Elizabeth M. Y. Lee is also an assistant professor of materials science and engineering. Prior to UCI, she completed her postdoctoral work at the University of Chicago, where she developed first-principles computational frameworks with neural networks to investigate chemical bonding dynamics and equilibria in solid-state materials, including spin defects in semiconductors and metal surfaces. In her Ph.D. at MIT, she studied nanoscale energy transport phenomena in molecular semiconductors, such as colloidal quantum dots and conjugated polymers, to design next-generation photovoltaics and LEDs. Her awards include the DOE Leadership Computing Challenge Award, NSF Graduate Research Fellowship, American Institute of Chemical Engineers Electronics and Photonics Materials Award, the University of Chicago Mentoring Award and the UCI Samueli Faculty Development Chair.
In the Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Lees’ research interests lie within the broad field of computational materials and chemistry, particularly electronic and chemical processes in solid-state and nanostructured semiconductors. Her research aims to bring fundamental understanding of how the dynamical arrangement of atoms and their electronic structure impact the material-wide properties during their synthesis, processing and device operating conditions. Her current research activities focus on three areas: quantum point defects in semiconductors, solid-state interfaces in materials for energy applications, and methodological developments for materials modeling using machine learning approaches.
