Soft Matter & Nanoscale Materials

Gaurav Arya

Professor in the Thomas Lord Department of Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science

Research Interests: Molecular modeling, molecular simulations, statistical mechanics, coarse-graining, machine learning, polymer and colloidal physics, polymer-nanoparticle composites, chromatin biophysics, DNA nanotechnology, viral DNA packaging, single-molecule force spectroscopy, nanoscale…

Matthew L Becker

Hugo L. Blomquist Distinguished Professor of Chemistry

Research Interests: Polymer chemistry; bioconjugate chemistry; molecular imaging and additive manufacturing; materials for bone, soft tissue, neural and vascular tissue engineering; drug and protein delivery; degradable materials for flexible electronics

L. Catherine Brinson

Sharon C. and Harold L. Yoh, III Distinguished Professor

Research Interests: Mechanics of materials, with emphasis on complex hierarchical materials and polymer based systems, and merging concepts of data science into materials. Nanoscale and bulk scale experimental characterization, modeling and simulation of the behavior of materials, including…

Miaofang Chi

Professor in the Thomas Lord Department of Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science

Ashutosh Chilkoti

Alan L. Kaganov Distinguished Professor of Biomedical Engineering

Research Interests: Focused on biomolecular materials and biointerface science and emphasizes the development of applications that span the range from bioseparations, biosensors, biomaterials, and targeted drug delivery.

Olivier Delaire

Associate Professor of the Thomas Lord Department of Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science

Research Interests: Olivier Delaire investigates atomic dynamics in materials, focusing on problems at the interface of Materials Science, Physics and Chemistry. His research group utilizes a range of experimental and computational approaches, including neutron and x-ray scattering techniques,…

Liang Feng

Assistant Professor in the Thomas Lord Department of Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science

Research Interests: Carbon Capture and Removal | Negative Emissions | Decarbonization | Critical Materials, Metals, and Minerals | Bioinspired Soft Matter | Supramolecular & Porous Materials | Polymer Science & Engineering

Dennis Onyeka Frank-Ito

Associate Professor in Head and Neck Surgery & Communication Sciences

Ken Gall

Professor in the Thomas Lord Department of Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science

Research Interests: Materials science, mechanical properties, metals and polymers. Specialties: Shape memory materials, biomaterials, 3D printing.

Michela Geri

Assistant Professor in the Thomas Lord Department of Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science

Research Interests: Mechanics of multi-phase materials - Soft and hard matter - Coupling of mechanics with thermodynamic, kinematic and chemical conditions - Particulate materials/structured fluids - Novel experimental methods - Theoretical Modeling

Po-Chun Hsu

Adjunct Assistant Professor in the Thomas Lord Department of Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science

Research Interests: Smart multifunctional textiles, camouflage fabrics, stimuli-responsive polymer, wearable electronics, photon management, radiation heat transfer, solar desalination and water harvesting, electrochemical devices, electrospinning and fiber fabrication

Bavand Keshavarz

Assistant Professor in the Thomas Lord Department of Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science

Research Interests: Mechanics of Soft Materials,  Bioinspired Hydrogels,  Metal-Coordination Networks,  Fluid Dynamics of Complex Fluids in Fragmentation and Capillary Phenomena,  Mechanical Spectroscopy of Soft Materials During Gelation,  Linear and Nonlinear Rheology of…

Piotr E. Marszalek

Professor in the Thomas Lord Department of Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science

Research Interests: Investigating relationships between structural and mechanical properties of biopolymers (polysaccharides, DNA, proteins), at a single molecule level.

David Needham

Professor Emeritus in the Thomas Lord Department of Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science

Research Interests: Needham’s research and development is nothing if it is not collaborative. Highlights: Anti-cancer drug delivery inspired by how cancer's survive and spread due to their consumption of Lipoprotein particles from the blood-stream (LDLs and VLDLs) hence his approach: Make the drug…

Xiaoyue Ni

Assistant Professor of the Thomas Lord Department of Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science

Research Interests: Flexible electronics, precision measurement, non-destructive testing, deformation physics of random media, mechanical metamaterials, robotic materials and smart structures, machine learning

Christine K. Payne

Yoh Family Professor of Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science

Research Interests: Molecular mechanisms by which cells interact with nanomaterials with applications in nanomedicine and environmental exposure

Michael Rubinstein

Aleksandar S. Vesic Distinguished Professor

Research Interests: Polymer theory and computer simulations

Shyni Varghese

Professor of Biomedical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering & Materials Science and Orthopaedics

Research Interests: Musculoskeletal tissue repair, disease biophysics and organ-on-a-chip technology

Benjamin J. Wiley

Professor of Chemistry

Stefan Zauscher

Professor in the Thomas Lord Department of Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science

Research Interests: Nano-mechanical and nano-tribological characterization (elasticity, friction, adhesion) of materials including organic thin films; self-assembled monolayers, polymeric gels, and cellulosics; Fabrication of polymeric nanostructures by scanning probe lithography; Colloidal probe…