4/17/2025 3 min read
Written by
This week, MechSE and The Grainger College of Engineering community celebrated a new named appointment for Professor Taher Saif. In an investiture ceremony held in the Beckman Institute Auditorium, he formally received his new distinction as a Grainger Distinguished Chair in Engineering.
Extra: Read Saif's moving and inspiring remarks from the investiture >>
Named appointments or named professorships are important in marking the successful trajectory of high-achieving faculty. It is the highest honor the university can bestow on prominent faculty. By providing dedicated resources for research and teaching opportunities, these positions enable the most gifted faculty to excel in their scholarly activities. Similarly, faculty who hold a named professorship are celebrated for teaching, research, and the caliber of thinking that inspires both.
At Illinois, Saif studies the effects of forces at small scales, focusing on nanoscale materials and living cells. His work on deformation in nanomaterials could lead to self-healing metal components, and his work on the effects of cellular forces has opened new research avenues in neuron function, cancer progression and biological robotics.
Earlier this year, he began a collaborative project focused on understanding and manipulating the tumor microenvironment to improve the efficacy of pancreatic cancer treatment, and examining the mechanical stiffness of the cells in the tumor microenvironment.
Among other achievements, Saif was the first to demonstrate that plastic deformation in nanocrystalline metal films can be reversible—raising the possibility of manufacturing metal components that can heal themselves after being deformed. In other work, he and a collaborator demonstrated that neurons are under mechanical tension, and he is now studying the role of tension in neurons on memory and learning.
In 2024, Saif was elected to the National Academy of Engineering, one of the highest honors an engineer can receive. Also last year, he was one of just 16 Illinois researchers selected to become part of the inaugural cohort of Chan Zuckerberg Biohub Chicago investigators, a group that will focus on instrumented tissues, inflammation, and the functions of the immune system, alongside investigators from Northwestern University and University of Chicago.
He is a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (2023) and the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (2012). He also is affiliated with the Department of Bioengineering, the Beckman Institute, the Cancer Center at Illinois, the Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology and the Carle Illinois College of Medicine.