Jesús M. Velázquez is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Chemistry at UC Davis. He’s currently developing a research program  centered on the rational design of well-defined materials at the meso and nanoscale. The target materials have immediate applications in nanoelectronics, energy conversion devices and environmental remediation. Characterization of the physicochemical properties of these materials involves a combination of microscopy, spectroscopy, electrochemistry and synchrotron-based methods and will facilitate the development of structure—function correlations that will iteratively inform materials design. He received his B.S. in Chemistry from the University of Puerto Rico at Cayey. His doctoral degree in Chemistry was at SUNY Buffalo and he then transitioned to a Postdoctoral appointment in the Division of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering at Caltech.