Daniel Darby

Self-starting scientist/engineer with two years of experience working as a government contractor. Passionate about solving problems, making an impact on my country's future, and helping others to be the best they can be. Strong background in polymer and materials science, PhD in chemical engineering, and a bachelors in chemistry. 

Earned BS in chemistry and PhD in chemical engineering at the University of Kentucky, where I studied mussel-inspired supramolecular hydrogels. Worked as a postdoc at Sandia National Laboratories where I studied frontal polymerization of thermosets for additive manufacturing applications. Currently working as a contractor at the Air Force Research Laboratory at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, OH where I work on scaling and implementing 2D materials to mission efforts. In every role I have developed a new understanding of a different materials class, demonstrating that I have the ability to rapidly integrate myself into efforts outside of my past experiences. 

I studied chemistry in my undergrad, achieving a bachelors in science, and chemical engineering as a graduate student, achieving my PhD. My dissertation was conducted under Dr. Jon Pham from the Materials Science and Engineering department on the mechanics and adhesion of supramolecular hydrogels. We sought to use chemistry to manipulate the mechanical and adhesive behaviors of these supramolecular networks, and built models to understand this interplay.