Find Faculty by Research Area
Below are descriptive summaries of each MechSE faculty member's research. Graduate student applicants are strongly encouraged to contact faculty directly to inquire about open positions in their research group, after submitting their application.
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Gaurav Bahl: PhD, Stanford University, 2010. Current research: Integrated photonics, micro-mechanical oscillators and sensors. Demonstrated the first microfluidic device that is mechanically actuated by light, with vibrational frequencies in the GHz regime. Demonstrated that nonlinear optical effects can be used to mitigate losses in microdevices. Demonstrated the world’s most stable micromechanical frequency references. Received a 2019 Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE).
Craig Bradshaw: PhD, Purdue University, 2012. Current research: Thermal systems, compressors, heat pumps, air-conditioning, refrigerant and lubricant properties, model-informed design optimization, model development, fundamentals of heat and fluid flow in thermal systems, waste-heat recovery, thermodynamics, heat transfer. Developed a novel peristaltic compressor for HVAC&R and air applications.
Quinn Brewster: PhD, University of California, Berkeley, 1981. Current research: Atmospheric radiation; radiation effects on cloud and mist droplet evolution; phase-change radiation. Defined parameters that characterize radiation effect on cloud and mist droplet evolution during evaporation and condensation.
Lili Cai: PhD, Stanford University, 2016. Current research: Combustion synthesis; nanoscale materials; energy storage and conversion; smart wearables; personal thermal management; thermal radiation. Developed rapid and scalable flame synthesis methods of nano-materials for renewable energy storage and conversion, catalysis and electronics. Developed nanophotonic textiles with tailored thermal radiation properties for localized thermal management of the human body.
Leonardo P. Chamorro: PhD, University of Minnesota, 2010. Current research: Turbulence and aerodynamics, particle dynamics and multiphase flows, fluid-structure interaction, cavitation, wind and marine energy, advanced flow diagnostics, and geophysical flows. Uncovered multiscale interactions between turbulence and flexible structures, formulated a general framework for turbulence spectra spanning distinct scaling regimes, and developed fast 3D particle-tracking methods for Lagrangian flow measurements.
Mickey Clemon: PhD, University of California, Berkeley, 2017; P.E. California. Additive manufacturing process scaling and optimization; mechanical design; sustainable manufacturing; impulsively loaded pressure vessels. Development of collaborative 3D robotic printing using material extrusion.
C. Ricardo Constante-Amores: PhD, Imperial College London, 2021. Current research: Fluid mechanics related to multiphase flows, data-driven turbulence modeling from a dynamical system point of view, Koopman theory for high-dimensional systems. Developed a modeling framework that accounts for the presence of surfactants in multiphase systems; created low-dimensional models for canonical turbulent systems such as pipe flow and plane Couette flow; studied the role of kidney stones in renal pelvis using patient-specific CFD models.
Jorge Correa Panesso: PhD, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, 2017. Design of high-speed and precision machinery for manufacturing automation; engineering education in design and manufacturing courses; new architectures of computer numerical control; digital manufacturing systems and AI; immersive technologies including VR/AR. Developed software architectures for the DOE-funded Operating System for Cyber Manufacturing (OSCM). Developed cloud platforms for smart production and collaborative digital surgical planning using CAD/CAM technologies.
Elif Ertekin: PhD, University of California, Berkeley, 2006. Current research: Computational materials physics and mechanics; AI for materials; 2D materials; energy-relevant materials. Created AI-powered models for rapid, accurate prediction; revealed simple ways to control properties via symmetry and strain; identified candidate materials for cleaner energy; built design maps that translate simulations into real devices.
Randy H. Ewoldt: PhD, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2009. Current research: Rheology; fluid mechanics; soft matter; design. Resolved 50- and 70-year fundamental questions in nonlinear mechanics through novel measurement and theory; developed extensible yield-stress fluids enabling advanced additive manufacturing. Developed experimental methods and best-practices frameworks now standard in commercial instruments and applied across materials characterization and mechanical testing. Author of the most-cited Journal of Rheology article (1990–present) and influential book chapter on how to avoid bad data.
