Michael is a currently a fifth-year Ph.D. student in Dr. H. Scott Fogler's research group. He completed his chemical engineering undergraduate degree at the University of Utah in 2007. Michael's research focuses on a little-known material in crude oil known as asphaltenes. Asphaltenes are large and complex molecules of great industrial importance. Asphaltenes plug production lines, clog refinery equipment, stabilize water emulsions, and many other costly problems. Michael primarily uses scattering (both small angle x-ray and neutron scattering) and capillary deposition to understand the structure and behavior of this complex and troublesome material.