People

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Our Team

Rebecca Taylor, Ph.D.

Director (curriculum vitae)

ANSYS Career Development 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

      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.

        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) 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.

                      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

                        Karthik Subramaniam, B.E.

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

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

                          Jaren Hubal, B.S.

                          M.S. Student in Mechanical Engineering (expected 2024)

                          Studying automated preparation of DNA origami using OT-2 pipetting robot.

                            Eladio R. Andujar Lugo

                            Undergraduate Student in Mechanical Engineering (expected 2025)

                            Designing DNA-PNA Origami Modeling/Visualization Tools

                              Elsa Schleicher, B.S.

                              Postbachelors Researcher in Mechanical Engineering (BS '24)

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

                                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

                                    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

                                    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

                                    Sruti Bapatla

                                    Course Development for Mechanics 1: 2D Design

                                    MechE/BME BS expected Spring '25

                                    Manoj Gupta

                                    Water-soluble gammaPNA nanostructures

                                    Postdoc 2020-2023

                                    Lawrence Onyango

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

                                    MechE BS Spring '24

                                    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