3D perovskites have enormous potential for optoelectronic applications such as light-emitting devices, photodetectors and lasers, due to tunable optical properties. Achieving precise control over their characteristics, specifically color purity, can be costly to discover because of their highly nonlinear behavior.  In this work, machine learning (ML) will be employed to explore the synthesis parameter space and target perovskite films with desired RGB values. By varying the annealing time and composition of the MAPbIBr₂ perovskite while fixing other synthesis parameters the film’s optical response can be adjusted. Using Bayesian Optimization, a data-driven approach will be established based on experimental feedback for precisely tuning the perovskite. This synthesis framework is designed for easy adaptation to other synthetic spaces requiring precise material control. This research aims to accelerate ML-driven design of perovskites while enhancing our understanding of their nonlinear synthesis space.

Laboratory automation has demonstrated great potential in accelerating the discovery and optimization of new materials. However, the lack of low cost high-throughput characterization has been a limiting factor in the development of autonomous self-driving labs. To address this, we developed an open-source 3D-printable robotic framework that can be integrated with an ocean optics spectrometer probe designed to measure materials properties in a high-throughput fashion. The device is low-cost, easy to construct and fully compatible with the Opentron (OT-2) automated liquid handler. The system operates on a printer-gantry system that moves the spectrometer probe across a laboratory plate as scanning progresses. We aim to achieve scanning speeds of 1 second per well, allowing a standard 48 well laboratory plate to be completed in under 1 minute – a significant improvement over current times achieved with human testing. Additionally, we outline potential applications for the system through the characterization of perovskite semiconductors for energy-efficient lighting and discuss the challenges of fully integrating this device into a completely autonomous workflow. Despite its current limitations, by facilitating high throughput characterization through affordable, open-source technologies, this device enables materials researchers in underserved regions to accelerate progress in key areas such as green technology development. 

Lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) are used in a wide range of applications, including portable electronics, electric vehicles, and grid-scale energy storage. The material composition of the electrodes and electrolyte play a critical role in determining LIB performance. In the cathode, a lithium-containing active material known as LiNi0.8Mn0.1Co0.1O2 (NMC-811) has attracted growing interest to its high specific capacity, high energy density, and reduced cobalt content. However, at high voltages NMC-811 reacts with the liquid electrolyte to form a cathode-electrolyte interphase (CEI) on the surface of the particles. If the CEI is unstable, it can lead to performance degradation as cycling continues. The mechanism of CEI formation remains unclear but is influenced by the NMC-811 particle morphology, cathode structure, voltage, and current density. To better understand these relationships, we are using 3D printing methods to fabricate three-dimensional (3D) NMC-811 cathodes for more fundamental CEI macro-scale characterization work. By producing 3D cathodes with controlled variations in porosity and internal cell pressure, this study investigates how these factors impact, CEI formation, current density profiles and overall NMC-811 cathode performance. My contribution to this research is focused on developing fabrication procedures for the 3D cathode structures, characterizing the cathode structures with optical profilometry and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) imaging, and analyzing the electrochemical behavior of CEI formation during cycling with incremental capacity (IC or dQ/dV) analysis. By using 3D printing techniques to support electrochemical characterization, this research aims to provide insight into the contributing factors of CEI formation in NMC-811 cathodes for LIBs. This work was supported in part by the Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Office of Vehicle Technologies of the US Department of Energy (DOE) through the Cathode–Electrolyte Interphase (CEI) Consortium.

Knee meniscus tears are common musculoskeletal injuries that have difficulty healing on their own. Required surgical interventions often fail to restore the function of damaged tissue resulting in the need to develop more effective therapies. To do so, it is necessary to develop in vitro models for further investigation of mechanisms of regeneration in the meniscus. To model the mechanical environment of the meniscus, our lab developed a pentenoate-functionalized hyaluronic acid (PHA) hydrogel system with tunable elastic, compressive moduli. However, viscoelastic properties, assessed via stress relaxation time, also dictate cellular behaviors that are favorable for regeneration. The objective of this study is to tune the viscous response within the PHA hydrogel system without significantly impacting the compressive modulus. I hypothesize that viscoelastic properties can be modulated by tuning non-covalent chain entanglement by increasing the amount of un-crosslinked (non-functionalized) HA (UHA) in the PHA hydrogel system. Specifically, I expect that increased entanglement will increase the viscous response without significantly altering the compressive modulus. I performed multiple iterations of stress relaxation and uniaxial compression tests on 0, 0.5, 1, and 2% UHA hydrogels on a dynamic analysis system. I found that increasing the amount of UHA in the hydrogel system had no statistically significant effect on the compressive moduli or stress relaxation half-times, suggesting that modulating the UHA in the hydrogel system allowed me to maintain elastic properties but does not yet allow fine control over the viscous properties. Limitations of the DMA indicate the need to also perform rheological assessments to analyze stress relaxation using constant shear strain. Future directions also include seeding meniscal cells on the hydrogels to assess the impact of viscoelastic properties on the regenerative behavior of meniscal cells. Ultimately, results from these studies will contribute to the development of regenerative therapies for meniscal tears.

