James received his PhD in Mechanical engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign where he was a Department of Energy Office of Science Graduate Research Fellow working between the fields of mechanical engineering and materials science. He won the Materials Research Society Gold Award for his work on the design and fabrication of high power microbatteries and high specific strength cellular solids from bicontinuous microporous hierarchical materials. His body of work has generated significant interest in the popular media, having been featured in BBC, Discovery News, Yahoo News, arstechnica, Engadget, and many other outlets. New team members are being actively recruited for the Pikul Research Group. Please visit the positions page for more information.