Katie Van Aken, PhD

Katie Van Aken, PhD has a diverse work experience across different industries. Katie currently holds the position of Principal R&D Engineer at Syncro Medical since January 2019. In addition, they are the Producer and Host of the Impact Factor Podcast since June 2022.

Prior to these roles, Katie held the position of Assistant Varsity Women's Soccer Coach at Haverford College starting from August 2014. Katie also co-founded Dragon Spectral in August 2017, where they worked on changing the way high-quality optical filters are used. Their work involved developing thin films of polymer and liquid crystal treated with a split laser to form reflective Bragg gratings for display and sensor applications. Katie served as a Co-Founder until December 2018.

Katie's work experience also includes being a Graduate Researcher at Drexel University from June 2012 to August 2017. During their time there, they focused on carbon materials for energy storage, specifically supercapacitors, under the supervision of Dr. Yury Gogotsi. Additionally, they held the position of Head Women's Club Soccer Coach at Drexel University from September 2012 to June 2017.

Lastly, Katie started their career as a Research Assistant at Haverford College from May 2009 to May 2012.

Katie Van Aken, PhD, completed their education with a Bachelor of Science (BS) degree in Physics from Haverford College, where they attended from 2008 to 2012. Subsequently, they pursued an advanced degree at Drexel University, specializing in Materials Engineering. During their time at Drexel, from 2012 to 2017, they successfully completed their Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) degree.