"This dissertation highlights the significance of understanding and accurately calculating thermal transport properties in various fields. Focusing on thermal transport properties, the study utilizes the opto-thermal Raman technique to investigate the thermal conductivities and interfacial thermal conductance of WSe2 and Fe:MoS2. Additionally, a novel measurement technique is introduced for precise thermal conductivity mapping." Read more...

"Nanotechnology has become a mainstay in the worlds of chemistry and biology and one platform that has been heavily utilized is the mussel inspired polymer polydopamine. Polydopamine has a unique set of characteristics which have led to its use in a wide range of applications. The primary qualities of note are the ability to coat virtually any surface and the ease with which it can be modified or functionalized. This is also the case for nanoparticle formulations of polydopamine. In this project I aimed to find methods to control the polymerization process of polydopamine in different manners. Namely, through the inclusion of compounds in the reaction mixture such as glucose or sodium tetraborate." Read more...

"The call for trustworthy AI has been a long pursuit, yet still far to reach. My thesis joins the initiative that brings three trustworthiness aspects, Accuracy, Interpretability, and Resilience (AI-R), under one umbrella. Unlike conventional approaches striving to balance AI-R aspects by sacrificing model performance for interpretability or compromising transparency for resilience, we take a unique direction and show that model interpretation helps to improve prediction quality and model resilience. Our methods advance attention mechanisms, LIME, SHAP, self-learn post-hoc explainability models, and incorporate model-intrinsic techniques into a multi-agent reinforcement learning (MARL) framework." Read more...

"As the world faces ongoing rapid changes and unforeseen crises, it is crucial to develop a comprehensive understanding of the interconnectedness of systems and the critical role of human-technology-governance interactions in shaping the resilience of complex systems. In addressing these challenges, this dissertation adopts systems thinking as its foundational approach, guiding the examination of intricate relationships and their implications to expedite digital transformation in complex healthcare systems." Read more...