People
Our Team
Rebecca Taylor, Ph.D.
Director (curriculum vitae)
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
Logan Carpenter, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Research Associate
Investigating the impact on cellular functions from interfacing with DNA nanostructures.
Grace Rohaley, Ph.D.
Post-Doctoral Associate in Mechanical Engineering & SAXS specialist at Materials Characterization Facility.
Characterization and instrumentation for rapid protoyping and manufactured materials.
Sarah J. Weintraub, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral researcher in Mechanical Engineering
Leveraging synthetic biology tools to build scalable DNA nanoparticles for drug-delivery.
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
Anuhya Edupuganti, B.S.
Ph.D. Student in Mechanical Engineering (expected 2027)
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.
Lainie Beauchemin, B.S.
Ph.D. Student in Mechanical Engineering (expected 2029)
Using peptide nucleic acids to design self-assembling nuclease-resistant and protein-compatible nanostructures
Abraham E. Polanco Martínez, B.S.
Ph.D. Student in Chemical Engineering (expected 2029) Co-advised with Dr. Tagbo Niepa
Studying the detection and eradication of Candida auris using DNA origami.
Nandita Rai, B.S.
M.S. Student in Biomedical Engineering (expected 2026)
Studying DNA origami and Extracellular Vesicle Conjugates for Therapeutics
Gweneth Ge (Yuejun)
M.S. Student in Robotics Institute (expected 2026)
Building scalable, automated pipelines for DNA origami and nanoscale fabrication
Eladio R. Andujar Lugo
Undergraduate Student in Mechanical Engineering (expected 2025)
Designing DNA-PNA Origami Modeling/Visualization Tools
Nicholas Chung
Undergraduate Student in Mechanical Engineering (expected 2026)
Exploring manufacturing methods to produce and control DNA microswimmers
Shriya Sivakumar
Undergraduate Student in Mechanical Engineering (expected 2027)
Automating generation of CAD models of proteins with OnShape's FeatureScript program
Irene Yap
Undergraduate Summer Research Student in Biochemistry at UCSD (expected 2027)
Automating the generation of DNA models using CAD software
Directions to the lab
Office Location:5000 Forbes Avenue Driving directions:If you are visiting campus, hourly parking is available in the East Campus Garage: Laboratory Location:Our research laboratory space is located in:
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Ph.D. Alumni
Name |
Ph.D. Thesis title |
Graduation info |
|---|---|---|
D. Sebastian Arias |
Redefining Boundaries in DNA Nanotechnology: Complexity, Control, and Accessibility |
MechE Ph.D. Spring '25, now at Emerald Cloud Lab |
Weitao Wang |
Cell Membrane Engineering with Structural DNA Nanotechnology |
MechE Ph.D. Fall '24 and postdoc until Fall '25 |
Bolutito Babatunde |
Investigating a Flexible Framework for Automating Structural Multi-layer DNA Origami Designs |
MechE Ph.D. Fall '24, now at Ferhat Ay Lab |
Emma Benjaminson |
Methods for Designing, Manufacturing and Controlling Micro-Scale Swimming Robotic Systems Built with DNA Nanotechnology |
MechE Ph.D. '23, now at Novasenta |
Susana Beltrán |
Investigating Mechanotransduction Behaviors of Natural and Engineered Molecular Sensors for Patient-tailored Treatment Paradigms and Regenerative Rehabilitation |
MechE Ph.D. '23, now at the National Science Foundation as an Engineering/Science Analyst |
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. |
M.S. Research Alumni
Name |
Masters Thesis Title |
Graduation info |
|---|---|---|
Karthik Subramaniam |
Dynamic simulation of DNA microswimmer locomotion in an oscillating magnetic field. |
MechE MS Spring '25 |
Bhavya Chopra |
Membrane binding strategies for enhanced cellular uptake of DNs |
BME MS '23, incoming CMU Ph.D. Student for Fall 2025 |
Paula Arambel |
Wrinkling of Silicone Sheets Subject to Partial Clamping and Rationally-designed Perforations |
MechE MS Research '18, now at Insulet Corporation |
Microfluidic Platform for Multimodal Microscopy Studies of Structural DNA Nanotechnology |
MechE MS Research '18, now at Intel |
B.S./M.S. Alumni
Name |
Research description |
Graduation info |
|---|---|---|
Jaren Hubal |
Automating the preparation of DNA origami using an OT-2 pipetting robot. |
MechE MS Fall '24 |
Elsa Schleicher |
Honors Research on Cloud Lab Automation of DNA Origami Pre-Stock Solutions. Junior year project: Automating CAD models for DNA molecules with OnShape’s FeatureScript Program. |
MechE BS Spring '24, now at CSBio |
Sruti Bapatla |
Course Development for Mechanics 1: 2D Design |
MechE/BME BS expected Spring '25 |
Lawrence Onyango |
Mapping the analytical design space for DNA for 3D lever nanosensors |
MechE BS Spring '24 |
Caleigh Goodwin-Schoen |
Creating 3D printed models of biological structures |
MechE BS '22/MS '23, now at HRL Laboratories, LLC |
Ethan Husted |
Designing PNA nanostructures with 2-domain inputs |
MechE BS '22/MS '23, now at Key Tech |
Aparna Nair |
Controlling the length of DNA fabricated nanotubes using a hybridized origami/SST method |
MechE BS '23 |
Peter Sauer |
Creating a Dataset to Predict DNA Origami Formation |
Biological Sciences and Statistics/Machine Learning BS '23, now at the NIH Postbac IRTA program |
Anika Banga |
Remotely operable microscope-based microswimmer test arena |
SCS BS '22 |
Charlotte Andreasen |
Nanoscale DNA wall shear stress sensor |
MechE BS '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 BS '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 BS '21 |
Yishun (Daphne) Zhou |
Design and simulation of nanoscale DNA origami shear sensor |
MechE BS '20 |
Rishabh Jain |
Tracking magnetic microswimmers and stretching nanosprings. |
MechE BS '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 BS '21 |
Mitchell Riek |
Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship, Summer 2017 |
MechE BS '19, now at Caterpillar Inc. |
Rachel Sneeringer |
Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship, Summer 2017 |
MechE BS '20 |
Alexandra Eggleston |
Cell culture for MFI project |
ChemE/BME BS '17 |
Berk Sahin |
BME Carnegie Heart Fellowship, Summer 2017 |
MechE BS '19 |
Will Anstett |
SURG Project Spring 2018 |
MechE BS '18 |
Isabel Roscoe |
Rapid prototyping of molecular models |
MechE BS '18 / Tepper MBA '19 |
Jade Crockem |
Course development for "Modern Manufacturing in Steeltown" |
MechE BS '18 |
Sarah Karp |
Spring 2017 Course development for "Modern Manufacturing in Steeltown" |
MechE BS '18 |
Shivang Chordia |
Spring 2017 Course development for "Modern Manufacturing in Steeltown" |
MechE BS '18 |
Kelly Underwood |
Spring 2018 Course development for "Modern Manufacturing in Steeltown" |
MechE BS '18 |
Postdoc Alumni
Name |
Research description |
Graduation info |
|---|---|---|
Manoj Gupta |
Water-soluble gammaPNA nanostructures |
Postdoctoral Researcher 2020-2023 |
Dilhara Jayarathna |
Voice assisted protocol training, PNA, and origami validation |
Postdoctoral Researcher 2018 |