Daniel Chica joins the Fenton Lab

We are thrilled to introduce a new member of our team! Daniel Chica has recently joined the group as our first postdoctoral associate.

Daniel is originally from Jacksonville, Florida, and earned a bachelors in chemistry and physics from the University of North Florida and a doctorate in chemistry at Northwestern University, where he did dissertation research with Mercouri Kanatzidis. Daniel joins us after conducting postdoctoral research at Columbia University with Xavier Roy.

Daniel moved to State College in May 2025 and officially began with us at Penn State in June. Daniel holds a joint position in our group and the group of Jim Hodges.

Daniel is an expert in solid-state inorganic chemistry and crystal growth, with diverse interests in and experience with property measurements (semiconductors, magnetism, etc.). He will be spearheading new directions at the nexus of the interests in the Fenton and Hodges labs, focused on the crystal growth of new materials.

Welcome, Daniel! We're excited to have you on the team.