News

CMSSM faculty members Tom Hughes and Rui Huang have received an NSF grant for the project Computational Methods for Large Deformation and Multiphysics in Soft Materials Using Immersed Isogeometric Analysis. The project will develop a thermodynamically consistent computational framework for modeling the coupled mechanical, chemical, and electrical behavior of soft polymer materials, including hydrogels, elastomers, and polyelectrolyte gels.

The research will introduce new immersed isogeometric methods using smooth, high-order basis functions to address the computational challenges associated with strongly coupled multiphysics systems undergoing large deformations. The resulting methods will enable more predictive modeling and design of soft active materials. Congratulations to Tom and Rui on the award.

Learn more about the NSF award.

Dr. Xin (Cindy) Yee
Assistant Professor
Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
University of Colorado Colorado Springs

January 13, 2026

Encapsulated microbubbles (EMBs) are used in biomedicine for both diagnostic and therapeutic purposes that include ultrasound imaging and targeted drug delivery. A data-driven method to control the oscillations of EMBs using the applied acoustic field is presented based on Koopman operator theory, which is a method for transforming a nonlinear dynamical system on a state space into a linear system on an infinite-dimensional function space. This method preserves the underlying nonlinear dynamics of the system, and the function spaces can be approximated through data-driven methodologies, which enables the application of classical linear control strategies to the nonlinear system. Here, we apply a Koopman linear quadratic regulator (KLQR) to control the nonlinear oscillations of a EMB through the applied acoustic field.  Results are presented that demonstrate the effectiveness of the modified KLQR controller in driving the EMB to follow arbitrarily-prescribed radial oscillations and stabilize at nonequilibrium radii.

Bio: Dr. Xin (Cindy) Yee is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at the University of Colorado-Colorado Springs. She received her Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering from MIT and both Master’s and Ph.D. degrees in Engineering from Caltech. Her expertise is in data science applications within engineering sciences.

Contact: Jin Yang (jin.yang@austin.utexas.edu)

Dr. Qing Tu
Assistant Professor
Materials Science and Engineering
Texas A&M University

January 20, 2026

2D metal halide perovskites (MHPs) are emerging family of low-cost, high-performance semiconductor materials for numerous energy and electronics applications. Mechanical stress is ubiquitously found in their applications and causes stability issues, which calls for a thorough understanding of the mechanical behaviors of 2D MHPs in both pristine form and under service environments. This talk will overview the research effort in my lab in the past 6 years on understanding the mechanical behavior of 2D MHPs. We will first establish a structure-property relationship regarding the in-plane elastic properties of 2D MHPs and compare the results to those from the out-of-plane directions. An interesting in-plane vs. out-of-plane mechanical anisotropy is uncovered, which can be tuned over a wide range by controlling the chemistry of the materials. We further employ the angle-resolved Brillouin Spectroscopy to directly measure the in-plane stiffness matrix and shed light on the in-plane elastic anisotropy of these materials. We will then show an anomalous thermo-mechanical behavior of 2D MHPs compared to other low-dimensional systems. Our results suggest that this thermo-mechanical anomaly is likely arising from the order-to-disorder transition of the organic spacer molecules inside the crystal structure. Finally, we report the creep and fatigue behavior of 2D MHPs under subcritical, time-dependent loading conditions. 2D MHPs exhibit better fatigue resilience compared to typical polymer materials, and can survive over one billion cycles when the mean stress is about 40% of their fracture strength. Failure morphology suggests the presence of an unexpected plastic deformation in these ionic crystals at low mean stress, which might be responsible for the long fatigue lifetime, but is significantly suppressed at high mean stress. Our results will provide invaluable insights to improve the mechanical reliability of 2D MHPs and pave the way for commercializing devices based on these materials.

Contact:  Rui Huang (ruihuang@mail.utexas.edu)

Dr. Yunlan Zhang
Assistant Professor
Fariborz Maseeh Department of Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering
The University of Texas at Austin

March 03, 2026

Conventional architected cellular materials have fixed configurations and absorb mechanical energy through irreversible plastic deformation, limiting them to single use and making compact stowage challenging. Here, we present architected instability-based metamaterials (AIMs) as a reusable, tunable, and deployable alternative. AIMs consist of numerous unit cells comprising multistable mechanisms that achieve large, reversible deformation while absorbing and dissipating energy. The behavior of AIMs can be tuned through four key design parameters: geometry, topology, material distribution, and hinge configuration. Tailoring unit cell geometry and topology controls energy absorption characteristics and deformation pathways. Strategically assigning multiple materials at different locations enables stimulus-responsive behavior, such as shape recovery triggered by heat. Incorporating kirigami-inspired rigid folding strategies through hinge design enables structures that fold into compact volumes for transportation and expand into functional metamaterials at the destination. Together, these capabilities—reusability, tunability, and deployability— make AIMs well-suited for aerospace applications where weight, volume, and reliability are critical constraints. This seminar presents a design approach integrating analytical and numerical models to achieve tunable multistability and deployability through systematic manipulation of geometric and material features.

