Alumna Uncovers the Workings of the World in the Thermal Behavior of Materials
University of California, Davis, alumna Anna Shelyug has been an engineer working to solve problems for as long as she can remember.
"I've always felt a small urge inside of me that, when I see a broken thing, tells me to try and fix it," said Shelyug, who credits her dad for spurring her curiosity. "[He] always sparked my interest in science by asking questions about how the world and nature works."
Now she's the one finding answers as a postdoctoral researcher at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, or KIT.
In 2023, Shelyug was awarded a prestigious Alexander von Humboldt Fellowship, which gave her the opportunity to investigate her interest in the energetics of defects in materials.
"Defect chemistry is [about] understanding how the imperfections in otherwise pristine structures affect macro properties of the material," she said. "These tiny irregularities are everywhere and make materials functional."
Shelyug earned her engineer's degree in Analytical Chemistry from Ural Federal University Institute of Physics and Technology in Yekaterinburg, Russia. She graduated from UC Davis in 2018 with a Ph.D. in materials science and engineering.
It was at UC Davis that she developed her research skills as a graduate lab assistant and mentoring skills as a teaching assistant in ECH 1 – "Design of Coffee."
"Before UC Davis, I was not able to pose and research scientific problems," she reflected.
The support she received at UC Davis went beyond purely academic advising and helped to shape her as an engineer. Several current and former faculty members enhanced her experience as an international student on campus.
"Dr. [Yayoi] Takamura and Dr. [Ricardo] Castro were always there to help with anything me and my family needed and showed that there is more than just studies and science," she recalled. "Dr. [Alexandra] Navrotsky was the first one who trusted to have me on board with her team and showed me how dedicated to science a person can be."
Advancing her career became much more personal when her home country Russia invaded Ukraine in early 2022.
"There was no longer a place for those who opposed the regime. My husband and I were devastated and started looking for ways to escape," she explained. "[We] started applying to different positions outside Russia. Half a year later, despite submitting over 50 applications each, we had received no responses."
Finally, she discovered an advertisement for a fellowship dedicated to Women in Science at the Max Planck Institute for Sustainable Materials in Germany. She applied and was accepted as a guest researcher. After another six months, her husband found work at KIT. She began working on projects there and eventually earned a regular position.
Having now published over 20 different studies, Shelyug knows to pay close attention to the shifting needs of the everchanging world around her.
"My research of materials from a thermodynamics perspective is fundamental and applicable to many topics, and I am constantly trying to monitor what else could be studied using the power of calorimetry," she said, referring to the heat released and absorbed during a chemical reaction.
She works on a multinational team of researchers to find answers like she's always wanted to, but she reminisces about her days at UC Davis.
"I hope that one day I will have a chance to bike again through campus on a late summer day and meet with the many great people I know who are still there," she said.
As her current assignment as a guest researcher comes to a close, Shelyug turns to more environmental concerns by working as a postdoctoral scientist on sustainable solutions for nuclear waste management at KIT.
"There are still so many problems in the world that have to be addressed," Shelyug said. "I am glad that I still have this inner child in me who is interested in learning and solving puzzles. I am still curious and still up for the challenge."