IVlai-Anh Ha 1
Mai-Anh Ha
Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, UCLA
607 Charles E. Young Drive East, Los Angeles, CA 90024
Office 3250, (310) 206-0625, mha@chem.ucla.edu
http://www.linkedin.com/pub/mai-anh-ha/4a/504/511
Education:
Graduate Student in Doctoral Program Sept. 2013 — Present
University of California, Los Angeles
Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry
607 Charles E. Young Drive East, Los Angeles, CA 90024
GPA: 3.44
B.A. in Chemistry and English Sept. 2009 — May 2013
Mount Holyoke College
50 College St., South Hadley, MA 01075
GPA: 3.77
Experience:
Theoretical Chemistry Research at UCLA June 2013 — Present
Advisor: Anastassia N. Alexandrova
Project: Realistic Modeling of Catalytic Heterogeneous lnterfaces Based on Doped Subnanoclusters of Pt
Deposited on Oxides for the Catalysis of Selective Hydrogenation
- Pth on rutile TiOz, Using Statistical Mechanical Arguments and Coulombic interactions to
Explain Resistance to Sintering in 1:1 Pt:Pd (published)
- Pt7B, Ptg on (X-Al203, lnvestigating Dehydrogenation and Resistance to Coke Deposition (in
progress)
- Bimetallic Anionic Hydrides, X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy Appearance of PdMHn' vs
PtMHn' (M=Mg, Zn, B, Al, Si) Explained Through Free Energy Activation Barriers (in progress)
- CO; reduction on anatase TiOz, with and without Oxygen vacancies (in progress)
- Attendee of institute of Pure and Applied Mathematics (lPAM), Hands-on Summer School:
Electronic Structure of Materials and (Bio)molecules July 21 — Aug. 1, 2014
Theoretical Chemistry Research at Mount Holyoke June 2012 — May 2013
Advisor: Maria A. Gomez
Funding (for the summer): HHMl #52006307
Project: A Survey of the Effect of Shape on Conductivity in Confined \X/ater Channels
- Continued alumna Lara Patel’s thesis, “Proton Conduction and Water Structure in Confined
Channels”
- Simulated meso-scale models of water-channels with channel shapes inspired by polymer proton
exchange membrane Nafion®, which is utilized in fuel cell technology
- Analyzed conductivity by applying graph theory techniques to extract hydrogen-bonded
networks.
- Poster presentation, “A Systematic Survey of the Effect of Proton Exchange Membrane Cavity
Shapes on Conductivity”
0 LEAP Symposium Oct. 12, 2012
0 Gordon Research Conference on Fuel Cell Technology Aug. 5 — Aug. 10, 2012
0 Molecular Education and Research Consortium in Undergraduate Computational Chemistry
(MERCURY) July 26 — July 28,2012
Employment:
Graduate Student Each/rig Assistant Sept. 2013 — Present
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Employer: UCLA, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry
- Classes taught: 208 (Second quarter of General Chemistry), 20L (General Chemistry Lab), 30L
(General, Organic Chemistry Lab)
Physical Chemistry Teaching Assistant Jan. 2013 — May 2013
Employer: Mount Holyoke College, Chemistry Department
Supervisor: Professor Himali Jayathilake
- \X/ill assist in "Atomic and Molecular Structure" labs during Spring Semester, which will require
advanced knowledge of Mathematica and Gaussian, use of Ultraviolet-Visible spectrophotometer
and Fourier-Transformer lnfrared Spectrometer, and set-up of a near-infrared spectrometer to
examine the underdrawings of paintings
Webmaster of Sceptical Chymist, student resources website Sept. 2011 — May 2013
Employer: Mount Holyoke College, Chemistry Department
Supervisor: Department Chair and Associate Professor Maria A. Gomez
Current URL: http://pub.mtholyoke.edu/journal/scepticalchymist
Private URL: https://sites.google.com/a/mtholyoke.edu/sceptical-chymist/
- documents and archives guest lectures and student presentations with audio recording and pic-
tures
- promotes the celebration of chemistry from the American Chemical Society's International Year
of Chemistry 2011 to student achievement
- maintains database of majors and alumnae regarding academic and occupational achievements
and interests (private to majors and alumnae)
- creates semester newsletter providing updates on department regarding faculty, students, and
alumnae (private to majors and alumnae)
- provides media representation through photo albums and RSS feeds (private to majors and
alumnae)
- maintains Molecular Modeling Lab (computer lab for Chemistry majors)
Student Manager ofAbbey Dining Hall Sept. 2010 — May 2012
Employer: Mount Holyoke College, Dining Services
Supervisor: Chef Manager CBC & Student Employment Richard Rigali
- Oversaw and trained over 60 students per year in Abbey Dining Hall in the three positions of
pots-washer, dish-room, and checker
- Scheduled work-shifts for breakfast, lunch, and dinner on a 6-day per week basis
- Handled payroll on student-workers' behalf
- \X/rote policies to increase work efficiency and occupation transparency re: mailing lists, work
substitutions, disciplinary measures
Grader for General Chemistry Sept. 2010 — Dec. 2010
