Interview with Mr. Kenneth Christopher Stiwinter—Winner of the IOCN 2025 Best Poster Award

We are pleased to share an interview with Mr. Kenneth Christopher Stiwinter, from the University of Georgia, USA, who received the Best Poster Award at the 5th International Online Conference on Nanomaterials (IOCN 2025).

My interest in nanomaterials began with the remarkable advancements in quantum computing technology over the past decade. The ability to calculate, represent, and sense information on a quantum scale had me both amazed and intrigued. During my electromagnetism course, I witnessed this ability firsthand when I was introduced to light–matter interactions on nanoscale systems and gained my first insight into the immense potential of nanomaterials. This experience fuelled my curiosity about how small structures can give rise to large amounts of information, most of which is hidden from direct human perception. Since then, my interests have naturally evolved toward nanostructure design and fabrication techniques, which now forms the bulk of my research at the University of Georgia.

My core research focuses on advancing gas-sensing technologies through the design and optimization of plasmonic sensors for surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS). Two main challenges in this field are the design of the SERS substrate and instrumentation as well as understanding the underlying physics.  My work integrates both experimental and computational approaches to address these challenges. On the computational side, I use finite-difference time-domain simulations to investigate plasmonic Janus particles and understand the light–matter interactions that govern field enhancement in SERS systems. These physical insights contribute to the design of SERS substrates and guide the experimental setup to improve sensor performance. In turn, the experimental results reveal what performance gains were achieved and where further improvements are needed, feeding directly back into the next round of simulation and design. This optimization loop helps address the key challenges I face when contributing toward the development of high-performance nanomaterial sensors.

I first became aware of the journal Nanomaterials when I wanted to write a review paper summarizing the current understanding of glancing angle deposition, a novel nanostructure fabrication technique, within the context of gas sensing performance. My advisor, Dr. Yipping Zhao, who has guided me into this wonderful realm of nanoscience, recommended it as a journal well aligned with the goals of my paper. In addition, the journal is open access, which aligns with my personal belief that scientific knowledge should be freely available to everyone. This value is particularly important to me because I relied heavily on open access sources for my undergraduate research work since my college at the time had limited access to subscription-based journals. I believe many of my fellow scholars share this appreciation for accessibility, because it encourages collaboration and helps build a world where research is driven by curiosity rather than constrained by financial barriers.

Many of us begin our scientific journeys dreaming of solving humanity’s biggest problems, when the reality is we solve a much smaller problem with tiny, painstaking steps. This can make research feel slow, uncertain, and at times inconsequential. I try to not let this discourage me from working hard or feeling unimportant, because no matter how modest a contribution may seem, it compounds over time. When I start to doubt the significance of my research, I tend to remember a quote credited to Richard Feynman, “The worthwhile problems are the ones you can really solve or help solve, the ones you can really contribute something to”. This serves as a reminder to focus on meaningful, not necessarily monumental, problems. So, I guess my message to early career researchers is this: don’t lose heart when your work may feel small; in our field, that’s a good sign.

I was genuinely surprised to receive this award. More than anything, it reminded me that progress lives in the tiniest of details. I went back and forth on my poster, scrapping ideas, refining figures and captions, and condensing the story until it fits. That careful attention to subtlety, however small it seemed at the time, made the difference. This is apparent in the pursuit of knowledge but commonly overlooked in the communication of scientific ideas. Thanks to this award, I will improve my approach going forward by applying the same meticulous mindset to not only experiment and substrate design, but also to how I present results. It also gives me credibility when mentoring younger scientists about the value of iteration and polish, and about being constructively critical of the smallest aspects of their research.