People

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Our Team

Rebecca Taylor

Director (curriculum vitae)

ANSYS Career Development Chair of Engineering, Associate Professor in Mechanical Engineering and, by courtesy, Biomedical Engineering and Electrical and Computer Engineering

    Aleyamma Alexander, Ph.D.

    Postdoctoral Research Associate

    Analyzing DNA nanostructures for targeted delivery

      Weitao Wang, Ph.D.

      Postdoctoral Researcher in Mechanical Engineering - formerly Ph.D. student co-advised with Xi (Charlie) Ren (BME)

      DNA nanostructures interfacing with cellular membranes; computational tools for molecular dynamics; data and image analysis

        D. Sebastian Arias Roldan, B.S.

        Ph.D. Student in Mechanical Engineering (expected 2024)

        Sebastian won a GEM Fellowship! He is developing a nano-scale DNA strain sensor.

          Bolutito Babatunde, B.S.

          Ph.D. Student in Mechanical Engineering (expected 2024) Co-advised with Jonathan Cagan

          Tito won a DoD NDSEG Fellowship! She is exploring the intersection between DNA nanotechnology and automated design.

            Taryn Imamura, B.S.

            Ph.D. Student in Mechanical Engineering (expected 2025) Co-advised with Sarah Bergbreiter

            Taryn is an NSF and GEM fellowship awardee, who is developing a hybrid top-down, bottom-up manufacturing process for microswimmers using DNA origami.

              Vismaya Walawalkar M.S.

              Ph.D. Student in Mechanical Engineering (expected 2025)

              Studying nano-scale DNA shear sensors.

                Isabella Ferranti, B.S.

                Ph.D. Student in Mechanical Engineering (expected 2026)

                Studying how DNA origami nanostructures and nanobiosensors interface with cells

                  Indranil Sinha, M.S.

                  Ph.D Student in Mechanical Engineering (expected 2026)

                  Neil is studying structural and functional characterization of micro and nanorobots.

                    Anuhya Edupuganti, B.S.

                    Ph.D. Student in Mechanical Engineering (expected 2027) Co-advised with Matt Travers (RI)

                    Investigating the Self-Assembly of Modular Robots Constructed using DNA

                      Zijuan Liang, B.S.

                      Ph.D. Student in Mechanical Engineering (expected 2027) Co-advised with Burak Ozdoganlar

                      Studying DNA origami and microneedle arrays.

                        A.J. Vetturini, B.S.E

                        Ph.D. Student in Mechanical Engineering (expected 2027) Co-advised with Jonathan Cagan

                        A.J. is exploring the expansion of design methodologies for DNA origami

                          Leah Dickey, M.S.

                          Ph.D. Student in Biomedical Engineering (expected 2026)

                          Leah is a GEM Fellowship recipient, who is investigating relationships between design parameters and therapeutic outcomes of DNA nanostructures.

                            Bhavya Chopra, M.S.

                            Lab Technician (BME M.S. 2023)

                            Investigating strategies for targeted attachment of DNA origami to endothelial cell membranes.

                              Karthik Subramaniam, B.E.

                              M.S. Student in Mechanical Engineering (Expected 2025)

                              Modelling the forces on and movement of microswimmer robots using LS-Dyna.

                                Elsa Schleicher

                                Undergraduate Student in Mechanical Engineering (expected 2024)

                                Automating CAD models for DNA molecules with OnShape’s FeatureScript Program.

                                  Eladio R. Andujar Lugo

                                  Undergraduate Student in Mechanical Engineering (expected 2025)

                                  Designing DNA-PNA Origami Modeling/Visualization Tools

                                    Sruti Bapatla

                                    B.S. Student in Mechanical Engineering and Biomedical Engineering (expected 2025)

                                    Course Development for Mechanics 1: 2D Design

                                      Directions to the lab

                                      Office Location:

                                      5000 Forbes Avenue
                                      Scaife Hall, Room A10
                                      Pittsburgh, PA 15213

                                      Driving directions:

                                      If you are visiting campus, hourly parking is available in the East Campus Garage:
                                      5040 Forbes Avenue
                                      Pittsburgh, PA 15213

                                      Laboratory Location:

                                      Our research laboratory space is located in:
                                      Scaife Hall, Room A11

