Biomedical Engineering · Mechanical and Materials Engineering · Florida International University
Prasad Lab for Materials Research
We study the mechanics of engineered and biological materials, design composites, and build materials and devices for electronics, precision agriculture, and healthcare. Our work combines experiments, manufacturing, and mechanical simulation.
People
Principal Investigator
Dr. Anamika Prasad
Associate Professor, Biomedical Engineering · Mechanical & Materials Engineering
Associate Director, Center of Innovation in Cardiovascular Health
anprasad@fiu.eduEducation
- PhD, Materials Science and Mechanics, MIT
- MS, Civil and Environmental Engineering, MIT
- BTech, Civil Engineering, IIT-BHU, Varanasi
Dr. Anamika Prasad is an Associate Professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering and the Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering at Florida International University, where she also serves as Associate Director of the Center of Innovation in Cardiovascular Health. Her research focuses on functional materials design and manufacturing for emerging technologies, including electronic packaging, thermal management, plant mechanics and cellulose biomaterials, precision agriculture, and regenerative tissue scaffolds. She is the recipient of the 2025 ASME Rising Star of Mechanical Engineering award and the 2021–2026 NSF CAREER Award. She received postdoctoral training from Stanford University and holds a PhD in Materials Science and Mechanics from MIT. She previously held a faculty position at South Dakota State University and IIT Delhi. She is active in several professional organizations, including the American Society of Composites (ASC), the American Ceramic Society (ACerS), and The Minerals, Metals and Materials Society (TMS).
Education
Experience
Graduate Students
Ariadna Herrera
PhD, Biomedical Engineering · 2024–present · LinkedIn
2024 Florida Heart Research Early Career Researcher Award.
Alexi Switz
PhD, Biomedical Engineering · 2023–present · LinkedIn
Doctoral Student Grant, FL Heart Research Foundation (2025–present); TMMS Fellow (2023–2025).
Mohammad Salman Ibna Jamal
PhD, Biomedical Engineering · 2023–present · LinkedIn
Kiyana Saeedian
PhD, Mechanical and Materials Engineering · 2023–present · LinkedIn
Presidential Fellow.
Hilda Kafui Nuworku
PhD, Mechanical and Materials Engineering · 2024–present · LinkedIn
Rachelle A. Gomez-Guevara
PhD, Biomedical Engineering · 2024–present · LinkedIn
Wallace H. Coulter Fellow.
Basil Usama Ahmad
PhD, Biomedical Engineering · 2024–present · LinkedIn
Undergraduate Researchers
- Giana Lopez — BME · Fall 2025–present · Mentor: Alexi Switz.
- Paula Gait — BME · Fall 2025–present · Mentor: Alexi Switz.
- Paulina Perez — BME · Spring 2025–present · Mentor: Rachelle Gomez-Guevara.
- Daniela Lozano Infante — BME · Spring 2025–present · Mentor: Rachelle Gomez-Guevara.
- Vitaliia Arifova — BME · Fall 2025–Spring 2026 · Mentor: Rachelle Gomez-Guevara.
- Hafsa Mariam — BME · Fall 2025–Spring 2026 · Mentor: Hilda Nuworku.
- Nestha Venepally — BME · Fall 2025–present · OUR Fellow. Mentor: Kiyana Saeedian.
- Jhoan Gonzales — BME · Spring 2026–present · Postdoc mentor: Utpal Dhar.
Research/Funding
Electronic Packaging & Thermal Management
Advanced materials for flexible and emerging electronics. Research areas include flexible substrates, interface-engineered composites, and bioinspired thermal management materials aimed at addressing emerging needs in next-generation electronics (wearable systems, sensors, heterogeneous integration, end-of-life, critical mineral recovery).
Funding: Exploring
Data-Driven Materials Design
Data-driven frameworks for materials design through integration of structure–process–property relationships and standardized datasets for AI-enabled workflows. Current work focuses on processing and nanomechanical characterization of conductive hydrogel and polymeric systems, in collaboration with Georgia Tech.
