November 12th, 2024

I will deliver an invited Hard Materials Seminar at the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign on February 13th, 2025!

September 13th, 2024

The Distinguished Young Scholars Seminar Series invites top postdocs and Ph.D. students from around the country to participate in a mock faculty interview, present a one-hour research seminar, and network with students and faculty from the Department of Chemical Engineering at the University of Washington.

It is a tremendous honor to be named the winner of the 2024 DYSS Series among seven other invited faculty candidate speakers! As an electrical engineer by training, I was excited to share my research with this new engineering community and I felt consistently reassured throughout my visit that both my current research and future research vision have a place within the Chemical Engineering discipline.

University of Washington ChemE News: "Sebastian Fernández named 2024 University of Washington, Department of Chemical Engineering Distinguished Young Scholars Seminar Winner”

Stanford EE News: "Sebastian Fernández named 2024 University of Washington, Department of Chemical Engineering Distinguished Young Scholars Seminar Winner”

Winner of the 2024 UW ChemE DYSS Series, among 7 other invited faculty candidates and an applicant pool of ~100 postdoctoral fellows and Ph.D. candidates

August 13th, 2024

I had the pleasure and honor to deliver an invited department seminar within the Department of Chemical Engineering at University of Washington as part of their Distinguished Young Scholars Seminar Series! Throughout my seminar, I presented my research endeavors towards enabling emissive perovskite semiconductors in both the visible and ultraviolet spectrums for next-generation light-emitting technologies. Additionally, I also shared my efforts to enhance diversity, equity, inclusion, and access within engineering academia starting with early-stage underrepresented undergraduate students. Thank you to all the faculty members, postdocs, and students for joining me as well as the follow-up conversations with students, postdocs, and faculty members within the department of chemical engineering throughout the day! Looking forward to staying in touch and developing future collaborations!

July 29th, 2024

Rising Stars is a workshop designed for doctoral students and postdoctoral scholars who are interested in pursuing academic teaching and research careers in Materials Science and Engineering (MSE) and related interdisciplinary fields. Organized by Carnegie Mellon University (CMU), Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Stanford University, and University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) the workshop aims to expand inclusivity, access, and preparation for academic careers in MSE. The workshop will provide practical information and training about the required skill sets to become successful in academic job seeking and career development.

June 10th, 2024

The Trailblazers in Engineering Program hosted by the College of Engineering at Purdue University aims to prepare future trailblazing faculty in engineering. TBE Fellows are selected for their outstanding scholarly achievements as well as their potential to increase broadened participation in engineering. Additionally, TBE Fellows have the opportunity to network with members of Purdue's College of Engineering, meet and collaborate with program managers from the NSF, ONR, AFOSR, NIH and others, and participate in a poster session to showcase their research and teaching plans as an engineering faculty member.

One of approximately 30 selected TBE Fellows

June 5th, 2024

I had the pleasure and honor to deliver an invited department seminar within the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at Northwestern University as part of their MSE Future Leaders Seminar Series! Throughout my seminar, I presented my research endeavors towards enabling emissive perovskite semiconductors in both the visible and ultraviolet spectrums for next-generation light-emitting technologies. Additionally, I also shared my efforts to enhance diversity, equity, inclusion, and access within engineering academia starting with early-stage underrepresented undergraduate students. Thank you to all the faculty members and students for joining me as well as the follow-up conversations with MSE faculty members after the seminar! Looking forward to staying in touch and developing future collaborations!

May 23rd, 2024

The Distinguished Young Scholars Seminar (DYSS) hosted by the Department of Chemical Engineering at the University of Washington selects eight young scholars to present a one-hour department seminar, meet with University of Washington faculty members and graduate students, and visit University of Washington's campus.

One of eight department seminar speakers

April 5th, 2024

The WiscProf Future Faculty in Engineering Program aims to diversify the next generation of engineering faculty leaders by inviting selected participants to visit the College of Engineering at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and network with current engineering faculty members, deliver a research presentation to one of the departments in the College of Engineering, and learn how to best prepare for the faculty job search. 

One of approximately 30 selected participants

April 4th, 2024

Congratulations to both Will and Natalia who were awarded a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship!! 

Will is off to the the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at MIT to pursue his Ph.D. in Fall 2024!

Natalia will pursue her Ph.D. in the Department of Electrical Engineering at Stanford University in Fall 2024! She is also supported by a Stanford Graduate Fellowship and GEM Fellowship!

March 21st, 2024

As part of Stanford Engineering's Spotlight Series, I shared my story on my upbringing in Cusco, Peru and Alpharetta, Georgia, early interests in both mathematics and violin performance, developed passion for engineering research in nanotechnology and semiconductor devices, dedication to enhancing the diversity within engineering academia via my leadership of the Stanford Engineering Research Introductions Organization, and aim towards an academic career as an engineering faculty member. 

March 18th, 2024

The Department of Materials Science & Engineering at Northwestern University selects 10 early career researchers to participate in their Future Leaders Program, which aims to broaden the pipeline of diverse materials researchers by providing guidance towards pursuing academic positions. Future Leaders also deliver a department seminar as well as meet 1-on-1 with other Northwestern Materials Science & Engineering faculty members.

One of 10 invited department seminar speakers

February 15th, 2024

The Illuminating Engineering Society invited me for a Q+A interview regarding my recent work in Device. The Q+A was then published in their LD+A (Lighting Design and Application) magazine, whose audience are primarily those in the lighting community interested in next-generation lighting technology. 

September 28th, 2023

The Duke Engineering Future Faculty of Innovation and Excellence (DEFINE) Program invites outstanding young researchers who are within a year of applying for faculty positions to visit the Duke Pratt School of Engineering to learn about the faculty application process, give a lightning research talk to Duke Engineering faculty members, and receive feedback on written statements needed for faculty applications.

One of approximately 25 selected participants - 3rd Place Faculty Candidate Lightning Talk

June 23rd, 2023

NextProf Nexus is a future faculty program designed to prepare underrepresented Ph.D. students, post-docs, and recent Ph.D. graduates for faculty positions in engineering. This 3-day program is held jointly by the colleges of engineering at UC Berkeley, Georgia Tech, and the University of Michigan.

One of approximately 60 selected participants

May 9th, 2023

The Stanford DARE Fellowship is a two-year fellowship program for advanced Stanford doctoral candidates who aim to investigate and prepare for academic careers and whose presence will diversify the professoriate. 

The fellowship includes full-funding (Salary + TGR Tuition; ~$70,000/year), project + recruitment trip funding ($3000), structured course seminars in the Stanford Graduate School of Education, and personalized mentorship from an additional Stanford faculty member.

One of 24 Fellows across Stanford University

June 21st, 2022

The ACS Nano Letters Seed Grant Program seeks to build a stronger global community of talented junior researchers whose career development will have broad and substantial impact. The program is open to graduate students in their third year and beyond researching nanoscience and nanoengineering. 

My proposal is highlighted within the following Viewpoint (Nano Lett. 2022, 22, 13, 5067–5068).

One of four finalists across North America; First Stanford student to be named finalist

April 4th, 2022

The U.S. Department of Energy IBUILD Graduate Research Fellowship Program aims to strengthen the pool of well-trained, diverse graduate student scholars who are equipped for research-intensive careers in fields supporting the larger mission of building energy efficiency. 

The fellowship includes Salary ($35,000/year), Tuition ($20,000/year), Travel/Materials ($12,000/year), Health Insurance ($16,000/year), structured professional development modules, and opportunities to present at the U.S. DOE BTO Peer Review.

One of eight Fellows across the U.S.; First Stanford student to win this Fellowship