David Murillo
MIT Department: Chemistry
Faculty Mentor: Prof. Jeremiah Johnson
Research Supervisor: Yuyan Wang and Yasmeen Shaker A Alfaraj
Undergraduate Institution: California State University, San Bernardino
Hometown: Adelanto, California
Website: LinkedIn
Biography
David Murillo is pursuing a bachelor’s degree in chemistry with a minor in physics at California State University, San Bernardino (CSUSB). He started as a transfer student at Victor Valley College and transferred to CSUSB. He works with Dr. Renwu “John” Zhang on synthesizing amorphous polymers for hydrogen storage. During this appointment, he acted as lab manager and lead research assistant. This work sparked his interest in polymers and their use to solve environmental problems. He hopes to research polymers for the fight against climate change and to improve the condition of the environment. His work in Dr. Jeremiah Johnson’s lab is towards this goal by upcycling poly(dicyclopentadiene) (pDCPD) using bifunctional silyl ether comonomer and other methods to explore ion-conduction in pDCPD. Additionally, he plans to become a professor of Chemistry to research, educate, and serve communities of underrepresented and disadvantaged students.