Jie Feng: PhD, Princeton University, 2016. Current research: Microscale interfacial transport and multiphase dynamics in complex fluids for energy, environmental sustainability, and healthcare. Focus on bubble formation, rise, and bursting at structurally complex interfaces to control airborne contaminant transport; programmable lipid vesicles and nanoparticle platforms for targeted delivery and controlled release; and thin-film flows and fluid-structure interactions of complex fluids in confined geometries for environmental, advanced manufacturing and lab-on-a-chip applications. Developed a predictive framework for contaminant-laden aerosol emission by bursting bubbles. Developed active hybrid vesicle swimmers for efficient drug delivery. Developed a versatile nanoprecipitation platform for nanoparticle-oriented bioengineering and drug delivery. Developed a modeling framework for osmotic delivery and release of vesicles under light-triggered chemical reactions.
Placid Ferreira: PhD, Purdue University, 1987. Current research: Nanomanufacturing; nanomechatronics; manufacturing automation and systems control; process planning; programmable machines. Developed solid-state superionic stamping (S4), a process for stamping nanoscale metallic structures; high-resolution electrohydrodynamic writing for direct writing of sub-micron structures; fully functional parallel-kinematics two and three degree-of-freedom MEMS and Mesoscale nanopositioning stages.
Paul Fischer: (25% MechSE, 75% Siebel School of Computing and Data Science) PhD, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1989. Current research: High-order methods and scalable algorithms for computational fluid dynamics and heat transfer. Developed the first commercial software for distributed memory parallel computers.
Mattia Gazzola: PhD, ETH Zurich, 2013. Current research: Biolocomotion; computational soft robotics; computational fluid dynamics; bio-inspired optimization. Developed inverse design approach for optimal bio-locomotion strategies; discovered universal scaling laws of inertial swimming; designed first tissue-engineered cyborg ray.
Nick Glumac: PhD, California Institute of Technology, 1994. Current research: Spectroscopy of reacting flows and energetic materials; combustion diagnostics; metal combustion. Produced definitive evidence that the transition away from diffusion-limited combustion in aluminum combustion occurs in the particle size range of 1 to 20 microns.
Tom Golecki: PhD, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, 2023. Current research: Random vibrations in structural dynamics; structural and topology optimization considering moving loads. Developed topology optimization approaches for bridge structures to minimize total response to random traffic excitation and for high-speed rail bridges accounting for passenger comfort through vehicle-bridge interaction.
Varda F. Hagh: PhD, Arizona State University, 2018. Current Research: Computational and experimental soft matter; bio-inspired design and training of meta-materials; memory formation in matter. Developed a systematic approach to harness the power of disorder in materials by introducing and manipulating transient learning degrees of freedom during material processing. This optimization method trains the local properties of a material to achieve the desired global behavior.
Kellie Halloran: PhD, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, 2024. Current research: Engineering pedagogy at scale; teamwork and creativity in student design teams; active learning in engineering education; inverse musculoskeletal modeling. Developed and evaluated several creativity-focused interventions for first-year engineering design courses.
Bumsoo Han: PhD, University of Minneosta, 2001. Current research: Biotransport of drug delivery, biomechanics at the tumor-storma interface, biophysics of cell migration and chemotaxis, microphysiological system of pancreatic cancer and brain, microfluidics and 3D printing of soft materials. Established new mechanisms of poroelastic transport for tissue engineering and 3D printing of advanced hydrogels. Developed microfluidic tumor models of pancreatic cancer with molecular precisions using genetically engineered cells. Pioneered application of microfluidic tumor models for the discovery of drugs and drug delivery system.
Jiajun He: PhD, Stanford University, 2016. Current research: Sustainable production of materials; porous materials for clean energy applications; fluid phase and flow behaviors in porous media; carbon capture; nanopore confinement effects; life cycle assessment. Developed a sustainable approach to convert food waste into porous carbons for CO2 capture. Demonstrated the techno-economic and life cycle assessments for the benefits of biowaste-derived carbons for CO2 capture. Developed a first-principle thermodynamic model for describing the rock wettability shift induced by asphaltene. Demonstrated the interfacial tension suppression in nanopore-confined systems using molecular simulations.
Sascha Hilgenfeldt: PhD, University of Marburg, 1997. Current research: Experimental and theoretical microfluidics; cell morphology and adhesion; biomechanics; structure and dynamics of tissues, foams, and other domain systems. Elucidated fundamental properties of interfacial systems, including sonoluminescence, domain coarsening, and size-topology correlations. Developed a new, powerful method of microfluidic flow control and a structural diagnostic approach to cell and tissue mechanics.
