The increasing demand for human-machine interactions, renewable energy, operations in harsh conditions, and multimodal robotics requires intelligent and adaptive devices. We need innovative solutions from multifunctional devices that harness the intelligence of micro/nanocomposites and architected materials to synergistically complement integrated electronics.

The AIMS group at the University of Alabama establishes the correlations between materials, architectures, and manufacturing methods to develop intelligent electro-mechanical devices. The vision of our group is to develop and harness the intelligence of smart and architected materials to develop multifunctional devices, enabling them to take different shapes or embody different behaviors to autonomously adapt in target conditions.

We study the mechanics and manufacturing methods of micro/nanocomposites for flexible sensors/actuators and structural resilience, and programmable metamaterial for logic processing, compliant mechanisms, and shape morphing functions. The adaptive materials and structures developed in our group enable multifunctional devices that can embody different shapes and behaviors to function in changed configurations and environments, advancing the design and manufacturing domain for biomedical, robotics, infrastructures, and energy technologies. The group navigates engineering intelligence in three interrelated areas: