The M&M (Mechanics&Materials) Lab is led by Dr. Zi Chen, who will start a new lab at Brigham and Women’s Hospital/Harvard Medical School in 2021.

Dr. Chen received his PhD in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at Princeton University. Dr. Chen’s research interests range from solid mechanics and material science to biomechanics and mechanobiology, covering such diverse topics as mechanical instabilities of materials, energy harvesting, soft robotics, biomimetic materials/devices, smart personal protection equipment (PPE), nanofabrication (e.g., nanowires, nanoribbons, grapheme sheets), mechanics of morphogenesis in biological systems (embryonic development, biofilm growth, etc.), cell biomechanics (e.g., epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition and cancer cell migration), and mechanics of DNA structures. 

Dr. Chen has been involved in research projects that have collectively been supported by over $17 million in grants with around $3.8 million grants to Dr. Chen’s laboratory from National Institute of Health, National Science Foundation, Office of Naval Research, Society in Science, and Facebook Inc. Dr. Chen has received a number of prestigious awards and honors including Society in Science – Branco Weiss fellowship, International Association of Advanced Materials Innovation Award, Marquis Who’s Who in the World, Outstanding Paper Award at the ASME 2013 2nd Global Congress on NanoEngineering for Medicine and Biology (NEMB), American Academy of Mechanics Founder’s Award, MRS Graduate Student Award Silver Award, etc. He is a founding co-Editor-in-Chief of Journal of Postdoctoral Research, and an editorial board member of Journal of Applied Mechanical Engineering and Journal of Material Science & Engineering.

The Chen lab is currently looking for postdoctoral fellows and visiting graduate students/scholars with background/interest in solid mechanics/biomechanics/biomedical engineering/physics. There are current NO openings for PhD students. Any candidate interested in the opening positions should send a cover letter and a full CV with the contact information of 2-3 references to zichen@alumni.princeton.edu. The positions remain open until filled.