Naira Hovakimyan: PhD, Institute of Applied Mathematics, Russian Academy of Sciences, 1992. Current research: Autonomous systems, safe learning, air transportation engineering, certification, technology transfer. Developed a new approach for design of robust adaptive control systems with guaranteed robustness/performance, pioneered a new approach to safe learning within the robust adaptive control architecture, explored safety of operation of aerial systems from the perspective of humans’ perceived safety, contributed to the foundation for development of cyber-secure autopilots, and contributed to social engineering with applications to health analytics.
Elizabeth T. Hsiao-Wecksler: PhD, University of California, Berkeley, 2000. Current research: Design and control of assistive and medical devices to improve the quality of life of patients and people with disabilities using user-centered design, soft and hard robotics, and movement biomechanics. Developed methods to better quantify gait and postural control; created lean-to-steer ballbot wheelchair (PURE), portable powered ankle-foot-orthosis, automatic gear shifting manual wheelchair, and mixed-reality medical education robotic task trainers for performing neurological exams and heart surgery.
Shelby Hutchens: PhD, California Institute of Technology, 2011. Current research: Failure in soft solids; soft solid dynamics; large, non-linear deformation mechanics; polymers and composites; microscale materials; cellular solids. Discovered a critical length scale in the cut-driven failure of elastomeric solids. Constructed soft, osmotically-active, plant tissue-inspired liquid/solid composites.
Anthony M. Jacobi: PhD, Purdue University, 1989. Current research: Heat transfer and fluid mechanics with end-use energy applications. Advanced vortex-enhanced and interrupted fin designs to improve heat transfer and reduce pressure drop; developed surface microstructures for condensate management.
Iwona Jasiuk: PhD, Northwestern University, 1986. Current research: Mechanics of materials; micromechanics; bio-mechanics; composite, biological, and nano materials; interfaces; elasticity. Characterized hierarchical structure, composition, and properties of bone and developed experimentally based multi-scale models of bone. Proposed new poroelastic model of bone adaptation based on energy dissipation. Designed, additively manufactured, and modelled novel light-weight multifunctional bioinspired architectured materials.
Blake Johnson: PhD, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, 2012. Current research: Experimental fluid mechanics, optical diagnostics, engineering education, service learning and community engagement. Developed a course on Teaching and Leadership that is now required of the majority of graduate teaching assistants in The Grainger College of Engineering.
Harley T. Johnson: PhD, Brown University, 1999. Current research: Nanomechanics of electronic, photonic, and quantum materials; mechanics of nanostructures; strain effects and defects in topological materials; materials for photovoltaics; defects and properties of 2D materials; plasma-material interactions; multi-scale mechanical and electronic structure modeling. Described a new class of dislocations in layered 2D materials.
Mariana Kersh: PhD, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 2010. Current research: Structure-function in musculoskeletal tissues during growth and aging; imaging; finite element method. Quantified bone strain in vivo, during locomotive tasks using coupled multi-scale musculoskeletal and finite element model.
William P. King: PhD, Stanford University, 2002. Current research: Additive manufacturing, heat transfer and thermal management, bio-printing, AI and computer science in mechanical engineering, micro- and nanotechnology. Developed technologies for additive manufacturing, digital design, and materials characterization that are used in the manufacturing of products for applications in aerospace, pharmaceutical, medical, and sports equipment. Developed methods for temperature measurements used in the semiconductor industry.
Seid Koric: PhD, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, 2006. Current research: Scientific machine learning (SciML); large-scale multiphysics modeling; high-performance computing; materials processing and biomechanics. Developed several ground-breaking numerical methods now used worldwide to optimize continuous casting and other steel-making processes and minimize their defects and CO2 footprint. Was one of the pioneers and is currently leading interdisciplinary research in SciML and AI for Science.
Callan Luetkemeyer: PhD, University of Michigan, 2020. Current research: Soft tissue mechanics, constitutive modeling (hyperelasticity and anisotropy), mechanical imaging, full-field computational inverse methods, mechanical inference. Provided the first demonstration that microscale tissue structure can be inferred solely from mesoscale, full-field mechanical measurements, establishing a new direction for mechanics-based, non-invasive diagnostic imaging.
