Research

Nanomechanics is a branch of science and engineering which deals with the study and application of fundamental mechanical properties of physical systems at the nanoscale, such as elastic, thermal and kinetic material properties. Some of the well-known labs are:

MIT: https://nanomechanics.mit.edu/

Univ. of Toronto: http://www2.mie.utoronto.ca/labs/nmml/

Univ. of Michigan: http://websites.umich.edu/~nanomech/

Nanobiomechanics (also bionanomechanics) is an emerging field in nanoscience and biomechanics that combines the powerful tools of nanomechanics to explore fundamental science of biomaterials and biomechanics. Some of the well-known labs are:

Univ. of Berkeley: https://biomechanics.berkeley.edu/

TU Delft: https://ceesdekkerlab.nl/

ETH: https://bsse.ethz.ch/biophysics

Microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) and the related micromechatronics and microsystems constitute the technology of microscopic devices, particularly those with moving parts. They merge at the nanoscale into nanoelectromechanical systems (NEMS) and nanotechnology. Some of the well-known labs are:

Caltech: https://www.mics.caltech.edu/

Stanford Univ.: http://micromachine.stanford.edu/

UC Irvine: https://mems.eng.uci.edu/

A metamaterial is a material engineered to have a property that is not found in ordinary materials. They derive the properties not from their base materials, but from their innovatively designed structures. Their precise shape, geometry, size, orientation and arrangement gives them their smart properties such as blocking, absorbing, enhancing, or bending waves, to achieve benefits that go beyond what is possible with conventional materials. Machine learning and artificial intelligence algorithms are currently used extensively to design such materials. Some of the well-known labs are:

Harvard Univ.: https://bertoldi.seas.harvard.edu/

Univ. of Illinois: https://matlack.mechanical.illinois.edu/

McGill Univ.: http://pasini.ca/