Waves, such as sound and vibrations, play a critical role in how we protect structures, detect defects, and sense the world around us. 

We, at the Patil Research Group, focus on understanding and harnessing wave-material interactions, i.e., how waves propagate through, scatter from, and are shaped by materials (and structures). Our research is built on three interconnected pillars: wave physics, which describes how waves behave; engineered materials, which enable us to shape and control that behavior; and wave intelligence, which allows us to extract information carried by wave signals. 

Our research focus areas are: (1) Design – we design materials to achieve targeted wave responses, (2) Perception – we use waves for perception of environments and objects, and (3) Characterization – we perform characterization to identify material properties, structural response, and detect defects. Our approach integrates computational modeling, controlled experiments, and data-driven learning to both engineer wave behavior and interpret the signals that arise from it.

These efforts support applications such as the development of materials that can guide, filter, or mitigate vibrations in aerospace structures, nondestructive evaluation of aircraft components, and wave-based sensing and perception in challenging operational environments such as flight and underwater systems.