Funding: NSF DMREF
Selected Work: Cureus Journal of Engineering 2026 · Composites Part B 2024 · submitted (PEGDA hydrogel)
Plant Mechanics, Design, and Manufacturing
Investigating the multiscale mechanics and interfaces of plant cell walls as hierarchical fiber-reinforced composites to uncover the structure–composition–property relationships governing mechanical performance and multifunctionality. By integrating experiments (Raman spectroscopy, SEM, and nanoindentation), computational modeling (FEM and molecular dynamics), and manufacturing approaches, we are establishing engineering design principles for next-generation bioinspired composites across diverse applications.
Funding: NSF CAREER
Selected Work: ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces 2025 · Applied Materials Today 2025 · Cellulose 2025 · Biomimetics 2023
Regenerative Scaffolds
3D-printed and electrospun bone and cardiac scaffolds, bioreactors, and diagnostic platforms supporting tissue regeneration and repair. Focus includes pediatric bone sarcoma, pediatric tissue regeneration, and cardiac patches.
Funding: Florida Heart Research Foundation, NSF I-Corps, FL Dept. of Health
Selected Work: Scientific Reports 2026 · HardwareX 2024 (EnduroBone) · U.S. Patent 12,433,489 (2025)
Biomedical Devices & Precision Agriculture
Affordable lab hardware and biosensors spanning fiber testing, fiber formation, and real-time plant health monitoring and precision delivery.
Funding: USDA and Misc.
Selected Work: HardwareX 2026 (MicroStretch) · Sensors and Actuators A 2023 · Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety 2025
Selected Funding
Filled icon indicates active funding
- NSF I-Corps — RESTORE: Regenerative Scaffold for Tissue Optimization, Repair, and Enhancement · 2026–2027 · PI
- USDA AFRI — Partnerships: Nano-Enabled Smart Sensors for Plant Health Monitoring · 2026–2029 · co-PI (PI: Wang, North Dakota State University)
- Florida Heart Research Foundation — Advancing Regenerative Approaches for Myocardial Infarction through a Standardized Ex-Vivo Diagnostic Platform for Cardiac Patches · 2024–2027 · PI
- Florida Cancer Innovation Fund — Enabling Technologies for 3D Printed Bone Reconstruction post Tumor Resection · 2024–2025 · PI
- NSF DMREF — Active Learning-Based Material Discovery for 3D Printed Solids with Locally Tunable Electrical and Mechanical Properties, Award #2323696 · 2023–2027 · PI
- NSF CAREER — Mechanics of Next-Generation Composites using Cellulose and Bioinspired Interphases, Award #2304788 · 2021–2026 · PI
- DOD Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR) DURIP — Characterizing Nanomechanics of Interfaces for Next-Generation Multifunctional Aerospace Composite · 2022–2023 · PI
- NASA EPSCoR — Additively Manufactured GRCop-42 Extended Investigation · 2020–2022 · co-PI
- NASA EPSCoR — Characterization of GRCop-42 Additively Manufactured Material · 2019–2021 · co-PI
Publications
2026–current
Submitted
-
Framework for Data-Driven Design and Discovery of PEGDA Hydrogel through Insights from Structure, Processing, and Mechanical Tunability
Submitted
Published
-
Framework for Integrating the Finite Element Method and a Statistical Learning Approach for Characterizing the Effect of Process Parameters on Mechanical Response
Cureus Journal of Engineering, 2026 · Link -
Impact of temperature and humidity on the structural and biocompatibility of 3D-printed PLA scaffolds for bone regeneration
Scientific Reports, 2026 · Link -
MicroStretch: Microstretcher designed for live imaging on microscopic stages
HardwareX, 2026 · Link
2025–2021
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Multiscale Mechanics of Calcium-Mediated Reinforcement within a Pectin-Cellulose Composite via Integrated MD and Experimental Approach
ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces, 2025 · Link -
Insights into the micromechanics and patterning of growing plant cell wall as a multifunctional composite
Applied Materials Today, 2025 · Link -
Conformational stability of homogalacturonan pectin in water and dry environments: A molecular dynamics study
MRS Advances, 2025 · Link -
Fundamental interactions between pectin and cellulose nanocrystals: a molecular dynamics simulation
Cellulose, 2025 · Link -
Green synthesis of neem extract and neem oil-based azadirachtin nanopesticides for fall armyworm control and management
Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety, 2025 · Link
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Mechanical Behavior of MXene-Polymer Layered Nanocomposite Using Computational Finite Element Analysis
Composites Part B: Engineering, 2024 · Link -
