Alfonso Reina
Title: Assistant Professor
Department: Physics
Campus: Nanjing
Area(s) of Expertise: materials science, graphene, science education, peer instruction.
Education Credentials: Ph.D.
Joined New York Tech: 2016
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Alfonso Reina received a B.S. in Applied Physics from Tecnologico de Monterrey in 2004 and a Ph.D. in Materials Science and Engineering from Massachusetts Institute of Technology. His research as a graduate student involved the development of an industry-friendly process to fabricate graphene for electronic applications. The process has then been used to demonstrate various applications of graphene, such as solar cells, touch screens, and DNA sequencing. During his post-doctoral work at Harvard University, he researched the use of centrifugation-based density measurements to probe relevant metabolites, such as proteins, fat, and glycogen in the nematode C. elegans. His current research involves materials science, physics, and education. He is interested in finding new and simple ways to create materials with various functionalities for applications in electronics and the environment. Reina is also interested in science education in global contexts and the challenges that arise when teaching English Language Learners (ELLs). He works with undergraduate students to design computer programs that collect information on language challenges that ELL student face while watching physics video lectures. He hopes to develop new insights on students that could be applied in the science classroom with non-native speakers.
Recent Projects/Research
- Human Activity Classification by Long Short-Term Memory Algorithm
- Analyzing Student Language Obstacles from the use of Physics Video Lectures
- The Use of Peer Instruction in Physics Courses to Overcome Language Obstacles with ELL students
- Fabrication of carbon nanotube aerogels for oil absorption
- Chemical Vapor Deposition of Graphene and Integration in Si/SiO2 for Electronic Applications
Selected Publications
- P. Araujo, D. Mafra, A. Reina, Y. C. Shin, K. K. Kim, M. S. Dresselhaus, J. Kong. Single-Layer graphene growth on crystalline Ni (111) and Ni (110) and the fate of Carbon on crystalline Ni (100). Bulletin of the American Physical Society. APS. 2017.
- Reina A., Subramanian A.B., Laromaine A., Samuel A. D. T., and Whitesides, G. M. Shifts in the Distribution of Mass Densities is a Signature of Caloric Restriction in Caenorhabditis elegans. PLoS ONE, 2013, 8, e69651
- Reina, A. and Kong, J. Graphene growth by CVD. In Graphene Nanoelectronics; Murali R., Ed., Springer; New York, 2012; pp 167-204
- S. Garaj, W. Hubbard, A. Reina, J. Kong, D. Branton and J. A. Golovchenko. Graphene as a subnanometer trans-electrode membrane. Nature 467 190-193. 2010.
- Reina, A.; Jia, X.; Ho, J.; Nezich, D.; Son, H.; Bulovic, V.; Dresselhaus, M. S.; Kong, J. “Large Area, Few-Layer Graphene Films on Arbitrary Substrates by Chemical Vapor Deposition”. Nano Letters, 9, (1), 30-35 2009.
Honors & Awards
- Silver Student Award. Research in materials science. Materials Research Society (2009)
- George E. Smith Award. Best paper in IEEE Electron Device Letters (2009)
Courses Taught at New York Tech
- Foundations of the Scientific Process
- Physics 170 – Mechanics
- Physics 180 – Modern Physics