heterostructures and devices. We will investigate the effects of interlayer interactions on electronic transport and optical properties of these materials.

The ultimate goal of the work is to better understand the potential of these materials by creating new models and methods.

The U.S. Department of the Air Force Summer Faculty Fellowship Program offers hands-on exposure to Air Force research challenges through short-term residencies at participating Air Force research facilities for full-time science, mathematics and engineering faculty at U.S. colleges and universities.

The program is sponsored by the Air Force Office of Scientific Research.