Principal Investigator
Rahul Sujanani
Assistant Professor, Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering
Email: rsujanani@wisc.edu
Office: Engineering Hall 4635
Phone: 608-263-0799
Ph.D. Chemical Engineering (2022), The University of Texas at Austin
B.S. Chemical Engineering (2016), Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Rahul Sujanani is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering at The University of Wisconsin-Madison. Rahul obtained his Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from The University of Texas at Austin, where he worked with Benny Freeman studying the fundamentals of ion and water transport in membranes for water treatment. Rahul completed a postdoctoral fellowship at The University of California, Santa Barbara, where he worked with Rachel Segalman studying ion transport in polymer electrolytes. Rahul is originally from Massachusetts and received his B.S. in Chemical Engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.
Graduate Students
Sara Parent
B.S. Chemistry and Biochemistry (2025), The College of St. Scholastica
Email: sparent3@wisc.edu
Sara is a first year PhD student in the CBE department at UW-Madison. Sara grew up in Minnesota and earned her undergraduate degrees at The College of St. Scholastica in Duluth, Minnesota. She completed a double major in Chemistry and Biochemistry with minors in Mathematics and Business, while also playing NCAA Division 3 women’s hockey. During her undergraduate studies, her research spanned polymer synthesis and modeling of protein-ligand interactions.
At UW-Madison, she is interested in researching membranes for ion-ion separations related to water treatment and critical mineral recovery.
Colton Free
B.S. Chemical Engineering (2025), Michigan Technological University
Email: cfree3@wisc.edu
Colton is a first year PhD student in the CBE department at UW-Madison. Colton grew up in Wisconsin and earned his undergraduate degree at Michigan Technological University in Houghton, Michigan, majoring in Chemical Engineering. As an undergraduate student, he worked with Professor David Shonnard on the controlled breakdown of polyolefins through pyrolysis and also completed an REU at The University of South Carolina, where he studied heterogenous polymer electrolytes. In his free time, he enjoys video games, cooking, board games, and composing music.
At UW-Madison, he is currently interested in researching membranes for electrochemical applications, including electrolysis and fuel cells.
Cade McAndrew
B.S. Chemical Engineering (2025), The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
Email: cmcandrew2@wisc.edu
Cade is a first year PhD student in the CBE department at UW-Madison. Cade grew up in Illinois and completed his B.S. in Chemical Engineering at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. There, he conducted undergraduate research with Professor. Alexa S Kuenstler, where he studied reaction kinetics and network architecture in thiol-ene photopolymerizations by leveraging stereochemistry and ene type.
Cade’s research interests include polymer science, synthesis, and characterization, as well as leveraging membrane composition for selective ion separations.