Sheiko Group People

View a list of group alumni.

Alumni

Verena Kempkes: Visiting Scholar, 2022-2022; Graduate Student at Carnegie Mellon University
Alexander Khalil Tanas: UG Student 2021-2023; Certified Medical Assistant at Reis Pediatrics, Kuakini Health System
Mitchell Maw: Graduate Student 2018-2022; Advanced Chemist at Eastman Chemical.
Dr. Foad Vashahi: Graduate Student 2018-2022; Polymer Scientist at Axoft, Inc.
Daixuan Zhang: Graduate Student 2017-2021; Scientist at Slingshot LLC Dr. Erfan Dashtimoghadam: Postdoc 2017-2021; Assistant Professor at Troy University
Dr. Farahnaz Fahimipour: Postdoc 2017-202; Assistant Professor at the School of Dentistry, UAB
Yidan Cong: Graduate Student 2017-2020; Data Scientist at Wayfair
Benjamin Morgan: Graduate Student 2016-2021
Andrew Keith: Graduate Student 2016-2021; Product Development Engineer at Lord Corporation
Dr. Vahid Kharikhami: Postdoc 2016-2019; Senior Scientist I at Covestro
Stephany Liffland: UG Student 2015-2016; Scientist Exponent at Consulting Firm
Sean Olson: UG Student 2015-2016; Senior Lead Data Engineer at Booz Allen Hamilton
Jing Zhou: Graduate Student 2015-2016; Associate Professor at Sun Yat-Sen University
Dr. Mohammad Vatankhah: Postdoc 2014-2017; Group Leader at Bausch + Lomb
Matthew Everhart: Graduate Student 2013-2018; Patent Lawyer, Cooley LLP, Washington DC
Chelsea Li: Graduate Student 2012-2016; R&D Director, Materials Techn at LePure Biotech
Will Daniel: Graduate Student 2011-2017; Scientist at Allotropic LLC
Samuel Sanders: UG Student 2011-2012; Chief Technology Officer at Quadratic 3D
Alex Zhushma: Graduate Student 2010-2015; Entrepreneur/ Founder of Larjj Logistics LLC
Dr. Natalia Lebedeva: Postdoc 2010-2013; Senior Chemist at Syngenta
Logan Pierce: Graduate Student 2010-2012; Military Academy
Courtney Spain: UG Student 2010-2011; R&D Lab Supervisor at W.R. Grace & Co.
Yuanchao Li: Graduate Student 2009-2014; Associate Professor at Sun Yat-Sen University
Mike Barrett: Graduate Student 2006-2009; Associate Principal Scientist at Merck
Gregory Rubinstein: UG Student 2006-2007; Graduate student at Princeton
Sherryl Yu-Su: Graduate Student 2004-2009; UG Lab Supervisor at UNC
Adrian Randall: High School Student 2004-2006; Graduate student at Stanford University
Michael Doriani: UG Student 2004-2006; Military Academy
Benjamin Goodhardt: UG Student 2003-2005; Graduate student at Virginia Tech
Dr. Hui Xu: Postdoc 2002-2005; Staff Scientist at Caliper Life Science
Samuel Lord: UG Student 2002-2004; Microscopy Specialist at UCSF, HHMI
Dr. Carlos Rodrigues: Postdoc 2002-2003; Assistant Professor at Instituto de Física de São Carlos
Bradley Carson: UG Student 2002-2002; Graduate student at North Carolina State University
Jamie Boyce: Graduate Student 2001-2007; Applied Scientist at MikroMasch USA
Frank Sun: Graduate Student 2001-2007; Manager Skin Health R&D at Johnson & Johnson
Dr. Marcelo da Silva: Postdoc 2001-2002; Assistant Professor at University of São Paulo
Deborah de Miguel Diez: Exchange Student 2001-2001; Teacher at University of Madrid
Isaac VonRue: Graduate Student 2000-2006; Chemistry Professor at Kings College
Svetlana Santer: Graduate Student 1998-2000; Professor at Universität Potsdam

Shape Shifting

Biological systems have the ability to program reversible shape changes in response to cues from their environment. While a variety of adaptive and stimuli-responsive materials like hydrogels, liquid crystalline elastomers, and shape memory materials have been developed, mimicking programmable behavior in a reversible way remains elusive.

Work published in Macromolecules by the Sheiko and Ashby groups, in collaboration with the University of Connecticut, Brookhaven and Oak Ridge National Labs, has shown that semi-crystalline elastomers may undergo reversible switching between well-defined shapes without applying any external forces. This behavior stems from the correlated interplay between a crystalline scaffold and a network of chemical crosslinks, each capable of encoding a distinct shape. The universal mechanism of reversible shapeshifting affords interesting opportunities for minimally invasive surgery, shape programmable biomedical implants, surgical sealants, and hands-free packaging.