Faculty Research Guide

• Young Cho
• Alexander Fridman
• Li-Hsin Han
• Alan C.W. Lau
• Ahmad R. Najafi
• Hongseok (Moses) Noh
• Sorin Siegler
• Wei Sun
• James Tangorra
• Jack G. Zhou

• Nicholas P. Cernansky
• Bakhtier Farouk
• Alexander Fridman
• David Miller

• Li-Hsin Han
• Ahmad R. Najafi
• Hongseok (Moses) Noh
• Jonathan Spanier
• Wei Sun
• James Tangorra
• Jack G. Zhou

• Jonathan Awerbuch
• Antonios Kontsos
• Alan C.W. Lau
• Ahmad R. Najafi
• Sorin Siegler
• Jonathan Spanier
• Tein-Min Tan

• Bor-Chin Chang
• Li-Hsin Han
• Harry G. Kwatny
• James Tangorra
• Ajmal Yousuff

• Nicholas P. Cernansky
• Young Cho
• Bakhtier Farouk
• Alexander Fridman
• E. Caglan Kumbur
• Matthew McCarthy
• David Miller
• Hongseok (Moses) Noh
• Ying Sun

As part of a team supporting researchers at the University of Colorado Boulder, MEM professor Dr. Najafi and CAEE colleagues Dr. Yaghoob (Amir) Farnam and Dr. Christopher Sales are facilitating the Reinforced Concrete Repair by an Evolving Visualized Internal Vascular Ecosystem (RC-REVIVE) project.

Sponsored by Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Bio-inspired Restoration of Aged Concrete Edifices (BRACE) program in the Biological Technologies Office (BTO), this multi-university project aims to engineer a bio-inspired healing vasculature that remediates mechanisms of degradation and maintains such bio-inspired function to extend the service life of reinforced concrete structures.

Dr. Najafi’s lab will investigate the modeling of damage-healing mechanisms in cementitious composite samples. In addition to partners in the Drexel University CAEE Department, the project includes collaboration with researchers at the University of Colorado Boulder (Lead PI Mija Hubler, Wil V. Srubar, Christopher Senseney, and Srikanth Madabhushi) and North Carolina State University (Moe Pourghaz).

For more information, please contact Dr. Ahmad Najafi at arn55@drexel.edu

Dr. Joshua Agar is the lead PI in securing a Major Research Instrumentation (MRI) grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF), alongside co-PIs Dr. Shannon Capps, Dr. Matthew Stamm, Dr. Jane Greenberg, and Dr. Linh Ngo, for the development of a Platform for Accessible Data-Intensive Science and Engineering (DISE).  The NSF has awarded $4M for the development of this platform through August of 2026. DISE will be a system for data management, sharing, and analysis that allows for automatic data collection and curation, instant access for computational analysis, and research result sharing for reproducibility. The system will pave the way for new research in data-driven science and scientific outcomes.

The platform will be equipped with a 2-petabyte scientific data management system, a 500-terabyte all-flash high-performance parallel file system, and GPU-accelerated computation. These features promise not only to streamline data management but also to facilitate input/output operations per second (IOPS) intensive workflows, including foundations in AI, data-intensive computation for good, and reliable and trustworthy AI.For instance, DISE will provide access to diverse data and computing resources to design and benchmark optimization methods for physics-constrained machine learning, which is relevant not only for scientific applications but also for autonomous systems like self-driving cars. DISE can also address limitations in AI training to accelerate the development of sophisticated forensic neural networks to address AI-based media falsification. 

By making research findings more accessible to the public, DISE will provide increased return on research investments to the research community and society at large. Critically, DISE will also serve to train the next generation of scientists in data-intensive research, ensuring accessibility for diverse learners, and contributing to an equitable scientific community.