The meniscus is a fibrocartilaginous tissue that sits in the knee and acts as a stabilizer and shock absorber. Meniscus tears are a prevalent injury among athletes in contact sports. Severe tears often do not heal, even with surgical intervention and synthetic replacements. Our lab seeks to develop treatments that encourage functional regeneration of the original cartilage-like tissue. A critical initial step toward this goal is understanding the specific cell types within the meniscus and the specific extracellular matrix (ECM) proteins that these cells produce.  Our ultimate goal is to find the cells that can best regenerate the damaged matrix after injury. My project entails comparing NIH/3T3 cells, a well researched immortalized mouse fibroblast cell line, to the cells of interest: human meniscal fibrochondrocytes (MFCs), the predominant ECM-synthesizing cells within the meniscus. I am comparing the expression of known and newly-identified ECM protein markers at different stages of in vitro cellular growth via fluorescent antibody staining and confocal microscopy. These images can be compared using analysis tools like ImageJ to quantify the amount and localization of matrix protein expression. I will use relevant quantifications, including  the percentage of total cells expressing each protein and the percentage of surface area covered by each protein. 3T3 cells are far more robust and resilient than MFCs, they replicate more readily, and I hypothesize that they will produce a greater quantity of ECM in a given timeframe. However, as both cell lines are fibroblasts, I expect the localization and percentage of cells expressing each protein to be similar. Comparing the expression and localization of ECM proteins across these two different cell types allows us to better characterize MFCs in a robust way, contributing a novel functional characterization to the literature.

The meniscus is a crescent-shaped fibrocartilaginous structure in the knee joint that plays a crucial role in weight distribution, shock absorption, and joint stability. Women experience higher rates of meniscal tears when controlled for sport and tend to have worse clinical outcomes following treatment. While surgery remains the standard treatment, regenerative therapies using human meniscal fibrochondrocytes (MFCs) have shown promise in repairing damaged tissue and improving joint stability. However, repeated culture of primary MFCs on tissue culture polystyrene (TCPS) is known to alter cell phenotype, leading to loss of native function. These phenotypic changes remove our ability to accurately model differences that are seen in vivo, such as sex differences. One approach to mitigate phenotypic change is culturing MFCs in a 3D environment, which more closely mimics the native extracellular matrix (ECM) and helps maintain cell phenotype. Little research has been done to assess whether 3D cell culture systems preserve sex-based differences in meniscal tissue. Sodium alginate beads offer a well-characterized, accessible, and cost-effective 3D tissue culture system designed for fibrochondrocytes. These beads are formed via ionic cross-linking between sodium alginate and calcium chloride solution. Studies have demonstrated that sodium alginate can maintain cell phenotype in chondrocytes, making it a promising alternative to TCPS for MFC culture. To address the issue of phenotypic changes, we cultured MFCs in sodium alginate beads and examined their ability to preserve sex differences in vitro. Previous data from our lab indicates that female MFCs express higher levels of decorin (DCN), a key ECM regulator protein, compared to male MFCs. Therefore, to determine whether the 3D structure of sodium alginate beads better supports the native phenotype of MFCs by maintaining sex differences, we analyzed DCN immunostaining. These findings establish an in vitro system that preserves and facilitates the study of sex differences observed in vivo.

Additive manufacturing, particularly 3D printing, often produces surface ridges, especially for complex geometries, that require post-processing to achieve a smooth finish. Laser ablation is an effective technique for smoothing these surfaces, but precise identification of ridges is crucial for optimizing the process. This study explores the use of machine learning to detect and ablate 3D print ridges, improving the accuracy of laser smoothing. A convolutional neural network (CNN) was trained on greyscale images of printed surfaces, learning to segment ridge regions from background material. From there, image processing filters and a line transform was applied to gather line defining information to be converted into DXF, a readable file for the laser software. The trained model was integrated into a graphical user interface (GUI) to automate ridge detection and guide the laser for targeted ablation, minimizing manual intervention. The system was validated on test parts, demonstrating overall efficiency and accuracy in ridge identification. Other experiments were done to determine proper laser and process parameters to achieve an accurate and smooth surface finish. The experimental results showed improved surface uniformity. The automated approach made laser smoothing efficient and scalable for industrial and manufacturing applications. By leveraging machine learning, this method advances the precision and repeatability of post-processing in 3D printing, reducing labor costs and improving final product quality.

