People
Our Team
Rebecca Taylor, Ph.D.
Director (curriculum vitae)
Professor in Mechanical Engineering and, by courtesy, Biomedical Engineering and Electrical and Computer Engineering
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.
Praneetha Sundar Prakash, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Research Associate
Design and optimization of unique DNA nanostructures for bacterial uptake studies.
Pei-Ying (Emily) Lin, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Research Associate
Development of nucleic acid strand displacement circuits for biosensor applications.
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
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.
Gweneth Ge (Yuejun)
M.S. Student in Robotics Institute (expected 2026)
Building scalable, automated pipelines for DNA origami and nanoscale fabrication
Vanessa Wu
Undergraduate Student in Materials Science and Engineering (expected 2029)
Integration of peptide nucleic acids for developing hybrid DNA nanostructures for synthetic biology applications
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 |
|---|---|---|
Vismaya Walawalkar |
Towards Considerations for Cellular-level Instrumentation with DNA Nanostructures |
MechE Ph.D. Fall '26 |
Taryn Imamura |
Cell Membrane Engineering with Structural DNA Nanotechnology |
MechE Ph.D. Summer '26, now a Lawrence Fellow at LLNL |
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 Sony/Hawk-Eye Innovations as a Biomechanics Engineer |
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 |
|---|---|---|
Nicholas Chung |
Microswimmer fabrication and control |
MechE BS Spring '26, now an NSF GRFP fellow at the Robotics Institute |
Srija Chintalapalle |
Automation instrumentation at the AI Foundry's Chemical and Biological Innovation Lab |
BME MS Summer '26 |
Leah McKnight |
DNA origami assessment comparing gel electrophoresis, atomic force microscopy and capacitance measures. |
BME MS Fall '25 |
Eladio Andujar Lugo |
Semi-automated Design of XNA-DNA Nanostructures with Arbitrary Helicity. |
MechE BS Spring '25 |
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 |
|---|---|---|
Aleyamma Alexander |
Synthesis and decoration of gene-encoding nanoparticles |
Postdoctoral Researcher 2023-2025 |
Manoj Gupta |
Water-soluble gammaPNA nanostructures |
Postdoctoral Researcher 2020-2023 |
Dilhara Jayarathna |
Voice assisted protocol training, PNA, and origami validation |
Postdoctoral Researcher 2018 |