For more information, please contact Dr. Josh Agar at jca92@drexel.edu

Professors James Tangorra and Harry Kwatny in collaboration with Associate Professor Megan Leftwich at George Washington University and Professor Frank Fish at West Chester University have received a 3 year, $1.5 million grant from the Office of Naval Research entitled “Locomotion and transitions of an amphibious system: Biologic to Robotic.”  This project has two main objectives: (1) to refine our knowledge of the novel propulsion mechanisms of the California sea lion (Zalophus californianus) and extend it to high demand underwater environments; and (2) to develop a biological, i.e. morphologic and kinematic, understanding of sea lion locomotion on land. The proposed work will build on, and extend, fundamental studies of the California sea lion’s swimming mechanism and thrust production capabilities. This marine mammal displays morphological and behavioral characteristics—speed, agility, and flexibility—that allow it to operate in flow conditions that conform to projected naval operations. 

For more information contact Professor Tangorra at jlt66@drexel.edu or Professor Kwatny at hgk22@drexel.edu.

Professors Tein-Min Tan and Jonathan Awerbuch have been awarded a $350,000 grant from the FAA William J. Hughes Technical Center.  The two-year program will focus on studying (1) the damage tolerance and structural integrity of aircraft fuselage structures made of emerging material technologies and (2) the durability of adhesively bonded composite patch repairs of primary beam structures representative of typical aircraft wing or stabilizer components.  The FAA’s Full-Scale Aircraft Structural Test Evaluation and Research (FASTER) facility and Aircraft Beam Structural Test (ABST) fixture will be the primary mechanisms to leverage resources with other stakeholders, including NASA, DoD, and industry partners, such as Arconic, Boeing, Bombardier, etc.

For more information contact Professor Tan at tan@drexel.edu or Professor Awerbuch at awerbuch@coe.drexel.edu.

Dr. Joshua Agar, along with Co-PI Dr. Jeff Heflin of Lehigh University, have received a National Science Foundation (NSF) grant for the project “CRISPS: Cell-Centric Recursive Image Similarity Projection Searching”. The award funds the development of CRISPS, a full-stack software solution designed to facilitate creative inquiry into unpublished microscopy.  CRISPS is a multitouch, interactive research "buddy" that uses artificial intelligence to form associations like the human mind to identify similarities between images. It has permanent, immutable recollection to search and discover collections of scientific images based on labels and associations.

CRISPS will be documented and released under a non-restrictive license which allows its reuse, modification, and commercialization. The PIs will work with stakeholders in academia and industry to implement CRISPS for typical experiments in optical, electron, and scanning probe microscopies.  

For more information, please contact Dr. Josh Agar at jca92@drexel.edu

Professor Jack Zhou, in collaboration with Professor Donggang Yao, Co-PI, in Materials Dept. of Georgia Tech and industrial partner William G. Wilson, Jr. of Molded Magnesium Products, LLC, has received funding from the National Science Foundation for “GOALI/Collaborative Research: Thixotropic Metal Processing and 3D Printing of Zinc-Magnesium Bio-Alloys for Biomedical Implant Applications.” This award supports fundamental research to explore a novel manufacturing system that is capable of 3D printing zinc-magnesium bio-alloys and other bio-alloys highly desirable in implanted medical devices for their biodegradability and high strength. The total three-year funding for two universities is $640K.

For more details please contact Professor Zhou at zhoug@coe.drexel.edu.

Associate Professor Caglan Kumbur was awarded a 2-year, $384,000 grant from the National Science Foundation entitled “Exploring Particle Dispersion and Charge Percolation in Suspension Electrodes: Bridging Electrochemical Performance and Rheology.” This project deals with exploring the energy storage in flowing suspension fluids. Studies will be conducted to understand the role of the flow properties of fluid (i.e. flowable electrodes) on its capacity for electrical energy storage. This new flowable energy storage concept will also be implemented in water desalination applications to purify water. The resulting discoveries and new knowledge gained from these studies will benefit research on emerging energy storage and water treatment technologies and help develop new scalable technologies that utilize this new class of flowable electrodes. This project will also offer significant opportunities to extend and amplify the impact of the research to a larger society.