EnduroBone: A 3D printed bioreactor for extended bone tissue culture
HardwareX, 2024 · Link -
Affordable lab-scale electrospinning setup with interchangeable collectors for targeted fiber formation
HardwareX, 2024 · Link -
Nanomechanical Evaluation of Additively Manufactured GRCop-42 by Laser Powder Bed Fusion and Directed Energy Deposition
SSRN, 2024 · Link
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Bioinspired Design Rules from Highly Mineralized Natural Composites for Two-Dimensional Composite Design
Biomimetics, 2023 · Link -
Examining Cellulose-Pectin Interactions in Plant Cell Wall and Implication in Composite Design
American Society for Composites — 38th Technical Conference Proceedings, 2023 -
Full Body Harness Design Modifications and Evaluation: A Senior Design Project
The Journal of Undergraduate Research, 2023 · Link -
Polyaniline-based Sensor for Real-time Plant Growth Monitoring
Sensors and Actuators A: Physical, 2023 · Link
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Raman Spectroscopy for Nutritional Stress Detection in Plant Vascular Tissue
Materialia, 2022
2020–2016
-
Enhancing Mechanical Properties of Electrospun Cellulose Acetate Fibers upon Potassium Chloride Exposure
Materialia, 2020 · Link -
Biomechanics of Vascular Plant as Template for Engineering Design
Materialia, 2020 -
Bioimpedance Analysis of Vascular Tissue and Fluid Flow in Humans and Plants: A Review
Biosystems Engineering, 2020 · Link -
Nanomechanical Characterization of Additive Manufactured Gr-Cop-42 Alloy Developed by Directed Energy Deposition Method
ASME IMECE Proceedings, 2020 · Link -
Investigation of Additive Manufactured Gr-Cop 42 Alloy Developed by Blown Powder Deposition
ASME IMECE Proceedings, 2020 · Link -
Design of a 3D Printed Bioreactor for Bone Cancer Research
The Journal of Undergraduate Research, 2020 · Link -
Design of an Affordable Rotating Drum Electrospinner for Classroom Education
The Journal of Undergraduate Research, 2020 · Link
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Raman Spectroscopic Investigation of Bone post Extracorporeal Irradiation
Calcified Tissue International, 2018 -
A Novel Modular Tonometry Based Device to Measure Pulse Pressure Waveform in Radial Artery
ASME Journal of Medical Devices, 2017 -
A Computational Study to Investigate the Effect of Tonometry Geometry and Patient-Specific Variability on Radial Artery Tonometry
Journal of Biomechanics, 2017 -
Biomechanical Investigation of Extracorporeal Irradiation on Resected Human Bone
Journal of the Mechanical Behavior of Biomedical Materials, 2017 -
Robust Motion Artifact Resistant Circuit for Calculation of Mean Arterial Pressure from Pulse Transit Time
Engineering in Medicine and Biology Conference, 2017
2015–earlier
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Comparative Effectiveness of Thoracic Stent-Graft Design in Curved Vascular System
International Congress on Computational Mechanics and Simulation, 2014 -
A Computational Framework for Investigating the Positional Stability of Abdominal Endografts
Biomechanics and Modeling in Mechanobiology, 2012 -
Computational Analysis of Stresses Acting on Inter-Modular Junctions in Thoracic Aortic Endografts
Journal of Endovascular Therapy, 2011 -
Effect of Dilatation on the Elasto-Plastic Response of Bulk Metallic Glasses under Indentation
Materials Research Society Symposium Proceedings, 2010 -
Steady-State Frictional Sliding Contact on Surfaces of Plastically Graded Materials
Acta Materialia, 2009
Patents
-
Aligned Helical Electrospun Fiber Architecture
Patent Filed, Serial No. 19/629,769; filed March 26, 2026 -
Devices and Methods for In Vivo Tissue Diagnosis
U.S. Patent 12,433,489, Florida International University, 2025 -
A Novel Device for Measuring Pressure Pulses Based on Applanation Tonometry
U.S. Patent No. US2020173712A1; India Patent No. WO/2018/033938, 2018
Theses from the Group
-
Development of Corn Kernel-based Biocomposite Films for Food Packaging Applications
· Link -
Nanomechanical Characterization and Comparison of Additively Manufactured GRCop-42 Alloy
· Link -
Biomechanical Investigation of Plant Vascular Tissue for Bio-Inspired Design and Flexible Composites
· Link -
Development of Cellulose Acetate-Based Scaffold for Bone Tissue Engineering Applications
· Link -
3D Printed Bioreactor with Optimized Stimulations for Ex-Vivo Bone Tissue Culture
· Link -
Biomechanical Investigation of the Effect of Extracorporeal Irradiation on Resected Human Bone
· Link
News
- 2026 Congratulations Dr. Ariadna Herrera for a successful PhD defense! Title: "Characterization and Evaluation of PSIS and Electrospun PCL Scaffolds for Pediatric Valves."
