University of Tennessee
Materials Science & Engineering Department


Cece Grubb Defends her Doctoral Dissertation
Knoxville, TN, March 24, 2025





Cece's PhD research focuses on developing and evaluating practical low carbon materials in pursuit of the carbon neutral automobile.


She was advised by Prof. David Harper in the Center for Renewable Carbon at the University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture and Prof. David Keffer in the Materials Science & Engineering department at the University of Tennessee Knoxville.


As an employee of the Volkswagen Group of America Innovation Hub in Knoxville, Cece was also mentored by Dr. Hendrik Mainka and Dr. Marton Kardos.


Many members of team Volkswagen attended the defense.


Members of the Harper-Keffer research group also attended.

Some of Cece's dissertation research has already been published:
  • Grubb, C.A., Keffer, D.J., Webb, C.D., Kardos, M., Mainka, H., Harper, D.P., “Paper Fiber-Reinforced Polypropylene Composites from Nonwoven Preforms: A Study on Compression Molding Optimization from a Manufacturing Perspective”, Composites: Part A 185, 2024, article # 108339, pp. 1-8, doi: 10.1016/j.compositesa.2024.108339.
  • Grubb, C.A., Mokhtarnejad, M., Greene, J., Misasi, J. Keffer, D.J., Kardos, M., Mainka, H., Harper, D.P., “Development of an Automotive-Relevant Recycling Process for Paper Fiber-Reinforced Polypropylene Composites”, Recycling 9(6), 2024, article # 126, pp. 1-19, doi: 10.3390/recycling9060126 (open access).


There is other photographic documentation of Cece's time at the University of Tennessee:

More photos on the Keffer research group site.