Tanya Faltens

Tanya Faltens received her Ph.D. in Materials Science and Engineering from UCLA in 2002. While doing Postdoctoral research on bio-related nanomaterials, she became involved in developing California NanoSystems Institute(CNSI) outreach activities, also at UCLA(2003-2004.)

Dr. Faltens spent two and a half years at the Lawrence Hall of Science, UC Berkeley, developing and delivering hands-on science activities to students throughout the San Francisco Bay Area (2005-2007). She designed and taught the first LHS summer NanoCamp for high school students in 2007, and has returned in summers 2008-2010 to teach the camp again. She will be teaching this camp again in 2012.

During the academic year, Dr. Faltens teaches engineering courses at Cal Poly Pomona that include Materials Science and Engineering,Electronic Properties, Semiconductor Device Fundamentals, and the Engineering First Year Experience lecture and lab.

Her research projects include the synthesis and characterization of magnetic nanoparticles for use in wastewater remediation, and the creation of thin-film wide band-gap semicondutor structures with controlled nanoscale porosity for organic photovoltaics. One of her research students was just awarded one of 10 university-wide scholarships for her research on the magnetic nanoparticle wastewater remediation project.

Dr. Faltens uses nanoHUB.org simulations in her courses to give students a virtual lab experience where they can get a more intuitive feel for the behavior of semiconductors under different temperature and doping conditions.

In her free time, Dr. Faltens enjoys photography and yoga, and is slowly lengthening the time she can maintain a headstand, from nanoseconds to microseconds... and beyond.