Damien West Dr. Damien West joined the Computational Material Science Group at NREL in 2007. He graduated from Texas Tech University in 2006. There, he received his Ph.D. in Physics under the supervision of Prof. Stefan Estreicher. His background is in materials science based on first-principles, density-functional theory calculations. He has focused on the modeling of defects in semiconductors, performing energy and entropy calculations to determine the relative stability of defect configurations at finite temperatures, as well as dynamic processes as phonon relaxation.

His current research interests are:

1. Simulating materials for improved efficiency in solid state lighting.
2. Optimizing oxide catalysts for photoelectrolysis of water.
3. Lone pair distortions produced by ns² configuration cations in the solid state.

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