SMART Lab

Structures & Materials through Advanced & Robotic Technologies Lab

About

The SMART (Structures & Materials through Advanced & Rebotic Technologies) Lab at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University advances research at the frontier of smart materials, adaptive robotic structures, and advanced manufacturing. We take a multidisciplinary approach to developing innovative engineering solutions, from intelligent sensing systems to reconfigurable structures, with applications spanning aerospace and beyond. Our goal is to push the boundaries of what materials and structures can sense, adapt, and achieve.

Research Areas

Additive Manufacturing
Adaptive Structures
Embedded Sensors and SHM
Soft Actuators and Sensors
In-Space Manufacturing
Inflatable and Origami Structures
Space Debris Removal Mechanisms

Lab Updates

5/2026 - A paper about agar/starch-based film development is published in MDPI Polymers (DOI: 10.3390/polym18111321).

5/2026 - Four of our lab members - Connor Dewey, Miles Lettings, Chester See, and Josh Shuster - have graduated with their undergraduate degrees in Aerospace Engineering. Congratulations!

1/2026 - Josh Shuster presented his research on deployable origami-inspired structures for space habitats at the Florida Capitol.

1/2026 - Scott Bender and Aliya Zhagiparova presented their research at AIAA SciTech focusing on embedded sensing in cryogenic tank (DOI: 10.2514/6.2026-2452) and flow control using PAM-actuated morphing (DOI: 10.2514/6.2026-1523).

2025

12/2025 - A paper about recent developments in pneumatic artificial muscle actuators is published in MDPI Actuators (DOI: 10.3390/act14120582).

11/2025 - A paper about two-photon polymerization bioinspired microstructures with tunable wettability is published in ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces (DOI: 10.1021/acsami.5c10911).

10/2025 - Zefu Ren defended his Ph.D. dissertation. Congratulations!

10/2025 - Dr. Kim named AIAA Associate Fellow for excellence in the aerospace industry. Congratulations!

10/2025 - Our Lab has secured a grant through the NASA SBIR Program (Phase II), allowing us to collaborate with Orbotic Systems.

8/2025 - Madison Hardiman received a Florida Space Grant Consortium (FSGC) Dissertation and Thesis Improvement Fellowship.

7/2025 - Aliya Zhagiparova defended her Master's thesis. Congratulations!

7/2025 - Nicholas Reed defended his Ph.D. dissertation. Congratulations!

4/2025 - Jackson Schuler defended his Master's Thesis. Congratulations!

4/2025 - Miles Lettinga received a Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) and LDA was awarded an Ignite Research Grant (IRG) for project Chimera.

2024

11/2024 - Kayann Coote defended her Master's Thesis. Congratulations!

10/2024 - Our work on embedded ceramic sensors using additive manufacturing is published in Crystals (DOI: 10.3390/cryst14110936).

7/2024 - Rishikesh S.G. defended his Ph.D. dissertation. Congratulations!

6/2024 - Our Lab has secured a grant through the NASA SBIR Program, allowing us to collaborate again with Orbotic Systems.

5/2024 - A paper about wetting morphologies for tunable micropatterning is published in Additive Manufacturing (DOI: 10.1016/j.addma.2024.104220).

4/2024 - A paper about polymer nanocomposite sensors using additive manufacturing is published in Sensors (DOI: 10.3390/s24092694).

4/2024 - Both Sarah Ketchersid and Katelyn Branaman defended their Master's theses. Congratulations!

2/2024 - A paper about butterfly wing scale inspired micro surfaces is published in ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces (DOI:10.1021/acsami.3c14765).

2023

11/2023 - A paper about photocurable IP-PDMS for soft micro systems is published in Polymers (DOI: 10.3390/polym15224377).

6/2023 - Our Lab has secured a grant through the NASA SBIR Program, allowing us to collaborate with Orbotic Systems.

1/2023 - Dr. Hui-suk Yun from the Korea Institute of Materials Science (KIMS) gave a talk on ceramic additive manufacturing.

2022

12/2022 - An additively manufactured DEA paper is published in Frontiers in Robotics and AI (DOI: 10.3389/frobt.2022.1034914).

11/2022 - Nicholas Smith defended his Master's Thesis. Congratulations!

10/2022 - Dr. Kim serves as a guest editor of Sensors, Special Issue 'Advanced Sensors using Smart Materials,' with Dr. Salowitz (UWM) and Dr. Tian (VT).

9/2022 - Our Lab receives support from the NSF Future Manufacturing (FM) program. We collaborate with Dr. Eduardo Rojas and Dr. Houbing Song to study how to connect devices through embedded sensors during additive manufacturing.