Hello, my name is Iva Petrovic!

I am a senior at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York.
Currently, I am looking to find an opprotunity in Materials Engineering.

My interests

I am most interested in the intersection between Materials Science and Engineering. In particular, condensed matter physics or materials synthesis are especially fascinating. I am also interested in the development of engineering processses and technological innovation related to materials, as well as renewable energies fields, especially thin-film solar cell innovation.

Recently, I've also been looking to improve my programming skills and to learn more
about the different ways I can channel my creativity with coding. As of now, I have programming experience with Python, Java, and MATLAB, and I have also conducted computational research using Linux.

To improve my programming skills, I made this website with HTML!

With my Bachelor's degree in hand soon, I am looking to find a job that will be both innovative and challenging!

Education

By December of 2021, I will have earned a B.A. in Chemistry with a minor in Physics from Cornell University. Some of the most important courses I've taken to earn my Bachelor's degree are:

- Organic Chemistry I and II
- Experimental Organic Chemistry
- Physical Chemistry
- Inorganic Chemistry
- Water Chemistry for Environmental Engineering
- Laboratory in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
- Fundamentals of Physics I and II
- Oscillations, Waves, and Quantum Physics
- Intermediate Experimental Physics
- Basics of Quantum Mechanics
- Intro to Programming with Python
- Object-Oriented Programming and Data Structures

I've also gained skills outside of the classroom setting through either independent projects or research experience.

Career Goals

As of now, I'm interested in getting industry experience and then potentially attending graduate school in the future to further my technical knowledge. I would be most passionate about a Ph.D. in fields related to Materials Science or other interdisciplinary Engineering fields involving Chemistry and Physics.

Research

Over the course of my undergraduate studies, I've conducted research in Biological Engineering, Environmental Engineering, and Materials Chemistry. I've been fortunate enough to have been able to do so in multiple laboratories, including one at the University of California at Riverside. My goal during my Bachelor studies was to work in various environments in order to both gain more clarity about my interests, as well as improve my teamwork and organization skills as I learn to adjust to each new working environment. Below are short summaries of the research I've done so far.

Atmospheric Data Research

Hess Lab

I conducted literary research on how varying environmental conditions affect the chemical composition of the atmosphere, as well as analyzed the lognormality of the distribution of atmospheric data. Following this literary research, I also computationally researched the difference in the concentration of tropospheric ozone during summer and winter seasons by writing a graphing program using Linux and Vim. The Hess Lab focuses on the development of atmospheric chemical models which could be used to interpet atmospheric measurements and therefore improve our understanding of atmospheric chemistry.

The lab's website can be found here.

Environmental Engineering Research

Reid Lab

I am developing an L-DOPA assay of oxidative activity in woodchip sequencing batch reactors to assess the effects of the bioreactor on oxidative conditions. The goal is to quantify oxidative activity in bioreactors, relate oxidative activity to carbon release rates, and assess how conditions such as an excess of Mn(II) or Fe(II) affect oxidative activities. Recently, I've started working on another assay whose aim is to spectrophotometrically detect the presence of the Mn3+-malonate complex formed by the enzymes in bioreactors that oxidize Mn(II) to Mn(III).

The lab's website can be found here.

Materials Chemistry Research

REU Internship in Feng Lab

As a student in the MacREU summer program, I worked in Dr.Feng's lab during the summer of 2021. The MacREU program was a competitive REU summer internship funded by the NSF where students worked on projects that are related to the growth and application of thin films or monolayer materials. In my case, I specifically worked on synthesis of new MOFs (metal-organic frameworks, or crystalline materials composed of metal ions that are coordinated to organic ligands with pores that have the potential to be stable enough to be refilled with other compounds) with the tris(pyridin-4-yl)amine (tpa) organic linker.

Links Regarding the REU Internship

Click here to see the research poster summarizing my work in the Feng Lab.

The lab's website can be found here.

The program's website can be found here.

My Projects


Soon, you'll be able to see some of the side projects, other than this website, that I've been working on right here.

My Extracurriculars


Some of the clubs I've been involved in during my undergraduate studies are:
1. The Language House
2. Reserve Tennis Club
3. Coffee Club
4. The European Cultural Society
5. Creme de Cornell

Get in touch

Please feel free to contact me and I will get back to you very soon!

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