Susan Fullerton

Susan Fullerton is an Associate Professor and Bicentennial Board of Visitors Faculty Fellow in the Department of Chemical and Petroleum Engineering at the University of Pittsburgh's Swanson School of Engineering. She also serves as Vice Chair of Education. Her research focuses on nanoionics and electronics, particularly ion transport in 2D materials and polymer electrolytes for advanced device applications. Fullerton holds a PhD from Penn State (2009) and previously served as a Research Assistant Professor at Notre Dame's Department of Electrical Engineering before founding Pitt's Nanoionics and Electronics Lab in 2015. She has received multiple prestigious awards including the NSF CAREER Award, Alfred P. Sloan Fellowship, and AAAS Marion Milligan Mason Award. Her teaching excellence was recognized with the 2018 James Pommersheim Award. Research interests include phase transitions in 2D materials, hardware security via ion-locked polymers, and sustainable polymer design.

Education:

• PhD in Chemical Engineering, Pennsylvania State University, 2009

Key Research Areas:

• Ion gating in 2D materials
• Non-volatile memory devices
• Triggerable polymer degradation
• Hardware security through ion locking
• Neuromorphic computing architectures

Awards:

• Alfred P. Sloan Research Fellowship (2020)
• AAAS Marion Milligan Mason Award (2019)
• NSF CAREER Award (2018)
• James Pommersheim Teaching Award (2018)

Fullerton's lab develops novel materials for electronics and security applications, including monolayer electrolytes and phase-change polymers. She leads efforts to improve STEM education through personalized learning models and diversity initiatives. Current projects explore ion-mediated semiconductor transitions and scalable nanomaterial fabrication techniques.

Labs/Teams: Nanoionics and Electronics Lab (established 2015), interdisciplinary collaborations in nanomaterials engineering and educational innovation.