Rooted in the fundamentals of structural mechanics and fluid-structure interaction (FSI), inspired by the biological examples with soft and flexible muscles and skins, we aim to improve the design and modeling of soft structures and robots, and enhance its energy efficiency operating in complex ocean environment. Our research will have a broad impact in a range of applications: marine structures, additive manufacturing, soft robots, bio-inspired propulsion, and renewable energy systems.

Our research approach emphasizes a synergic integration of machine learning into traditional expensive finite element-based simulations and lab-scale FSI experiments. This unified approach aims to tackle the key challenges in soft underwater structure designs, which include high-dimensional design space, geometrical nonlinearity, and fluid-structure interactions.