- 2026 Dr. Prasad presented "Sustainable Substrate for Flexible Electronic Packaging: Material Opportunities and Challenges" at ChipCon, introducing the lab's new work on cellulose-based electronic substrates and chip-level thermal management.
- Mar 2026 Dr. Prasad gave an invited talk, "Micromechanics and Patterning in Growing Plant Cell Wall for Bioinspired Design and Manufacturing," at TMS San Diego.
- Feb 2026 "Grad student Alexi Switz is on the front line of cardiac innovation" — FIU News feature on the lab's cardiac patch research.
- 2026–2027 Awarded an NSF I-Corps grant for RESTORE: Regenerative Scaffold for Tissue Optimization, Repair, and Enhancement.
- 2025 Dr. Prasad received the ASME Rising Star of Mechanical Engineering award.
- 2025 "3D-printed bone reconstruction for pediatric cancer patients" featured in FIU News and FIU Research Magazine; the lab's open-source 3D-printed bioreactor was also covered by 3Dprint.com.
- 2024–2027 Awarded a Florida Heart Research Foundation grant to develop a standardized ex-vivo diagnostic platform for cardiac patches.
- 2024–2025 Dr. Prasad named an FIU Faculty Leadership and Success Fellow, Office of the Provost.
- 2024 Ariadna Herrera won the 2024 Stop Heart Disease "Early Career Researcher of the Year" award for her cardiovascular research.
- 2023–2027 Received an NSF DMREF award for active learning-based material discovery for 3D printed solids (Award #2323696).
- 2022 The lab moves to Florida International University.
- 2022 Dr. Prasad named SDSU Outstanding Researcher of the Year and Jerome J. Lohr College of Engineering Researcher of the Year.
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2021–2026
Dr. Prasad received an NSF CAREER Award for mechanics of next-generation composites using cellulose and bioinspired interfaces — the first ME faculty member at SDSU to receive this distinction.
- Sep 2021 The lab was renamed "Prasad Lab for Materials Research" to reflect its expanded scope; PhD student Mukesh Roy successfully defended his thesis.
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Sep 2021
"AFRL Fellowship fuels composite materials research" — News@SDSTATE feature on the lab's Air Force Research Lab summer fellowship work.
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Apr 2021
Dr. Prasad presented "Bones in Space" as part of the SD Discovery Center's Lunch and Learn outreach series.
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Mar 2021
"Researchers evaluate materials for NASA rocket engines" — Newswise coverage of the lab's NASA EPSCoR-funded work training students to test additively manufactured materials.
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Jul 2020
"Engineering study examines sunflower stem growth" — Phys.org coverage of the lab's plant vascular tissue research.
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2020
"Prasad develops biomaterials using cellulose fibers" — featured in the College of Engineering Annual Research Review.
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2019
Developed "Inside Out: Engineering Edition," a hands-on materials science activity for the SDSU "Meet a Scientist" outreach event.
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2018
"Microscope gives macro, micro, and nano view of materials" — cover feature, College of Engineering Annual Research Review.