Kathryn Matlack: PhD, Georgia Institute of Technology, 2014. Current research: Wave propagation in solids; phononic materials and mechanical metamaterials; fluid-structure interaction; nonlinear acoustics and vibrations; contact acoustic nonlinearity; additive manufacturing; ultrasonic nondestructive evaluation; and fluid-metamaterials interaction. Developed new materials and structures for novel vibration and flow control applications; developed new ultrasonic-based non-destructive evaluation techniques to probe early structural damage in metals and qualify additively manufactured materials.
Prashant Mehta: PhD, Cornell University, 2004. Current research: Dynamical systems; control theory; nonlinear estimation. Invented the feedback particle filter algorithm for nonlinear estimation.
Nenad Miljkovic: PhD, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2013. Current research: Phase change heat transfer (boiling, evaporation, condensation, melting, and freezing); thermal energy storage, electronics cooling, dynamic system modeling, anti-fouling coatings, anti-corrosion coatings, anti-bacterial coatings, fluid mechanics of droplets and bubbles; micro/nanofabrication; additive manufacturing, interfacial phenomena; renewable energy conversion. Developed guidelines for the design, optimization, and fabrication of micro/nano-structured surfaces to enhance phase change heat transfer.
Arne Pearlstein: PhD, University of California, Los Angeles, 1983. Current research: Multiplicity and stability of three-dimensional unsteady solutions for rotating detonation rocket engines; fluid/structure interaction, including effects of aeroelastically-driven foil oscillation on heat transfer, and coupling of rotational and translational motion for falling spheres; onset and analysis of quasi-periodicity in nonlinear systems. Discovered the first, and most of the known, multi-valued stability boundaries in fluid mechanics.
Alireza Ramezani: PhD, University of Michigan, 2014. Current research: Design, modeling and control of bio-inspired locomotion robots.
Lyle Regenwetter: PhD, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2026. Current research: Principled, generalizable, and data-efficient artificial intelligence methods for engineering design, focusing on generative models, optimization techniques, and rigorous benchmarks that can create, evaluate, and refine complex engineering systems while respecting physical and design constraints. Building AI tools that help engineers explore better solutions faster and more reliably.
M. Taher Saif: PhD, Cornell University, 1993. Current research: Mechanics of microelectromechanical systems (MEMS); nanoscale materials behavior; neuro-mechanics; mechanics of cancer cells and tumor microenvironment; biological machines; single cell mechanics. Discovered a new phenomenon where plastically deformed nano crystalline metals recover plastic strain under macroscopically stress-free conditions; neurons actively maintain a rest tension, which is essential for neurotransmission. Elected to the National Academy of Engineering, 2024.
Srinivasa Salapaka: PhD, University of California, Santa Barbara, 2002. Current research: Robust control, scanning probe microscopy, precision positioning systems, combinatorial optimization, machine learning algorithms, and control of power electronics and systems. Developing new control architectures for bottom-up power grids.
Huseyin Sehitoglu: PhD, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 1983. Current research: Thermo-mechanical behavior of materials; phase transformations and shape memory. Developed a model for determining the crystal orientation dependence of critical resolved shear stress for slip in shape memory alloys; developed an atomistic-continuum treatment to predict threshold stress intensity in fatigue in agreement with experiments.
Kenneth Shaw: PhD, Carnegie Mellon University, 2026. Current research: Dexterous manipulation in robotic hands; development of highly dexterous AI policies for these hands using human demonstrations from internet videos, teleoperation and simulation.
Sanjiv Sinha: PhD, Stanford University, 2005. Current research: Thermoelectric energy conversion physics, materials, and devices; thermochemical and thermophysical energy storage; fundamental heat conduction physics; intracellular thermometry. Developed and patented roll-to-roll fabricated hybrid metal-polymer heat exchangers for waste heat harvesting; developed and patented a thermometer for measuring temperatures inside living cells; developing thermal storage energy technologies for buildings and industrial process heating.
Kyle C. Smith: PhD, Purdue University, 2012. Current research: Electrochemical separations and energy storage; multi-scale computational modeling; mass, charge, heat and fluid transport in heterogeneous and porous materials; thermodynamics of electrochemical materials. Developed and predicted strategies to desalinate water in porous electrodes using battery materials. Developing ion sorption materials with molecular recognition guided by atomistic and pore-scale modeling.
