People

EMCLab at Penn State is home to a team of dedicated researchers who are passionate about smart materials. Meet our team:

Lab Director

 

Zoubeida Ounaies

Director of Convergence Center for Living Multifunctional Material Systems (LiMC2),
Professor

zxo100@engr.psu.edu

Google Scholar

 

Researchers

 

Xiaoue Zhao

Mechanical Engineering

 

Xiaoyue Zhao is currently a postdoc at Penn State. Before joining EMCLab, she attended Xi’an Jiaotong University, where she earned a Bachelor of Engineering in Process Equipment and Control Engineering in 2015. From 2015 to 2017, she attended Carnegie Mellon University University, where she received a Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering. She then worked as a reliability engineer at Amazon. After that, she graduated with a Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from Penn State in 2023. Her research focuses on the fabrication and characterization of multifunctional materials, the triboelectric behavior of polymer and its composite, and materials for energy harvesting.

Graduate Students

 

Mohammad Hossein Zamani

Mechanical Engineering

mbz5281@psu.edu, LinkedIn

Google Scholar

M. Hossein is a Ph.D. student in Mechanical Engineering. He obtained his BSc and MSc in Polymer Engineering from Tehran Polytechnic and the University of Tehran, specializing in smart polymer nanocomposite systems. He joined EMCLab in Spring 2023. Currently, M. Hossein is researching shape memory polymers, 4D printing, and magneto-active elastomers to develop dual-responsive polymer composite systems. He describes himself as a team player, problem solver, innovator, humorous, passionate about soccer, and a dedicated Real Madrid and Esteghlal Tehran fan.

Amir Hossein Farahani

Materials Science and Engineering
Amirhossein is a Ph.D. Student in Materials Science and Engineering. In 2022, Amirhossein earned his master’s degree from the School of Metallurgy and Materials Engineering at the University of Tehran. At Penn State University, he works as a research assistant in the Materials Science and Engineering Department exploring smart polymers. The focus of Amirhossein’s research is on piezoelectric biopolymers, improved manufacturing, and micro-structural evolutions that have an impact on their electroactive properties.
Christian Bergen

Mechanical Engineering

Christian is a PhD student in Mechanical Engineering. He obtained his BS in Engineering Science at Penn State in Spring 2020, and continued research in the MACS Lab with Dr. Paris Von Lockette as a graduate student. He joined the EMCLab in Fall 2023. His current research includes coupled magnetic-elastic topology optimization, energy transduction in magnetic soft robots, and machine learning techniques with optimization. He aims to improve current optimization schemes for magnetoelastic soft robots for untethered actuation and biodevices.

 

 

 

Undergraduate Students

 

Daniel Raymond Strobel

Mechanical Engineering

Drs6093@psu.edu, LinkedIn

Dan is a third-year undergraduate student and Schreyer Honors Scholar studying mechanical engineering at Penn State. Dan joined EMCLab in Spring 2023 and will be assisting M. Hossein in researching 4D printing and magneto-active elastomers with the goal of creating unique and complex actuation. Outside of academics, Dan enjoys running with Club Cross Country, watching Philly sports (Go Birds), and participating in THON, the largest student-run philanthropy in the world.

 

 

 

 

Vishal Janapati

Biomedical Engineering

 

Vishal is studying Biomedical Engineering at Penn State. His research focuses on printing ceramics though direct ink writing. On campus, Vishal is involved with Digi Digits and BMES. In his free time, he likes to read books and play volleyball.