Nick Carroll
Department of Physics

Nick Carroll is a Harvard post-doctoral fellow studying material science with a concentration on microfluidic based smart microcapsule synthesis. His interest in science and engineering began at a community college in New Mexico; upon exposure to calculus, chemistry, and physics, he decided to attend the University of New Mexico to study chemical engineering. He completed his B.S. degree in 2006, graduating summa cum laude and 1st in his class. This accomplishment is further noteworthy as Nick is the first person in his family to obtain a bachelor's degree. He began his career in scientific research through the Harvard REU program; working with Professor David Weitz's group he investigated synthesis of latex particles in anhydrous environments using droplet based microfluidics. This exposure and climatization to world-class research facilitated the decision to pursue a doctorate degree. In graduate school at UNM, Nick studied polymerization within emulsion droplet reactors for synthesis of nanoporous materials by exploiting molecular self-assembly and colloidal templating methods. In addition, he worked extensively on biopolymerization within droplets; this was accomplished by employing emulsion PCR to study mRNA splice variants in human leukemia cells. This combined work has produced numerous first-author publications in addition to multiple U.S. patent applications, one of which has recently been accepted. Upon earning his Ph.D. degree with distinction, Nick joined Professor Weitz's group at Harvard as a post-doctoral fellow. His current research focuses on fabrication of fluoropolymer- based smart capsules with a timed-release mechanism for precise control of clocking release profiles. These capsules are being developed for use in enhanced oil recovery applications; for example, to protect and deliver sensors within an oil reservoir to determine conditions at a specific location. In addition to smart materials, Nick investigates osmotically-driven flows in small microfluidic channels to better understand the mechanism plants use for transport of nutrients. This multidisciplinary work is in close collaboration with Kaare Jenson, a Harvard post-doc in Professor Holbrook's group through the MRSEC Droplet Templated Materials area. As a Latino/Native American, Nick is fully committed to the recruitment and retainment of underrepresented minorities to science; he has mentored 6 undergraduates, including 4 minorities, and has invested many hours visiting schools as part of the NSF Harvard/UNM PREM outreach program.