IMS and Electrical Insulation Research Center Welcome Wesley Zhong

From the Institute of Materials Science

Wesley Zhong has joined the Institute of Materials Science (UConn IMS) as the new lab manager for the Electrical Insulation Research Center (EIRC). His specialties include high voltage safety, electrical insulation testing, partial discharge detection, experiment build and design, extreme environment testing, power electronics testing, technical writing, Lean Six Sigma and equipment maintenance and calibration.

Wesley earned his B.S. in Electrical and Computer Engineering Technology from Purdue University where he served as an undergraduate teaching assistant. Additionally, he served as Alpha Sigma Phi House Secretary and was a member of the Asian American Association. He worked as a dielectrics specialist at GE Global Research for the past five years designing, building, and running HV dielectric experiments involving aviation, power electronics, and motor/generators design.

Under the direction of Dr. Yang Cao, the Electrical Insulation Research Center has extensive facilities for characterizing the electrical properties of insulating materials used in electrical apparatus including distribution and transmission networks, rotating machinery component, electrostatic/electro-responsive devices, capacitive energy storage, and more.

Seth March Joins IMS as Postdoc in CAMMA Lab

From the Institute of Materials Science

Seth March (‘22) has joined the UConn/Thermo Fisher Scientific Center for Advanced Microscopy and Materials Analysis (CAMMA) laboratory at the Innovation Partnership Building (IPB) as a postdoctoral researcher.

Seth earned his Ph.D. in inorganic chemistry under the advisement of IMS Director Steven L. Suib. He served as a research assistant and a teaching assistant and has extensive research experience in materials characterization and data analysis.

Seth’s research interests include materials synthesis, characterization and gasphase catalysis. He earned his B.S. from UConn in 2017. He defended his Ph.D. thesis, Partial Oxidation of Hydrocarbons Using Metal Oxides, to complete his degree in August 2022.