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Current NMR Lab Staff, left to right: Collete Xu, Dean Olson, Nikki Duay and Lingyang Zhu - March 2023
Photo by: Vincent Kassel
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Decades of Experience (November 2024): "The teeners, the geezers, and all the in-betweeners."
From our electrical engineer to our undergrad cryogen assistants (plus one daughter), the SCS NMR Lab family covers seven decades of experience:
Zack in his 70s, Dean in his 60s, Lingyang in her 50s, Nikki in her 40s, Collette in her 30s, Michelle and Maria in their 20s, Shanna in her teens.
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NMR Staff at SCS Holiday Party on 10 Dec 2021. Left to right: Dean Olson, Quinn Greven, Britney Naolhu, Lingyang Zhu, Nikki Duay and Andre Sutrisno.
NMR Staff Publications
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Lab Director
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Dean Olson, Ph.D.
dolson@illinois.edu
217-244-0564
146 Roger Adams Lab
Box 81-5
Responsibilities: Overall Lab Operations
Dean is originally from Saint Paul, Minnesota, USA.
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Spectroscopist
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Lingyang Zhu, Ph.D.
lingyang@illinois.edu
217-333-6283
55 Noyes Laboratory
Box 34-1
Responsibilities: Solution NMR, Computers, Software, and System Administration
Originally from Liaoning province in China, Lingyang comes to us via Colorado where she spent several years in industry before moving to Illinois.
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Spectroscopist
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Yijue (Collette) Xu, Ph.D.
yxu049@illinois.edu
217-333-2586
55 Noyes Laboratory
Box 31-1
Responsibilities: Solid-State NMR, Computers, Software, and System Administration
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Dr. Yijue (Collette) Xu is originally from Wuhan, China. She moved to Canada in 2011 for undergraduate studies at the University of Ottawa, followed by graduate school. Working with Professor David Bryce, Yijue spent most of her doctoral research developing novel, solid-state NMR methods to characterize halogen bonds in various co-crystalline compounds.
Dr. Xu then went on to a postdoctoral fellowship at the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory in Tallahassee, Florida, which has the strongest NMR spectrometer in the world (1500 MHz, 36 Tesla). At NHMFL, she helped with experimental set-ups and instrument maintenance for internal and external users of the 36 T series-connected hybrid magnet. Collette gained additional experience with solid-state NMR, including half-integer quadrupolar nuclei applied to glasses and minerals in both organic and inorganic materials.
Yijue arrived at the University of Illinois in February 2023 as the spectroscopy specialist in solid-state NMR. She will help users employ the 300WB and 500WB for ssNMR in Noyes Lab, in addition to occasional use of the 750NB for ssNMR in CLSL.
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Although a huge fan of dogs, she has an adorable cat named Skittles, who apparently likes backpacking.
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Operations Manager
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Nikki Duay
nduay@illinois.edu
217-333-2041
146 Roger Adams Lab
Box 81-5
Responsibilities: General Lab Operations, Newcomer Training, Cryogen Management, Accounting, Safety Compliance
Nikki is originally from the Philippines, and grew up speaking Tagalog. She comes to us from Kraft-Heinz in Champaign, where her kids thought she "cooked Mac and Cheese all day," but she was actually an analytical food chemist. Nikki has a bachelor’s degree in Chemical Engineering.
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Research Engineer
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John Rosheck
jrosheck@illinois.edu
217-244-6603
121 Noyes Lab
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Undergraduate Hourly
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Zion Odoh (Since May 2023)
zodoh2@illinois.edu
Responsibilities: Liquid nitrogen fills, spinner cleaning, bore swabs, odd jobs
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Zion is studying Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering. She is from Oswego, IL and enjoys reading, teaching herself languages, and drawing. Her goal is to work in the pharmaceutical industry to conduct and oversee pharmaceutical production, medical instrument development, and medicinal research.
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Undergraduate Hourly
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Richard Nong (Since May 2025)
rnong2@illinois.edu
Responsibilities: Liquid nitrogen fills, spinner cleaning, bore swabs, odd jobs
Richard is studying chemical engineering. He enjoys working out with friends, reading history books, and spending time with his family and cat. He hopes to work in the semiconductor industry or attend graduate school in his hometown, Boston, MA.
Former Staff
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Solid-State NMR Spectroscopist
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Andre Sutrisno, Ph.D.
June 2014 - August 2022
Former Undergraduate Hourlies
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Lydia Reed
May 2022 - May 2025
Lydia graduated with a degree in Chemical Engineering. In her free time, she enjoys watching movies at the local theater in her hometown of Jerseyville, Illinois. She also loves reading and playing cards with her family.
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Quinn Greven
May 2021 - May 2023
Quinn graduated with a degree in Chemistry with a concentration in Environmental Chemistry.
We thank him for his 2 years of dedicated service in the NMR Lab.
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Britney Naolhu
May 2019 - May 2022
Britney was in the Honors program for Molecular and Cellular Biology. She conducted microbiology research under the supervision of Prof. Brenda Wilson in MCB. Her work investigated protein function and expression in bacterial toxins to understand the mechanism of toxin delivery. She served as an MCB Peer Advisor and a Student Leader at Carle Hospital. Britney enjoys travel, adventures, and good food.
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Patricia (Trish) Mata
May 2019 - July 2021
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We said good-bye to Trish Mata on July 22, 2021, her last day of employment with the NMR Lab. She faithfully served as one of our undergrad hourlies for over 2 years, handling cryogens, and countless other tasks with aplomb and dedication. We wish her well in her new position in greater Saint Louis, MO.
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Aliza Siddiqui
Summer 2017-Summer 2019
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Damee Moon
Fall 2016-Winter 2019