Contact:  Jin Yang (jin.yang@austin.utexas.edu)

Dr. Deepika Gupta
Postdoctoral Research Fellow
Department of Aerospace Engineering & Engineering Mechanics
The University of Texas at Austin

March 10, 2026

Dead material zones—stationary regions of adhered material at the tool–workpiece interface—are a recurring feature in large-strain deformation processes such as metal cutting and indentation. Despite their practical significance, the mechanisms governing their initiation and evolution remain poorly understood, largely due to the difficulty of resolving local deformation events in real time. In this study, we present direct in situ evidence of dead zone formation using a high-resolution experimental framework based on ensemble-averaged digital image correlation (EADIC) and synchronized force measurements. Across three distinct metallic systems—Al6061-T6, Ti6Al4V, and Inconel 718—we identify a consistent two-stage mechanism:
(i) adhesion-induced pinning of material at the tool tip and (ii) internal shear leading to the delineation of a nascent dead zone, followed by gradual material accumulation and resulting in geometric stabilization. These stages are shown to influence chip morphology, cutting forces, and surface defect formation. We also establish a clear correspondence between the surface features and the underlying deformation events associated with each stage. Overall, the findings offer mechanistic insight into chip–tool interactions and lay the groundwork for controlling dead zone behavior while explaining the origin of the observed surface features.

Bio: Deepika Gupta is a Postdoctoral Researcher in Aerospace Engineering and Engineering Mechanics at the University of Texas at Austin. Her research focuses on the mechanics of fracture, interfaces, and large-deformation processes in heterogeneous material systems, with an emphasis on resolving the local processes governing deformation, contact, and interfacial separation through in-situ experimental measurements. She received her Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from the Indian Institute of Science, where she developed in-situ experimental frameworks and the Ensemble Averaged Digital Image Correlation (EADIC) method to quantify large-strain deformation in metal cutting. Her work received the Best Doctoral Symposium Award at the American Society of Mechanical Engineers Manufacturing Science and Engineering Conference in 2022. Prior to joining UT Austin, she worked as a Research Engineer at Saint-Gobain Research India. At UT Austin, her research investigates interfacial fracture in layered material systems relevant to electronic packaging, combining high-resolution deformation measurements with mechanics-based analysis to quantify traction–separation relations governing interface failure.

Contact: Jin Yang (jin.yang@austin.utexas.edu) and Kenneth Liechti (kml@mail.utexas.edu)

Dr. Manoj Dhadwal
Assistant Professor
Aerospace Engineering
San Diego State University

March 19, 2026

The rapid expansion of space exploration demands aerospace structures that are lightweight, highly flexible, deployable, and capable of operating in extreme environments. As structural scale and architectural complexity increase, rigorous modeling and high-fidelity experimental validation become critical. Important yet insufficiently explored challenges include elastic tailoring in deployable composite structures and the nonlinear dynamic phenomena that arise during and after deployment. This talk presents advances in computational structural mechanics and experimental characterization aimed at improving predictive modeling of slender, coupled aerospace structures. On the computational side, developments include mixed-variational anisotropic beam cross-sectional theories that rigorously capture elastic couplings and three-dimensional stress fields, as well as spectral element formulations for coupled beam systems that enable high-resolution analysis of structural dynamics and wave propagation. Experimentally, the work addresses the design and testing of deployable composite boom systems and the dynamic characterization of wind turbine blades, where modal interactions and localized couplings induced by geometric and material nonlinearities are quantified using advanced data analysis techniques. The talk concludes with a brief overview of ongoing efforts to understand the dynamical behavior of origami-inspired elastic foldable structures and elastic metamaterials.

