Research

We are materials scientists, chemists, physicists, and engineers who integrate geometric modeling with the making and measuring of materials to reveal why discontinuous, many-particle systems behave in surprising ways and how to program them.

Using geometry and topology as our compass, we seek scale-invariant rules (e.g., dimensionless geometric descriptors and topological invariants) that organize discontinuous, many-particle systems from molecules to architected lattices.

Our core hypothesis: strategically entangled contact networks generate collective intelligence in matter.

Overview

We study many-particle matter where parts touch, link, jam, and interlock. We treat geometry and network topology as code to program how forces and information move through materials. Our goal is simple and ambitious: build materials with collective intelligence – able to sense, adapt, protect, and remember with minimal external control.

Learn More

We work with materials made of many discrete parts, from molecules to colloids to architected units. These parts interact through contact, entanglement, and interlocking rather than forming a single continuous solid. This lens reveals non-intuitive behaviors and lets us ask how shape and connectivity, as much as chemistry, determine how a material carries force, stores memory, shares information, and changes over time. Our aim is to turn those rules into materials that show lifelike behavior: responsive, multifunctional, and energy efficient.

Our approach spans length scales and is grounded in materials science. We program molecular organization and entanglement through synthetic chemistry and self-assembly. We build meso- and macroscale architectures with additive manufacturing. We connect processing, structure, and properties through computation and in situ characterization. The organizing principle is many-particle architecture across scales, which sits outside the usual soft- versus hard-matter categories.

We link math and physics to making and measurement. Using geometric and topological design, supported by data-driven modeling, we translate rules about shape and connectivity into real behaviors—tunable stiffness and damping, lock-and-unlock mechanics, morphing, self-protection, self-repair, and mechanical memory.

Our long-term vision is intelligent matter: materials whose capability comes from how many parts are arranged and how they interact. This opens routes to resilient aerospace components, adaptable robotic elements, and durable energy and packaging interfaces where reliability, safety, and efficiency are desired.

Our Current Projects of Interest

Data-driven inverse design of many-particle matter

Data-driven inverse design of many-particle matter

Computational design [Hiring]

We build physics-informed and AI models that link shape and connectivity to performance. Then we invert those models to discover designs that hit target material properties such as damping, memory, and morphing.

Autonomous measurement [Hiring]

Autonomous measurement

We close the loop with automated experiments that generate high-quality data. Computer vision and active learning guide which samples to make and test next for rapid validation.

Multiscale synthesis of tangled materials

Multiscale synthesis and manufacturing of tangled materials

Bottom-up synthesis and self-assembly. +

Bottom-up synthesis and self-assembly.

We synthesize interlocked and catenated motifs at molecular and colloidal scales using programmable chemistry and self-assembly. Topology is verified and its impact on properties is measured in situ.

Bottom-up synthesis and self-assembly

We synthesize interlocked and catenated motifs at molecular and colloidal scales using programmable chemistry and self-assembly. Topology is verified and its impact on properties is measured in situ.

Additive manufacturing of tangled architectures

Additive manufacturing of tangled architectures.

We 3D print and hand-make chain-linked lattices and tangled meshes with tunable locking and compliance. Processes are developed for scalability and integration with real devices.

Collective Intelligence in discontinuous matter

Collective intelligence of discontinuous material systems

Microscopic, discontinuous colloidal machines

Microscopic, discontinuous

colloidal machines

We design colloidal units that twist, interlock, and reconfigure to control transport and motion. Local interaction rules are translated into logic-like responses and memory.

Deployable, stimuli-responsive tangled structures

We engineer macroscopic structures that lock or change stiffness with light, heat, fields, or chemicals. Targets include protective packaging, soft robotic elements, and adaptive interfaces.