Academic Credentials
  • Ph.D., Chemical Engineering, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, 2011
  • M.S., Chemical Engineering, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, 2008
  • B.S., Chemical Engineering, Cornell University, 2005
Licenses & Certifications
  • Professional Engineer Chemical, California, #6642
  • Professional Engineer, Colorado, #PE.0053689
  • Professional Engineer Chemical, Minnesota, #52321
  • Certified Risk Based Inspection Professional, American Petroleum Institute, API 580
  • NACE Certified Corrosion Technician
  • OSHA 24-Hour HAZWOPER Certificate
Professional Honors
  • Harry G. Drickamer Research Fellowship, UIUC 2009-2010
  • National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship 2006-2009
  • BP Fellow, UIUC 2005-2006
Professional Affiliations
  • American Institute of Chemical Engineers
  • Materials Research Society
  • Society of Women Engineers
  • Association for Women in Science
  • Association for Materials Protection and Performance
Languages
  • French (France)

Dr. Sellers leverages her chemical engineering expertise to evaluate and investigate failures associated with material properties, processing, and performance. As a Licensed Professional Chemical Engineer and Chartered Chemical Engineer, she assists clients in the oil and natural gas industries as well as in the aerospace, microelectronics, and consumer products industries. 

She has particular interests in integrity management and process safety, especially as they relate to material selection and monitoring. Dr. Sellers specific expertise includes:

  • Damage mechanisms (corrosion, stress corrosion cracking, hydrogen embrittlement) affecting process piping and vessels at refineries, offshore platforms, and LNG facilities
  • Natural gas utility integrity management
  • Investigation of petroleum, natural gas, and chemical loss of containment incidents
  • Piping inspection in accordance with federal/international code requirements and industry standards (API, NACE, ASME)
  • Semiconductor device fabrication
  • Cleanroom processing techniques, including tool performance and optimization
  • Consumer products, including consumer electronics and medical devices


Dr. Sellers has significant experience assisting clients engaged in domestic and global legal disputes (international arbitration).

Prior to joining Exponent, Dr. Sellers was a postdoctoral researcher at the US Army Engineer Research and Development Center - Construction Engineering Research Laboratory (ERDC-CERL), where she developed and evaluated carbon nanotube, graphene, and metal oxide-based supercapacitors. Her contributions towards an integrated wind-based generator system were recognized via Army Research and Development Outstanding Technical Achievement, ERDC Research and Development Achievement Awards, and two granted US patents.

Dr. Sellers received her doctoral degree from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) in 2011. Her thesis research focused on the chemical vapor and atomic layer deposition (CVD/ALD) of titanium dioxide and the optimization of its electrical properties for photocatalysis and supported metal catalysis. To accomplish this, she performed extensive materials characterization using X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and scanning electron microscopy/energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (SEM/EDS). While at UIUC, she co-authored a textbook entitled "Charged semiconductor defects: Structure, thermodynamics, and diffusion" detailing the state of knowledge regarding ionized defects in Group IV, III-V, and oxide semiconductors.

Before entering graduate school, Dr. Sellers held research appointments in the Micro-Total-Analytical Systems and Entry Control & Contraband Detection Technologies organizations at Sandia National Laboratories and in the Department of Chemistry at University College London.