Play is a fundamental aspect of a child’s development. However, many toys on the market require fine motor skills for children to interact with them, creating barriers for those with varying physical abilities. This highlights the need for accessible play technology, such as adapted toys activated by an accessible switch. Unfortunately, these toys are often expensive and difficult to customize. To fill this gap, we developed the Switch Kit – a low-cost, customizable solution for accessible play. The Switch Kit includes: (1) interactive media created in Scratch; (2) an input device that connects to switches, functioning like a keyboard; and (3) various low-cost, easy-to-make accessible switches. To evaluate the usefulness of the Switch Kit, 10 early intervention providers were given a kit to use with their clients for 4-6 weeks. I hypothesized that a child’s clinical presentation would impact their game play, including the type of game providers selected for their client. To differentiate them, I used quantitative interaction metrics logged from the deployment through Scratch, which tracked measures such as duration of each switch press, the number of switch presses, and games played. Providers used the Switch Kit with 10 children with cerebral palsy, 3 children with Autism Spectrum Disorder, and 7 children with global developmental delay. Children with cerebral palsy had the highest switch press rate, while children with Autism Spectrum Disorder had the lowest. This may indicate that children with ASD are less engaged with the Switch Kit in its current form. This research emphasizes the need for tailored game designs to boost engagement, and offers guidance for providers and families when shaping future game design strategies. 

Heart disease remains the leading cause of death in the United States, with the limited regenerative capacity of cardiac tissue resulting in long-term functional deficits following injury or defects. There is a critical need to develop physiologically relevant engineered heart tissues (EHTs) for disease modeling, drug discovery, and even cardiac surgery. Extrusion-based bioprinting offers a promising approach to generate EHTs with high spatial precision using human induced pluripotent stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes (hiPSC-CMs). However, most extrusion-based bioprinting methods rely on hydrogel-rich bioinks to achieve desirable rheological properties, often leading to low cell densities that limit tissue functionality. Here, we show that the cell’s properties can be leveraged to form high cell density bioinks with suitable rheological properties, without the need for excessive hydrogel content. Using these boinks, we bioprinted cardiac tissues (400 M cells/mL) around flexible polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) posts (2mm diameter) to assess contractile force output and electrophysiological characteristics. The printed cells began spontaneously beating after two days, maintained high viability (>80%), and formed mechanically robust tissues with strong structural integrity. These findings highlight the feasibility of high cell-density bioprinting for cardiac tissue engineering and provide a foundation for future work aimed at generating complex, functional EHTs with high cell-density and spatial precision.

This study investigates the mechanical behavior and fracture mechanisms of 3D-printed continuous carbon fiber/polymer matrix unidirectional composite materials as potential alternatives to conventionally processed laminate samples of similar geometry and constituents. A Markforged Mark Two 3D-printer is used for printing test samples using a proprietary nylon based, Onyx matrix-reinforced with C particulate and pure C fiber filament. 3D-printed samples and laminate samples will be evaluated through tensile and flexural tests to quantify mechanical properties to include strength, modulus of elasticity, and percent elongation. Hardness and sample densities will also be compared. Printing limitations of the Markforged printer will also be investigated. Fracture surfaces of both 3D printed samples and laminates will be examined with both stereomicroscopy and scanning electron microscopy to investigate differences in fracture morphologies involving fiber and matrix.

Self-exploration and mobility are crucial parts of a child’s development. Young children with Down syndrome experience movement delays compared to typically developing peers. The use of mobility aids, such as gait trainers and orthotics, has been shown to support these children with increasing their mobility. However, there remains a distinct lack of research on children with Down syndrome’s use of mobility aids. Therefore, this study examines children’s exploration in the Permobil Explorer Mini, a powered mobility device meant to facilitate self-exploration. In particular, this study compared changes in exploration as measured by distance traveled when using an Explorer Mini with a standardized rigid seat and a dynamic soft seat. During play sessions their movement was tracked using synchronized video cameras and a region-of-interest movement-tracking algorithm. This data, combined with annotations from the sessions, was used to determine if there is a significant difference in exploration between the rigid and dynamic seats. I expect there to be a significant increase in distance traveled with the dynamic seat than with the rigid seat due to its increased flexibility, comfort, and adjustment for children. The results of this study will help to expand research on mobility aids in promoting self-autonomy for young children with disabilities. These results can also aid in improving future mobility aid designs to ensure greater comfort for the children using them.