For more details please contact Professor Kumbur at eck32@drexel.edu.

The Mesoscale Materials Laboratory, in collaboration with investigators from the University of California at Berkeley and Bar-Ilan University, is exploring and developing the fundamental understanding of domain-wall oscillation and resonance effects in thin-film solid-solution multiferroic materials. Leveraging advanced materials synthesis, multi-scale modeling and simulation and cutting-edge characterization, the three-year project supported by the US Army Research Office will address limitations in the design and realization of highly tunable and low-loss dielectrics which are key for a variety of communications technologies.

For more details please contact Professor Spanier at spanier@drexel.edu.

Professor Alexander Fridman in conjunction with Associate Professor Christopher Sales and Research Professor Alexander Rabinovich have been awarded a grant from the Department of Defense Strategic Environmental Research and Development Program. This large-scale interdisciplinary research project is focused on understanding the interaction of plasma with liquids, plasma behavior inside water bubbles, novel phenomenon of plasma mist, and applications of these systems to abatement in water of the emerging contaminants. Especial focus of the project is the destruction in water of the PFC compounds (the so-called "forever-chemicals"), which are present in water on the level of ppb (part-per-billion), very dangerous for people, and extremely challenging to be destroy by majority of existing technologies.

For more information contact Professor Fridman at fridman@drexel.edu or Professor Sales at cms566@drexel.edu.

Professor Sorin Siegler, Ph.D, PI, in conjunction with Professor Giuseppe Palmese, PhD, co-PI and a team of medical and veterinary professionals at the University of Pennsylvania, Penn State and Thomas Jefferson University including Dr Keith Wapner, MD, Dr Christopher Jones, MD, Dr Michael Ciccotti, MD, Dr Jarrett Cain, MD, and Dr Thomas P. Shaer, VMD, (all co-PI) as well as commercial advisor Brian Garvey, CEO, Kinos Medical, received a grant from The Coulter Foundation entitled "Orthopedic Surgical Devices with Controlled Fluid-Induced Expansion Properties for Improved Bone Fixation and Bone Integration." The grant will support research to develop a family of bone fixation products that will improve the outcome of orthopedic surgery using a porous co-polymer with controlled fluid-induced expansion properties as part of the bone-fixation mechanism. Fixation to bone is fundamental in many orthopedic applications such as re-attachment of torn tendons and ligaments and repair of osteochondral defects, but conventional bone fixation systems use engineering materials such as titanium and PEEK that have inherent deficiencies such as poor fixation strength in low-density bone, stress shielding inducing bone resorption, and lack of osteointegration that can give rise to surgery-related failures characterized by anchor pullout, graft subsidence, and implant loosening.

Products developed by this grant aim to improve surgical outcomes by increasing fixation strength to bone, preventing bone resorption, and promoting osteointegration, particularly with the development of improved suture anchors and repair of osteochondral defects. This will impact thousands of patients undergoing orthopedic procedures that require bone fixation from such as rotator cuff repairs, ligament repairs, and tendon transfers.

For more details please contact Professor Siegler at sieglers@drexel.edu.

Assistant Professor Dr. Ahmad Najafi has received a $517,000 grant from the National Science Foundation Faculty Early Career Development Program (CAREER) for his project “CAREER: A Holistic Framework for Designing Multifunctional Materials and Structures Using Computational Optimization Methods.” This grant supports fundamental research oriented toward extending the traditional design of single-function materials and structures. This is achieved through the formulation of a holistic framework for the design of intricate multifunctional structures and materials, engaging new multiphysics algorithms that optimize material constituents and architectures simultaneously. Furthermore, this project offers design-themed educational and outreach activities to enhance public knowledge and attract talented students to STEM careers in the design area while also targeting academically at-risk and underrepresented minority students to reduce school dropout via an out-of-school-time STEM education program.