2026 Board Members
Christopher Walsh | MRS President
ckwalsh3@illinois.edu
Christopher is a first-year PhD student at UIUC in Dr. Jessica Krogstad’s group. His work focuses on studying the corrosion mechanisms of organic acids. He received his BS in Materials Engineering with a Mathematics Minor from California Polytechnic State University San Luis Obispo in 2025. In his free time, he loves to read and paint watercolors. He is excited to bring some new activities and community to the MatSE community. Feel free to reach out if you have any questions or ideas!
Bill Huang | MRS Vice-President
yifeih4@illinois.edu
Angus Moore | MRS Academic Chair 
angusbm2@illinois.edu
Angus is a first-year PhD student in Material Science and received his BA from Purdue University in Materials Engineering with a minor in Classical Studies. He is advised by Dr. Nancy Sottos, and his research focuses on encapsulated catalysts for frontal polymerization of thermosetting resins. In his spare time, Angus enjoys running, reading, writing, and anything outside-oriented. He’s excited to meet MatSE researchers from a variety of backgrounds.
Thomas Alling | MRS Treasurer
talling2@illinois.edu
Thomas is a first year PhD student in Materials Science and Engineering, and received his bachelor’s degree from Virginia Tech. His research focuses on twinning defects and atomic order in shape memory alloys and is advised by Dr. Sehitoglu in the Mechanical Sciences department. In his spare time, Thomas enjoys weightlifting, exploring caves, and cooking. He hopes to bring the materials science community together through food, fun, and education.
Shantiv Surdarshan | MRS Social Chair
shantiv2@illinois.edu
Marcus Hui | MRS Social Chair 
mhui6@illinois.edu
Marcus is a first year MatSci PhD student working on the identification of sources and detection of two level system defects in superconducting qubit devices in Angela Kou’s lab in physics. He received his B. S. in chemical engineering from UC Berkeley. He is a fan of oranges, stew , and Moose with the Most. He is excited to directly influence the pizza toppings for MRS board game nights.
Mason Possinger | MRS Social Chair
masonp4@illinois.edu
Mason is a first year PhD student in MatSE. He is advised by Dr. Chris Evans researching alpha-helical polypeptides and their applications as ion conductors. He got his bachelor’s degree from UCLA in Materials Engineering and is still adjusting to the existence of seasons. He has met thousands of bees and spends his free time vibing to and making funky jams. He is excited to plan fun events for anyone who wants community and a break from research!