Self-initiated mobility has multi-faceted implications for early development, influencing cognitive, social, and physical growth. Children with Down syndrome experience delayed motor milestones—learning to walk much later than their neurotypical peers—potentially resulting in a delay of their overall development. Currently, limited research describes the impact of mobility aids on the muscular development of young children, particularly those with Down syndrome. Our study aims to address this gap by comparing and analyzing muscle activation patterns in children with Down syndrome aged 12-36 months,  both with and without mobility aids. I hypothesize that mobility aid use will result in an increase of muscle activation during play. Participants engaged in 30-minute exploratory play sessions in an enriched environment with and without mobility aids. During these sessions, data was recorded using surface electromyography sensors on the legs. The data was then analyzed to identify the nuances in muscle activation across different methods of movement—both aided and unaided. Preliminary results show that muscle activity may be similar regardless of the use of mobility aids. By identifying key muscle movement patterns, this analysis could inform future designs and protocols for motor skill development in all children, including those without Down syndrome. These findings could have implications for physical therapy and the recommendation of mobility aids for pre-ambulatory young children.

Elevated levels of metals such as copper (Cu) and manganese (Mn) are often observed in liver failure patients, individuals with Wilson’s Disease, and those with hypermanganesemia with dystonia or workplace exposure. The binding of Cu and Mn to proteins such as albumin and ceruloplasmin poses difficulties for their removal through dialysis. The primary objective of this research is to evaluate the effectiveness of adding albumin in dialysis in removing these toxic metals. We explored different blood and dialysis flow rates and dialysate albumin concentrations to find optimal conditions for Cu/Mn removal. We also explored cheaper Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved alternatives to albumin that may be effective at removing Cu/Mn. Additionally, due to Human Serum Albumin’s (HSA) limited supply and blood bank pricing, albumin from other mammal species were used to make treatments feasible. In this study we used albumin from several species and three low-cost albumin alternatives to remove Cu/Mn in a closed-loop dialysis process. We digested the biological samples with Nitric Acid and Hydrogen Peroxide on a hotplate and analyzed the atomic compositions of the biological samples using Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS). We measured the percent reduction of each toxic metal normalized by albumin concentration and found that 20 mL/min and 150 mL/min of Bovine Serum Albumin (BSA) dialysate resulted in a significant percent reduction compared to the negative control. For albumin alternatives, Dextran Sulphate showed promise by notably increasing Cu percent reduction compared to the negative control. Despite the encouraging data, a larger sample size is needed to make a conclusive statement. Although Mn had little variance with different dialysate flow rates or albumin, charcoal columns demonstrated an effective near 100% reduction at both 20 mL/min and 120 mL/min of dialysate flow rate. Further replication studies are needed.

Core needle biopsy tissue samples were prepared manually with 10% Formalin fixation followed by Hematoxylin & Eosin (H&E) staining in clinical laboratories worldwide, a gold standard for biopsy tissue preparation. The prepared samples were then sent to pathologists for analysis. The goal of this research project is to develop an automated H&E stain dispensing system capable of preparing diagnosable biopsy tissue samples in minutes, and to be integrated onto an automated core needle biopsy diagnosis medical equipment using Fluorescence Imitating Bright field Imaging (FIBI) method. This automated process reduces the time needed for the diagnosis process from days to hours. For many African countries that lack trained personnel and infrastructure, the time reduction is from a month to within a day. The reduction of cost and time makes early stage cancer diagnosis much more affordable and accessible to patients, especially in low-and-middle income countries (LMICs). This early diagnosis of cancer allows patients to start treatment earlier with projected improvement of cancer survival. The research mainly focuses on methods of H&E stain distribution and controlling stain uptake time on 1mm diameter x 16mm long biopsy tissue samples without damaging the sample using various protocols. This project also investigates whether the system should dispense hydrogen peroxide to remove excess blood on tissue specimens and Triton X-100 as a surfactant to permeabilize cell membranes for a fast stain uptake. Large volume of imaging results from automated system prepared tissue samples will be compared with results from manually prepared samples to determine the quality and reliability of the automated staining system.