Bio: Dr. Manoj Kumar Dhadwal is an Assistant Professor of Aerospace Engineering at San Diego State University. He earned his Ph.D. in Aerospace Engineering from Konkuk University in 2016, specializing in composite structures analysis and optimization. His previous academic appointments include research faculty at Seoul National University (South Korea), postdoctoral positions at the Technical University of Denmark (Denmark) and Konkuk University (South Korea), and a research assistantship at the Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur (India). His research encompasses rotorcraft and wind turbine structures, as well as deployable space structures, with a primary focus on structural mechanics and dynamics. His work integrates theoretical, computational, and experimental advances in aerospace composite structures, focusing on elastic couplings, dynamics, and testing. His long-term goal is to unify computational models and experimental methods through efficient modeling and data processing for real-time monitoring. Dr. Dhadwal is a Senior Member of AIAA and a member of ASME, VFS, and USACM. More information is available at https://astroflexis.space.

Contact: Jayant Sirohi (sirohi@utexas.edu)

Dr. Carlos Cesnik
Richard A. Auhll Aerospace Engineering Department Chair
Aerospace Engineering
The University of Michigan, Ann Arbor

March 24, 2026

Transport aircraft designs are evolving toward higher-aspect-ratio wings to improve aerodynamic performance and meet demanding flight mission specifications for reduced fuel consumption, lower emissions, and more efficient flight. With the resulting increased wing structural flexibility, flight loads also increase. Airworthiness certification mandated by regulatory agencies requires demonstrating that critical loads in these aircraft do not exceed specified limits that ensure safety and structural integrity. Active load alleviation schemes can enable reduced structural mass while satisfying certification requirements. Conventional approaches to maneuver load alleviation call for automatically deflecting control surfaces, such as elevons, to shift lift inboard and reduce the wing bending moment at critical stations. These control surfaces are deflected in proportion to monitored parameters (e.g., load factor or wing curvature) derived from sensor measurements.
This presentation will address the challenges encountered in load alleviation in those very flexible aircraft (VFA). It will start by reviewing the unique aeroservoelastic challenges that arise from large deformations of the wings and coupled aeroelastics—flight mechanics behavior, and the importance of having a framework able to capture geometric nonlinearities to allow the study of how the loads (and vibration) characteristics change when compared with a more traditional, less flexible aircraft. This will lead to a proposed control technique for maneuver load alleviation based on a reference governor and model predictive control. Based on these numerical studies, a half-aircraft model of a VFA is studied in the wind tunnel. The experimental results confirmed the control technique’s ability to reduce loads but also identified remaining challenges to be addressed for this solution. The presentation will end with a short outlook on how we intend to extend the approach in future studies.

Bio: Carlos E. S. Cesnik is the Richard A. Auhll Aerospace Engineering Department Chair and the François-Xavier Bagnoud Endowed Chair Professor of Aerospace Engineering at the University of Michigan. He is also the founding Director of the Active Aeroelasticity and Structures Research Laboratory. His research interests have focused on computational and experimental structural mechanics and aeroelasticity; aerothermoelastic modeling, analysis, and simulation of hypersonic vehicles; coupled nonlinear aeroelasticity and flight dynamic response of very flexible aircraft; active vibration and noise reductions in helicopters; and structural health monitoring for metallic and composite structures. He has over three decades of experience in the multi-fidelity, multi-physics modeling, design, simulation, and experimentation of various aircraft concepts, spanning fundamental and applied research. Professor Cesnik is a Fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, the Vertical Flight Society, and the Royal Aeronautical Society. He has over 400 publications in archival journals and conference proceedings, a recent book on the dynamics of flexible aircraft, and several invited lectures in aeroelasticity, smart structures, structural mechanics, and structural health monitoring. Professor Cesnik has been an active private pilot since 1981.

Contact: John-Paul Clarke (johnpaul@utexas.edu)

Dr. Renee Zhao
Assistant Professor
Mechanical Engineering
Stanford University

March 26, 2026

Millimeter-scale robots hold great promise for biomedical applications due to their remarkable shape-morphing capabilities. In this talk, I will present our recent advancements in millimeter-sized robots designed for medical applications. These robots leverage their thin-shell structures to enable a range of functionalities: 1) Providing internal cavities for drug storage; 2) Utilizing torsion-induced contraction as a pumping mechanism for controlled liquid medicine dispensing; 3) Acting as propellers that spin for propulsion to swim, exemplified by a device we call the milli-spinner.
As an example, I will highlight our recent development of the magnetic milli-spinner as a mechanical thrombectomy technology for treating acute ischemic stroke and brain aneurysms. The milli-spinner can easily navigate in complex and highly torturous vasculature, mechanically debulk and extract blood clots by significantly densifying the fibrin network, achieving a clot volume reduction to less than 10% of its initial size. This new clot debulking mechanism has demonstrated exceptional efficacy in both in vitro and in vivo pig studies.
In the second part of my talk, I will briefly explore how structural instability can be harnessed to create new functional origami designs for a variety of engineering applications.

