1. education
2. graduate school
3. college

David Hwang
Engineering Science Building 3215E
University of California, Santa Barbara
Santa Barbara, CA 93106
engineering.ucsb.edu/∼dhwang
dhwang@engr.ucsb.edu
Education:
Ph.D. Student, Materials
University of California, Santa Barbara
Advisor: Professor Steven P. DenBaars
Solid State Lighting & Energy Electronics Center
2013 – present
B.S. Materials Science & Engineering, summa cum laude (highest honors)
Minor in Business Administration
University of Florida
2008 – 2013
Awards and Recognition:
National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Recipient
2015 – present
National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Honorable Mention
2013, 2014
UF Hall of Fame
Inducted in Spring 2012
UF Asian Pacific Islander American (APIA) Hall of Fame
Inducted in Spring 2012
Tau Beta Pi Florida Alpha Chapter
Inducted in Spring 2012
UF Adamson Scholarship
Fall 2009
Research & Professional Experience
UC Santa Barbara Santa Barbara, CA
September 2014 – present
Graduate Student Researcher with Prof. Steve DenBaars: studied photoelectrochemical (PEC) etch
mechanisms to develop a liftoff technique to transfer opto-electronic devices (e.g. light-emitting diodes)
grown on bulk GaN substrates to a foreign substrate. One use is to transfer devices to flexible polymers
to create flexible arrays of LEDs (see Patent section).
University of Florida Gainesville, FL
August 2012 – May 2013
Undergraduate Student Researcher with Prof. Kevin Jones: studied the use of carboxymethyl cellulose
as a binder for ZnS-cathodes in Li-ion batteries. The goal was to determine the reactions that occurred
with ZnS during discharging and subsequent recharging. Results included new findings regarding ZnS
behavior and summa cum laude honors designation.
University of California, Berkeley COINS REU Berkeley, CA
July 2012 – August 2012
Undergraduate Student Researcher with Prof. Ali Javey: investigated methods to create transistors
using electrically-purified, single-chirality carbon nanotubes by doing thin-film deposition and atomic
force microscopy; fabricated full-color, flexible active-matrix organic light emitting diode (AMOLED)
devices (see Publications section).
Northwestern University MRSEC REU Evanston, IL
July 2011 – August 2011
Undergraduate Student Researcher with Prof. RPH Chang: worked with transparent conducting oxides
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for plasmonic applications and developed a method to deposit a conformal layer of SiO2 on ITO
nanorods, resulting in contributions to “Infrared Plasmonics with Indium Tin-Oxide Nanorod Arrays”
in Nano Letters.
GE Aviation, Services & Repair Technology Center Cincinnati, OH
June 2011 – Aug 2011
Materials Engineer Co-Op: conducted jet engine component analysis through non-destructive examination, sectioning, metallographic/SEM evaluation, and documentation for the major engine components;
received a recognition award for launching an investigation and identifying a previously unknown distress mode in a part; and completed an After Hours Materials course to learn more about material
selection, material processes, alloys, coatings, and failure analysis with respect to jet engine components.
UF Chemistry Department Gainesville, FL
January 2009 – December 2010
Teaching Assistant: taught a discussion section as a freshman one hour a week for General Chemistry
2 under Dr. James Horvath and held weekly office hours in the Chemistry Learning Center, and 40% of
my students earned grades of A; practiced different lecture methods to increase student participation
and interest in the course.
Refereed Journal Publications:
1. C. Wang, D. Hwang, Z. Yu, K. Takei, J. Park, T. Chen, B. Ma, and A. Javey, “User-interactive
electronic skin for instantaneous pressure visualization,” Nature Materials, 12 (2013), 899 [doi] [pdf ]
Patents:
1. US Provisional Patent Application No. 62/069,644 entitled “FLEXIBLE ARRAYS OF MICRO-LEDS
USING A PHOTOELECTROCHEMICAL (PEC) LIFTOFF TECHNIQUE”
Authors: David Hwang, Nathan G. Young, Ben Yonkee, Burhan Saifaddin, Steven P. DenBaars, James
S. Speck and Shuji Nakamura
Leadership & Activities:
SASE National Conference & Career Fair 2015 Philadelphia, PA
March 2015 – Present
Advertising Subcommittee Lead : led the Advertising Subcommittee to strategize how to generate hype
and provide information to the public about the National Conference & Career Fair.
UCSB Beyond Academia Conference Santa Barbara, CA
November 2014 – present
Organizing Committee Member : planned a one-day conference for graduate students and post-docs
that strives to inform attendees of career options (within and outside of academia) and to assemble an
action plan that will guide students to prepare for their chosen career. Handled the marketing of the
conference (from website design to publicizing and advertising) and contributed to the planning of the
workshops and panels.
