This past summer, many of the QESST Scholars took short-term positions and internships in industry. Hiring companies included First Solar, Veeco, Applied Materials, and Solexel.

For example, Ph.D. students Yeongho Kim and Chaomin Zhang worked at Veeco’s facilities in Somerset, New Jersey. By meeting and interacting with Veeco’s management and technical teams, they learned first-hand what it is like to work in a commercial laboratory environment. They learned MOCVD epitaxial growth from one of the market leaders in MOCVD systems. During their time at Veeco they were able to optimize the solar cell fabrication process and help create modified solar cell structures with improved photovoltaic performance. Back on campus, Yeongho and Chaomin continue to work with Veeco on the fabrication and optimization of GaAs solar cells.