Employer: Mount Holyoke College, Chemistry Department
Supervisor: Professor Himali Jayathilake
- Graded quizzes and homework problem sets of the General Chemistry class, providing helpful
comments to direct students to the appropriate sections of the their textbook and encouraging
the students to continue their good work
Affiliations:
Member of Organization for Cultural Diversity in Chemistry (OC DC) Sept. 2013 — Present
Attended meetings, volunteered for events such as all-inclusive Thanksgiving dinner introducing and
welcome international students and faculty to this holiday tradition, videography Chemistry
demonstrations for distribution to high schools and community colleges
Department of Chemistry Liaison Sept. 2011 — May 2013
IVlai-Anh Ha 3
Demonstrated academic excellence in Chemistry and displayed an interest in communicating with and
supporting Chemistry majors in their academic pursuits
- independently started Sceptica/ Chymist (http://pub.mtholyoke.edu/journal/scepticalchymist), a
student resource blog
- interviewed and evaluated candidates for professorial position in Chemistry Department
- Wrote, designed, and photographed the first department newsletter
Department of English Liaison Sept. 2011 — May 2013
Demonstrated academic excellence in English and displayed an interest in communicating with and sup-
porting English majors in their academic pursuits
- independently started English Liaisons biog (http://pub.mtholyoke.edu/journal/englishliaisons), a
student resource blog
0 documents and archives guest lectures
0 provides information on liaisons and their activities
- Organized Glascock intercollegiate Poetry Competition by serving on the student committee to
choose the Mount Holyoke poet-contestant and escorting Glascock poet-contestants during the
two-day event
- Organized annual \X/inter Social by arranging for food and speakers from amongst the faculty;
provided gifts for faculty speakers
Honors:
May 2013
Chemistry Department Book Award
Awarded at the Department’s discretion in recognition of outstanding contributions to the life and work
of the department
May 2012
Louisa Stone Stephenson Prize
Awarded annually to students in theirjunior year for excellence in chemistry as determined by GPA
November 2011
Sarah lX/i/liston Scholar
Awarded to those who placed in the top 15 percent of class by the end of sophomore year
May 2010
Merrill Prize - Freshman English
Prize for significant progress in English
Grants:
June 2012 — Aug. 2012
Howard Hughes Medical institute Summer Research Fellow, HHMl #52006307
- Funded theoretical chemistry research under Professor Maria A. Gomez
- Required mentoring of first-year Erin A. Pierce, a computer science major
Publications:
“Rutile Deposited Pt-Pd Clusters: A Hypothesis Regarding the Stability at 50/50 Ratio.” Ha, Mai-Anh:
Dadras, Jonny; Alexandrova, Anastassia. ACS Catalysis, 2014, 4, pp. 3570-3580, DOl:10.102llc55011426
Research Skills:
- familiar with HPLC, GC-MS, liquid-liquid extraction and reflux, rotary evaporation, FT-lR,
microwave synthesis, TLC, CC, fluorescence spectrophotometer, UV-VlS spectrophotometer
Mai-Ann Ha 4
- technically proficient with Mathematica. IgarPro, gnuplol‘, Gaussian, QuantumEspresso. Vienna
Ab-Initio Simulation Package (VASP). Turbomo/e, shell scriptng
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References:
Dr. Anastassia N. Alexandrova
University of California, Los Angeles
Assistant Professor of Chemistry
Office Phone: (310) 825-3769
E-mail: ana@chem.ucla.edu
Group: http://www.chem.ucla.edu/~ana/research.html
Research: multi-scale description, and design of materials: proteins, enzymes, catalytic surfaces, and
clusters; techniques includes ab initio, DFT, statistical mechanics, classical and non-adiabatic semi-classical
dynamics, and algorithms simulating artificial intelligence
Relationship: Research advisor
Dr. William Gelbart
University of California, Los Angeles
Distinguished Professor of Chemistry
Office Phone: (310) 825-2005
E-mail: wmg@chem.ucla.edu
Group: http://virus.chem.ucla.edu/gelbart
Research: statistical mechanics of complex fluids e.g., liquid crystals, critical mixtures, surfactant solutions,
nanoparticle dispersions, polyelectrolytes, and Langmuir monolayers, icosahedral symmetry in viruses,
squeezing viruses with an atomic force microscope
Relationship: professor for graduate course Statistical Mechanics
Dr. Yung-Ya Lin
University of California, Los Angeles
Associate Professor of Chemistry
Office Phone: (310) 206-2856
E-mail: yylin@chem.ucla.edu
Group: http://www.chem.ucla.edu/dept/Faculty/yylin/
Research: statistical mechanics of complex fluids e.g., liquid crystals, critical mixtures, surfactant solutions,
nanoparticle dispersions, polyelectrolytes, and Langmuir monolayers, icosahedral symmetry in viruses,
squeezing viruses with an atomic force microscope
Relationship: professor for graduate courses Quantum Chemistry