UCSB Chemical Sciences Student Speaker Seminar Santa Barbara, CA December 2013 – present
Organizing Committee Member : raised $250 in sponsorships from local companies and organizations
for the highest attended seminar on campus.
SASE National Marketing Committee www.saseconnect.org
July 2013 – present
Branding Coordinator : oversaw a budget of $20,000 used to manage and spread awareness of SASE’s
logo and brand; managed a team of 10-15 people to create promotional items (SASE SWAG) and
national marketing campaigns; oversaw and managed the creation of the role of regional marketing
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David Hwang
representatives (RMR); revamped the branding guidelines for the entire organization and created a
host of logo resources for users to easily access.
SASE National Human Resources www.saseconnect.org
January 2014 – March 2015
Volunteer Management Leader : created a database system that tracked all of the SASE National
volunteers; oversaw the creation of a Welcome Packetthat served as an orientation manual for new
volunteers; created and executed the first Happiness Survey to gauge the effectiveness and management
of SASE National volunteers.
SASE National Conference & Career Fair 2014 Philadelphia, PA
June 2014 – November 2014
Game Night Team Co-Lead : led the Game Night committee to plan an event that served to be a
competitive night of games between twelve SASE chapters that took place on the opening night of the
conference; wrote and developed a story that took contestants from the discovery of a treasure map
through to the eventual capture of the treasure (the theme of the night was “Quest for the Chest,”
where each game was related to the treasure hunt) conference before the event assisting the speaker
during the workshop.
Programming Subcommittee – Workshop/Panel Team Member : helped develop the programming tracks
and workshop/panel topics for the national conference; contacted potential workshop facilitators to
convince them to host a workshop at the national conference; served as a point of contact/handler for
one of the workshop speakers from communicating expectations for the conference before the event
assisting the speaker during the workshop.
UCSB Graduate Students Association Santa Barbara, CA
February 2014 – May 2014
“Excellence in Teaching” Awards Selection Committee Member : reviewed 75 applications to award
the best Teaching Assistant or Associate in one of four categories (based on college/subject areas);
streamlined and organized the review process so that all team members were able to efficiently review
applications and discuss in a group.
SASE National Conference & Career Fair 2013 Philadelphia, PA
June 2013 – November 2013
Logistics Co-Chair : planned the logistics of the 3rd National Conference, including handling food
(managed $150,000), transportation, registration, etc.
Programming Committee Member : helped plan the first annual Game Night and hosted the evening’s
events and games; handled the evaluation process for the entire conference, including creating surveys
(digital and paper) and compiling results.
UF Society of Asian Scientists and Engineers Gainesville, FL
May 2010 – May 2013
Founder/President/VP : noticed the lack of representation of Asian heritage students on the UF campus
in the engineering and scientific community and created a student organization dedicated to helping the
APA community become more prominent; premiered the first annual “Leadership in the Workforce”
Conference for Spring 2012 by working with the APIA Affairs Office at UF; led the chapter to win
various national awards, including the first National SASE Gold Chapter of the Year award (20102011); Silver Chapter of the Year award (2011-2012); and the Overall Strongest Chapter (2012-2013).
Outreach:
Solar Car Demonstration, UC Santa Barbara (Santa Barbara, CA)
S&T MESA Day (UCSB MESA, LI, NSBE)
March 7, 2015
K-12 Science Fair Judge, UC Santa Barbara (Santa Barbara, CA)
Santa Barbara County Science Fair
March 6, 2015
It’s a Materials World, McKinley Elementary School (Santa Barbara, CA)
UCSB Materials Research Laboratory
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David Hwang
Family Ultimate Science Exploration, Carpinteria Middle School (Carpinteria, CA)
UCSB California NanoSystems Institute
Nov 13, 2014
NanoDays, Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History (Santa Barbara, CA)
UCSB California NanoSystems Institute
April 6, 2014
Volunteer Judge, UC Santa Barbara (Santa Barbara, CA)
S&T MESA Day (UCSB MESA, LI, NSBE)
March 1, 2014
It’s a Materials World, Monroe Elementary School
UCSB Materials Research Laboratory
February 27, 2014
It’s a Materials World, Monte Vista Elementary School
UCSB Materials Research Laboratory
January 23, 2014
Engineering Fair, University of Florida (Gainesville, FL)
Engineers Week 2012 at UF
February 21 & 23, 2012
Engineering Fair, University of Florida (Gainesville, FL)
Engineers Week 2011 at UF
February 22-23, 2011
Please see engineering.ucsb.edu/∼dhwang for the latest version of this document, including updated
publications. Academic and professional references and a list of manuscripts in preparation are available
upon request.
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