Board Members

2024 Board Members

James Tallman | MRS President

jamesft2@illinois.edu

James is a first-year PhD student in Materials Science and Engineering. They study the modeling of coarse-grained polymeric systems, such as the adsorption of functional polymers or hybrid lipid polymer membranes. They received their bachelor’s degree in Materials Science and Engineering from Cornell University. They are an avid movie lover, and like to run and climb. They are excited to bring some new activities and community to the MatSE community, please reach out if you have any questions or ideas!


Sunny Chen | MRS Vice-President

lcchen4@illinois.edu

Sunny is the only first-year Master student in Materials Science and Engineering on board, she’s currently in Professor Brian Cunningham’s group doing independent study, focusing on the research of lateral flow assay (LFA) biosensors with fluorescent nanoparticles. It shouldn’t really matter but she received their bachelor’s degree in Materials Science and Engineering from National Tsing Hua University in Taiwan. She is always curious and loves to try out new things, hobbies she aquired last semester were crocheting, hiking flat places, cooking with a microwave and making new friends. She also started learning Korean somehow and is doing pretty well.


Montse Solis | MRS Secretary

msolis27@illinois.edu

Montse is a first-year PhD student in Materials Science and Engineering, but she completed her undergraduate degree at UIUC in MatSE too. She studies functional materials with a focus on stimuli-responsive polymers and shape memory behavior phenomena and is co-advised by Professors Chris Evans and Sam Tawfick. She loves to read good books, go on *slow* runs, and binge sit-coms. She is motivated to foster a welcoming environment in the department and make lasting connections!


Div Chamria | MRS Treasurer

chamria2@illinois.edu

Div is a first-year PhD student in Materials Science and Engineering, and received his BA in Physics and Chemistry from Colgate University. He works on electron microscopy techniques such as 4D-STEM and ptychography and is advised by Prof. Pinshane Huang. He likes to cook, play the guitar, and watch movies. He is looking forward to working together with the MRS board and  community to organize fun (and maybe educational) events!


Julinna Villarta | MRS Social Coordinator 

julinna2@illinois.edu

Julinna is a first-year PhD student in Materials Science and Engineering, and she received her bachelor’s degree in Materials Science and Engineering from the University of Florida. She studies the characterization of cells via IR under Yingjie Zhang. She is an avid gym-goer and enjoys inline skating and climbing. She is excited to bring the MatSE community together through various social events.