Nicholas Casañas

From La Habra, California, Nick has always been fascinated by the building blocks of the world around us, and how simple elements can form complex systems. Nick graduated with a B.S. in Engineering from Harvey Mudd College in 2023, where he pursued undergraduate research in a variety of materials-based groups. During his time at Harvey Mudd, Nick was profoundly impacted by the passion of the faculty for teaching and learning, with his professors' mentorship and belief in him spurring him onwards to graduate school.

Nick is currently pursuing his PhD in Materials Science and Engineering as a member of Dr. Olivia Graeve’s Xtreme Materials Laboratory. He hopes to one day become a professor himself, and to make the same kinds of positive impacts on students that guided him to pursue a PhD in the first place.