Aishwarya Pantula, PhD candidate in the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, was recently awarded “Outstanding Presentation by an Early Career Researcher” by Physical Review Journals, published by the American Physical Society. Pantula won the award for her presentation at the 2023 Gordon Research Seminar (GRS) about gelatinous robots which move in a direction dictated by temperature changes and design, as detailed in Science Robotics.
Pantula was invited to deliver the Early Career Investigator talk at the associated Gordon Research Conference (GRC) on Optimizing the Synergy Between Architecture, Non-Equilibrium Processes, and Materials, held the following week.
Pantula’s research focuses on exploring smart materials like stimuli-responsive hydrogels, combining them with novel patterning methods like 3D/4D printing, imprint molding, lithography, etc., and using different mechanical design strategies to create untethered biomimetic actuators and locomotors across size scales for soft robotics and biomedical devices.
For more about gelatinous robots, see this story on The Hub.