                                      Lab Alumni

                                      Name

                                      Research description

                                      Graduation info

                                      Lawrence Onyango

                                      Mapping the analytical design space for DNA for 3D lever nanosensors

                                      MechE BS expected Spring '23

                                      Emma Benjaminson

                                      Micro-Scale Swimming Robotic Systems Built with DNA Nanotechnology

                                      MechE Ph.D. '23, now at Novasenta

                                      Susana Beltrán

                                      Cellular mechanotransduction and Engineered Molecular Sensors

                                      MechE Ph.D. '23

                                      Bhavya Chopra

                                      Membrane binding strategies for enhanced cellular uptake of DNs

                                      BME MS '23

                                      Caleigh Goodwin-Schoen

                                      Creating 3D printed models of biological structures

                                      Mechanical Engineering UG '22/MS '23, now at HRL Laboratories, LLC

                                      Ethan Husted

                                      Designing PNA nanostructures with 2-domain inputs

                                      Mechanical Engineering UG '22/MS '23, now at Key Tech

                                      Aparna Nair

                                      Controlling the length of DNA fabricated nanotubes using a hybridized origami/SST method

                                      Mechanical Engineering UG '23

                                      Peter Sauer

                                      Creating a Dataset to Predict DNA Origami Formation

                                      Biological Sciences and Statistics/Machine Learning UG '23, now at the NIH Postbac IRTA program

                                      Anika Banga

                                      Remotely operable microscope-based microswimmer test arena

                                      SCS UG '22

                                      Ying Liu

                                      Biosensing and imaging with structural DNA nanotechnology

                                      MechE Ph.D. '21, now at Huawei, Inc

                                      Sriram Kumar

                                      Self-assembly of synthetic nucleic acid nanostructures for the development of mechanical biosensors

                                      MechE Ph.D. '21, now at Pacific Biosciences.

                                      Charlotte Andreasen

                                      Nanoscale DNA wall shear stress sensor

                                      MechE UG '21, now Ph.D. student at the University of Michigan in the Arruda Lab

                                      Kayleigh Boyle

                                      Designing and modelling 3D PNA and DNA nanostructures

                                      MechE UG '21, now at Key Tech

                                      Mitchell Harmatz

                                      Magnetically actuated microswimmers made from microbeads and DNA

                                      Research assistant through May 2020, now at Perelman School of Medicine (UPenn)

                                      Fatima Basit

                                      Design and fabrication of nanostructures and nano-devices using two photon polymerization

                                      MechE UG '21

                                      Yishun (Daphne) Zhou

                                      Design and simulation of nanoscale DNA origami shear sensor

                                      MechE UG '20

                                      Rishabh Jain

                                      Tracking magnetic microswimmers and stretching nanosprings.

                                      MechE UG '22

                                      Taylor Clayton

                                      Nanoscribe-fabrication templates for bead pocketing self-assembly, now at General Motors in the NextGen Controls Group

                                      MechE MS '19

                                      Benjamin Pavlat

                                      Micropost tracking analysis

                                      ChemE UG '21

                                      Mitchell Riek

                                      Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship, Summer 2017

                                      MechE UG '19, now at Caterpillar Inc.

                                      Rachel Sneeringer

                                      Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship, Summer 2017

                                      MechE UG '20

                                      Dilhara Jayarathna

                                      Voice assisted protocol training, PNA, and origami validation

                                      Postdoctoral Researcher 2018

                                      Paula Arambel

                                      Wrinkling of Silicone Sheets Subject to Partial Clamping and Rationally-designed Perforations

                                      MechE MS Research '18, now at Insulet Corporation <https://www.insulet.com/>

                                      Alexander Kwakye

                                      Microfluidic Platform for Multimodal Microscopy Studies of Structural DNA Nanotechnology

                                      MechE MS Research '18, now at Intel

                                      Alexandra Eggleston

                                      Cell culture for MFI project

                                      ChemE/BME UG '17

                                      Berk Sahin

                                      BME Carnegie Heart Fellowship, Summer 2017

                                      MechE UG '19

                                      Will Anstett

                                      SURG Project Spring 2018

                                      MechE UG '18

                                      Isabel Roscoe

                                      Rapid prototyping of molecular models

                                      MechE UG '18 / Tepper MBA '19

                                      Jade Crockem

                                      Course development for "Modern Manufacturing in Steeltown"

                                      MechE UG '18

                                      Sarah Karp

                                      Spring 2017 Course development for "Modern Manufacturing in Steeltown"

                                      MechE UG '18

                                      Shivang Chordia

                                      Spring 2017 Course development for "Modern Manufacturing in Steeltown"

                                      MechE UG '18

                                      Kelly Underwood

                                      Spring 2018 Course development for "Modern Manufacturing in Steeltown"

                                      MechE UG '18