Welcome!
We are a research group in the Mechanical Engineering Department at University of Texas at Dallas, directed by Prof. Rodrigo Bernal. We are interested in studying nanomaterials, and how mechanical properties (e.g. modulus, strength) or mechanical inputs (e.g. stretching, compressing, twisting) can be used to tune or control other physical properties (e.g. electrical, thermal, chemical). As miniaturization in electronics becomes more difficult and costly, these new nanomechanical multiphysics functionalities are critical to develop and enable novel sensing, actuation and electronic technologies. We are primarily an experimental group, but collaborate frequently with simulation and theory experts to fully understand our measurements. Please explore our research and publications for more details.
News
09/2024: Prof. Bernal was promoted to Associate Professor with tenure.
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04/2019: We moved into our permanent home in the brand new engineering building at UTD. Please see the facilities webpage for more details.
03/2017: We are excited to move into our new lab in the brand new BSB building at UTD. Please see the facilities webpage for more details.
01/2017: The Nanomechanical Multiphysics Lab has officially started at UTD!
Openings
We are always looking for enthusiastic Ph.D. candidates, Masters students, and undergrad researchers. We have Ph.D. openings for 2025! postgraduate
If you are interested in pursuing a doctorate at UTD, please see the admission page and program. Please contact us via email and include a CV, a short description of why you want to pursue a PhD, and what do you find interesting about our research.
If you are an undergrad or master’s student at UTD and would like to pursue research in our lab, feel free to email or come by the PI’s office to discuss potential projects. You can get elective credit (BSc, MSc) for research! We have MSc Thesis Projects as well.
For Fall 2024 – Spring 2025, we have projects on:
- Simulation of polymeric actuators using COMSOL multiphysics, ANSYS or ABAQUS.
- Dynamic simulations of MEMS and 3D printing for simulation verification.