Petros Sofronis: PhD, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 1987. Current research: Solid mechanics; elastic-plastic fracture mechanics; materials compatibility with hydrogen; mechanics of next-generation nuclear reactor materials; finite element methods. Rationalized and linked for the first time the effects of hydrogen at the microscale with evidence of hydrogen-induced flow localization at the macroscale.
Ke Tang: PhD, Zhejiang University, 2005. Current research: Engineering education; heat transfer and fluid mechanics with end-use energy conversion applications as refrigeration, heat pumps, and air conditioning; liquid-vapor two-phase flow visualization; electronics cooling; energy conversion systems; thermoacoustics.
Sameh Tawfick: PhD, University of Michigan, 2012. Current research: Material processing and additive manufacturing; mechanics of materials; soft robotics. Leading Mission “Illinois” -- a DARPA-funded space mission for demonstrating composite manufacturing in space.
Alexander Vakakis: PhD, California Institute of Technology, 1990. Current research: Nonlinear dynamics and vibrations; non-smooth dynamics; nonlinear modal analysis, reduced-order modeling and nonlinear model updating; granular acoustic metamaterials, nonreciprocal acoustics and stress wave tailoring; targeted energy transfer and vibration energy harvesting; nano- and micro-resonators; passive control of vortex-induced vibrations and aeroelastic instabilities; intentional nonlinearity in design. Working on a new concept for intentional use of strong nonlinearity in design and nonlinear passive energy management; formulated novel nonparametric multi-scale system identification methodologies.
Arend van der Zande: (25% MechSE, 75% Materials Science and Engineering) PhD, Cornell University, 2011. Current research: Nanomechanics, and functional devices from nanoscale materials and heterostructures; nanoelectromechanical systems (NEMS); atomically precise nanomanufacturing techniques. Developed graphene-based NEMS. First observed atomic grain boundary structure and properties in 2D molecular membranes. Developed techniques for building functional electronic and photonic devices from 2D material heterostructures.
Amy Wagoner Johnson: PhD, Brown University, 2002. Current research: Soft tissue mechanics for applications in women’s reproductive health including fertility and preterm birth; soft tissue imaging (MRI, second harmonic generation) and mechanical characterization across scales (indentation, inflation, tension/compression, fracture/cutting); design of functional materials for coral propagation and restoration; spatial transcriptomics. Pioneering research in reproductive biomechanics and materials engineering for coral.
Kevin Wandke: PhD, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, 2024. Current research: Machine learning for solving coupled PDEs; simulation and modeling of soft robots. Developed a method for correcting energy drift in long timescale machine learning simulations of dynamic systems.
Sophie Wang: PhD, Xi’an Jiaotong University, 2012. Current research: Thermodynamics, heat transfer and fluid mechanics. Fundamentals of single-phase and two-phase convection, phase change and stability with applications in energy systems. Heat transfer enhancement, coefficient of performance (COP) improvement, optimization, and control for heating and cooling systems.
Matthew West: PhD, California Institute of Technology, 2004. Current research: Computational methods; multiscale time integration. Developed the theory of variational time integration methods; obtained fully asynchronous integrators for computational mechanics.
Janelle Wharry: PhD, University of Michigan, 2012. Current research: Structure-property-functionality relationships of materials in mechanical, irradiation, electrochemical, and corrosive extreme environments. Developed theories explaining phase transformations in steels under mechano-irradiation extremes. Enabling code-qualification of advanced manufacturing methods for nuclear structural alloys.
Siyi Xu: PhD, Harvard University, 2022. Current research: Soft robotics, wearable and implantable sensors, electrically responsive soft actuators, fluidic systems. Developed biocompatible soft sensors and power-dense transducers, including actuators, valves and pumps, for the actuation and control of soft robots. Demonstrated the potential of compliant, lightweight, and compact wearable robotic systems for daily assistive and therapeutic purposes.
Justin Yim: PhD, University of California, Berkeley, 2020. Current research: Legged locomotion, legged robot design and control, jumping and hopping, bioinspired robotics, space robotics. Developed high-performance jumping robots with underactuated control, demonstrating powerful and agile maneuvering.