You may find some of our projects here
We innovate materials, manufacturing processes, and applications, and also leverage automation and artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance these three key components.
We investigate fundamental problems of materials during manufacturing (e.g., polymerization, crystallization, and interface), develop multiscale manufacturing systems (e.g., laser-aided micro/nano-manufacturing, 3D printing), and fabricate functional devices to solve societal problems.
We transcend disciplines to focus on manufacturing. We aim to manufacture almost anything.
Laser-aided micro/nano additive manufacturing and materials processing
We use functional materials to build structures and functionalities at micro/nano-scale.
We investigate material transformation, and light-matter interaction during manufacturing.
We enable practical applications through materials and manufacturing.
Selected publications:
1. Shou, W., Mahajan, B.K., Ludwig, B., Yu, X., Staggs, J., Huang, X. and Pan, H., 2017. Low‐cost manufacturing of bioresorbable conductors by evaporation–condensation‐mediated laser printing and sintering of Zn nanoparticles. Advanced Materials, 29(26), p.1700172.
2. Shou, W. and Pan, H., 2016. Direct printing of microstructures by femtosecond laser excitation of nanocrystals in solution. Applied Physics Letters, 108(21).
3. Podder, C., Gong, X., Yu, X., Shou, W. and Pan, H., 2021. Submicron Metal 3D Printing by Ultrafast Laser Heating and Induced Ligand Transformation of Nanocrystals. ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces, 13(35), pp.42154-42163.
4. Shou, W., Ludwig, B., Wang, L., Gong, X., Yu, X., Grigoropoulos, C.P. and Pan, H., 2019. Feasibility Study of Single-Crystal Si Island Manufacturing by Microscale Printing of Nanoparticles and Laser Crystallization. ACS applied materials & interfaces, 11(37), pp.34416-34423.
Robot-assisted advanced manufacturing
We leverage robots and customized print module to enable dexterous manufacturing.
Selected publications:
1. Shou, W., Zhang, P. and Khattab, A., 2019. Parametric study of an automated nanoparticles spray process for nanofibers/fabric reinforced composites. Polymer Composites, 40(3), pp.1068-1077.
2. Tushar, N., et. al., Shou*, W., coming soon
Digital composites
We engineered polymers with controllable patterns/structures/materials using 3D printing.
We are pushing the scale down to molecule level with novel manufacturing techniques.
Selected publications:
1. Li, B., Deng, B., Shou*, W., Oh, T.H., Hu, Y., Luo, Y., Shi, L. and Matusik*, W., 2023. Computational Discovery of Microstructured Composites with Optimal Strength-Toughness Trade-Offs. arXiv preprint arXiv:2302.01078.
2. Gongora, A.E., Mysore, S., Li, B., Shou, W., Matusik, W., Morgan, E.F., Brown, K.A. and Whiting, E., 2021, October. Designing composites with target effective young’s modulus using reinforcement learning. In Proceedings of the 6th Annual ACM Symposium on Computational Fabrication (pp. 1-11).
Polymer design and discovery for better engineering
We design and synthesize polymers for AM and engineering applications
Selected publications:
1. Shou, W., Chao, B., Ahmad, Z.U. and Gang, D.D., 2016. Ordered mesoporous carbon preparation by the in situ radical polymerization of acrylamide and its application for resorcinol removal. Journal of Applied Polymer Science, 133(19).
2. Erps, T., Foshey*, M., Luković, M.K., Shou*, W., Goetzke, H.H., Dietsch, H., Stoll, K., von Vacano, B. and Matusik, W., 2021. Accelerated discovery of 3D printing materials using data-driven multiobjective optimization. Science Advances, 7(42), p.eabf7435.
3. Guo, M., Shou, W., Makatura, L., Erps, T., Foshey, M. and Matusik, W., 2022. Polygrammar: grammar for digital polymer representation and generation. Advanced Science, 9(23), p.2101864.
4. Park, S., Shou*, W., Makatura, L., Matusik, W. and Fu*, K.K., 2022. 3D printing of polymer composites: Materials, processes, and applications. Matter, 5(1), pp.43-76.
Functional fibers and textiles
We create new forms and functionalities of fibers with advanced materials and manufacturing techniques.
Selected publications:
1. Pan, T.D., Li, Z.J., Shou, D.H., Shou*, W., Fan, J.T., Liu, X. and Liu, Y., 2019. Buoyancy Assisted Janus Membrane Preparation by ZnO Interfacial Deposition for Water Pollution Treatment and Self‐cleaning. Advanced Materials Interfaces, 6(21), p.1901130.
2. Li, Y., et al., Shou*, W., Fan*, J., Coming soon
Sensor manufacturing and applications
We develop materials and manufacturing techniques to make affordable sensors.
Selected publications:
1. Luo, Y., Li, Y., Sharma, P., Shou*, W., Wu, K., Foshey, M., Li, B., Palacios, T., Torralba, A. and Matusik, W., 2021. Learning human–environment interactions using conformal tactile textiles. Nature Electronics, 4(3), pp.193-201.
2. Sun, Y., Liu, Y., Zheng, Y., Li, Z., Fan, J., Wang, L., Liu, X., Liu, J. and Shou*, W., 2020. Enhanced energy harvesting ability of ZnO/PAN hybrid piezoelectric nanogenerators. ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces, 12(49), pp.54936-54945.
3. Shou, W., et al.., 2017. Low‐cost manufacturing of bioresorbable conductors by evaporation–condensation‐mediated laser printing and sintering of Zn nanoparticles. Advanced Materials, 29(26), p.1700172.