Profile: Matthew Pelliccione is currently a Ph.D. candidate in the department of applied physics at Stanford University, supported by the Hertz, NSF, and Stanford Graduate Fellowships. Originally from Ridgefield, CT, he received his B.S. in physics and applied mathematics from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in 2006, along with a M.S. in physics in 2007.

While at RPI, Matthew's research focused on the physics of thin film deposition in the lab of Prof. Toh-Ming Lu. In particular, he investigated processes that determine the surface morphology of films that are on the order of microns thick. Controlling the characteristics of a thin film surface is important when using them in devices such as fuel cells, solar cells, and photonic crystals. He has authored a book based on this research, Evolution of Thin Film Morphology: Modeling and Simulations, to be published by Springer in late 2007.

While at Stanford, Pelliccione plans to continue research in condensed matter physics, investigating the novel physical properties of nanometer-scale structures. In his spare time, he enjoys golfing and basketball, and is a concert-trained violinist.