Bio: Renee Zhao is an Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering at Stanford University, where she is also a Terman Faculty Fellow and Gabilan Faculty Fellow. She earned her Ph.D. in Solid Mechanics from Brown University and completed her postdoctoral training at MIT. Renee’s research focuses on the design of stimuli-responsive composites and structural instability-based shape-morphing mechanisms for multifunctional robotic systems. She has received numerous early career awards and honors, including being named a recipient of the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE), a Kavli Fellow by the US National Academy of Sciences, and one of MIT Technology Review’s 35 Innovators Under 35. Her research has resulted in over twenty patents and patent applications, and innovations from her lab have led to medical startups aimed at delivering revolutionary technologies to improve disease treatment.

Contact: Nanshu Lu (nanshulu@utexas.edu)

Tom Seidl
Sandia National Laboratories

April 02, 2026

Constitutive models for materials serve as closure relations for the general conservation laws of continuum mechanics and together these provide the mathematical foundation for engineering simulations. When modeling metals that undergo large deformations, it is often important to consider both elastic and plastic responses. Furthermore, the mechanical behavior of many metals is anisotropic due to microscale texture imparted during their manufacturing processes. This inherently complex nature makes the development of constitutive models for metals a difficult task.
The maturation of digital image correlation (DIC), a technique for measuring the motion of a patterned surface, has enabled the acquisition of high-resolution “full-field” data that is well-suited for material model calibration, validation, and selection. But calibration techniques struggle to fully capitalize on the rich deformation information contained in DIC measurements. A significant challenge is the creation of numerically efficient finite element simulations of mechanical characterization experiments and the computation of sensitivities needed for optimization-based calibration.
In this talk, I will present methods for calibrating anisotropic effective stress functions using full-field data from an experimental campaign focused on Al7079.

Contact: Jan Fuhg (jan.fuhg@utexas.edu)

Dr. Binbin Ying
Assistant Professor
Biomedical Engineering
UT Southwestern

April 07, 2026

Advances in engineering have enabled a new generation of soft medical robots and devices with unique theranostic capabilities for interfacing with delicate organs. However, challenges remain in achieving spatial and temporal precision in extreme body environments, particularly within the digestive system. This talk will highlight three recent preclinical innovations addressing these challenges: (i) BIOSENTER: a bioinspired soft enteroscopic robot for locomotion, steering, and intervention in the deep small intestine. (ii) IngRI: an ingestible, battery-free, tissue-adhering robotic interface for prolonged gut electrostimulation. (iii) e-GLUE: an electroadhesive hydrogel interface for enhanced mucosal retention of ingestible devices. These platforms demonstrate significant potential for managing chronic digestive conditions and beyond.

Bio: Binbin Ying is a tenure-track Assistant Professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering with a secondary appointment in the Division of Digestive and Liver Diseases, Department of Internal Medicine, at UT Southwestern Medical Center. Binbin received his Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from McGill University in 2021 and conducted research as a visiting Ph.D. scientist at the University of Toronto from 2018 to 2021. Before joining UT Southwestern, he was a Banting Postdoctoral Fellow in the laboratories of Professors Giovanni Traverso and Robert Langer at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Brigham and Women’s Hospital.
Binbin’s research focuses on the development and clinical translation of soft medical devices to address critical unmet challenges in human health. He has authored more than 20 scientific publications, including over 10 first-author papers in leading journals such as Science Robotics (in press), Science Translational Medicine, Nature Communications, and Nature Reviews Materials, and holds several granted and pending patents. His work has been recognized with numerous honors, including the Banting Postdoctoral Fellowship, the NSERC Postdoctoral Fellowship, and the Chinese Government Award for Outstanding Self-Financed Students Abroad.
Beyond his research, Binbin is deeply committed to mentorship and community engagement. He co-founded The Martlets Society, a webinar series dedicated to connecting young scholars and fostering the exchange of ideas and expertise. Outside the lab, he is a lifelong half-marathon runner who also enjoys swimming, basketball, hiking, camping, skiing, and exploring new activities with his son.

Contact  Jin Yang (jin.yang@austin.utexas.edu)