Padilla, Derek

Derek Padilla is a physics graduate student at UC Santa Cruz who helped design and carry out the two-day engineering activity at the 2012 WEST workshop. He was a participant in the PDP in Spring 2012. Derek is also a physics instructor at both UCSC and Gavilan College in Gilroy, CA. He plans on receiving his PhD in 2013, after which he will continue teaching physics at the college level. His physics research focuses on electronic properties of photovoltaic materials for use in next-generation solar cells.