Meet the RISE Students
Ph.D. Students
Diego Aparicio
BS Civil Engineering, Universidad de Los Andes
MS Civil Engineering, Universidad de Los Andes
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Hometown: Santiago, Chile
Research Interests: Development of low-carbon cementitious materials
Fun Fact: Diego has played almost every sport
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Matias Leon-Miquel
BS Civil Engineering, Universidad de Los Andes
MS Civil Engineering, Universidad de Los Andes
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Hometown: Santiago, Chile
Research Interests: Development of novel cementitious materials in extreme environments
Fun Fact: Matias runs a pizza business in Chile with his brother
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Xiaoqiang "Antonio" Ni
BS Civil and Environmental Engineering, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
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Hometown: Hong Kong, China
Research Interests: Self healing, low-carbon cementitious materials, Phase change materials
Fun Fact: Antonio worked as a project engineer/manager for 11 years before coming to the US as a Ph.D. student
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Undergraduate Students
Nathan Denning
Civil Engineering, Michigan State University (2026)
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Hometown: Annapolis, MD
Research Interests: Low-carbon cementitious materials, decarbonization of infrastructure
Fun Fact: Nathan has lived in 5 different states, including Alaska!
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Alumni
Brennan Sollenberger
BS/MS Civil Engineering, Michigan State University
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Hometown: Marietta, GA
Research Accomplishments: Low-carbon concrete with phase change materials (PCM) for snow melting applications
Fun Fact: Brennan had a successful E-Sports career at MSU
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