Join the lab
Come build active materials with us
The eMACS Lab welcomes undergraduate, master's and PhD students who like making things, modeling them, and finding out why they behave the way they do.
What you could work on
Optimization and simulation
Topology optimization in COMSOL, and models of how particle arrangements set material properties.
Fabrication and printing
Mixing magnetic composites, printing them, and patterning them with fields.
Medical devices
Bistable mechanisms for single-ventricle heart defects, and peristaltic blood pumps that limit damage to blood cells.
Bio-inspired design
Micro-CT, image analysis and mechanics of plants that reinforce themselves, with partners in Germany.
Who we look for
PhD students. Apply to the UMBC Mechanical Engineering graduate program and mention the eMACS Lab in your statement. Experience in solid mechanics, materials, computation or experimental fabrication helps.
Master's students. Thesis students work on a focused project with a defined deliverable, as Swapna Kshirsagar did on a heart-assist mechanism.
Undergraduates. Students from any year are welcome, including Meyerhoff Scholars. Most start by joining an existing project and take on their own piece within a semester or two.
How to get started
Read about the work. Browse the research and publications pages and note the projects that interest you.
Fill out the skills survey. It takes a few minutes and tells us about your background, skills and interests.
Send an email. Mention that you filled out the skills survey, and include a short note on what you want to work on, your CV, and an unofficial transcript.
Talk with us. We will set up a conversation, and often a chat with current students in the lab.
pvonlock@umbc.edu
Open email