Media
RESTORE
Prasad on Bone Tissue Research (2018)
Electrospinner Brief Introduction
Introduction Video (Undergrad Researcher Jalaica)
View more on our YouTube channel →
Gallery
Alumni
Graduate & Postdoctoral Alumni
- Daniel Gallego Lopez — MS, Biomedical Engineering · 2023–2024
Paula Gustin — MS, Biomedical Engineering · 2022–2024 · LinkedIn- Dr. Utpal Dhar — Postdoctoral Researcher
Dr. Mukesh Roy — PhD, 2021 · Biomechanical investigation of plant vascular tissue for bio-inspired design and flexible composites · now in postdoctoral research on plant biomechanics and bio-inspired design · LinkedIn
Dr. Sakshi Chauhan — PhD, 2019 (IIT Delhi) · Biomechanical investigation of extracorporeal irradiation on resected human bone · now Assistant Professor, Govind Ballabh Pant University · LinkedIn- Jason Hasse — MS/PhD, SDSU · Statistical tools for materials research, co-advised with Dr. Semhar Michael
Trupti Suresh (Mali) — MS, 2022 · Nanomechanical characterization of additively manufactured GRCop-42 alloy · LinkedIn
Swastika Bera — MS, 2023 · Development of corn kernel-based biocomposite films for food packaging
Ruhit Sinha — MS, 2020 · Cellulose acetate-based scaffold for bone tissue engineering · now pursuing a PhD · LinkedIn
Temitope Borode — MS · Electrospun tough MXene-based composite nanofibers for sensor applications · LinkedIn- Anirban Chakraborty — MS, 2019 (SDSU) · 3D-printed bioreactor with optimized stimulation for ex-vivo bone tissue culture
- Danendra Agrawal, Devesh Jain, Ankur Mathur, Saurabh Sahu — MTech, IIT Delhi · vascular and joint-mechanics stress analysis theses
- Dr. Manoj Kumar, MD — Joint IIT Delhi/AIIMS · Role of extracorporeal irradiation in malignant bone tumor
- Aditya Sarin — IIT Delhi (Electronics) · now Senior Research Associate
Undergraduate Alumni
Jennifer Acevedo Padron — BME, CURE Fellow, Spring 2024–2026 · Dr. Norman R. Weldon BME Summer Research Intern
Emily Idiarte — BME, Fall 2024–2026
Anja Mihajlov — BME, Spring 2024–Fall 2025- Aaron Teijeiro — BME, Fall 2025–2026 · Mentor: Mohammad Salman Ibna Jamal
Laura Guerrero-Acosta — BME, Spring 2024–Fall 2025 · CURE Fellow · now in FIU's undergraduate-to-graduate PhD transition program
Zion Michael — MME, 2022–2024 · OURS Program
Jalaica Ann Jaramillo — BME, 2022–2024 · OURS Program, 2023- Fabio Macias Sarcos — BME, Fall 2022–Spring 2024 · CURE Researcher and OURS Program
Katrina Jabech — BME, Spring 2023–Fall 2023 · CURE Trainee (2022), CURE Researcher (2023), bioprinting- Acaydia Campbell — CURE & McNair Fellow, 2022–2023
Jordan Von Seggern — MXene-based composite finite element modeling, supported by Air Force Research Lab internshipIsaiah Duhme, Megan M. Fiala, Ryan Schaefer — senior design team, affordable 3D bioprinter, 2020–2021 · Isaiah Duhme: LinkedIn
Brooklyn VanderWolde — 3D-printed bioreactor for bone cancer research, supported by an SD Space Grant Fellowship · LinkedIn
Zach Dorn — Cellulose fiber reinforcement in cast materials · LinkedIn
Peder Solberg — Affordable rotating drum electrospinner for classroom education · now PhD student at Dartmouth · LinkedIn
Claire Eggleston — 3D electrospinner · now Sales Associate at Johnson Controls · LinkedIn- Ikbal Choudhary — Junior Research Fellow, IIT Delhi, 2014–2016 · now PhD student at Johns Hopkins
- Shilpi Jindal, Sumit Dey Trafadar, Pratyush Sharma, Vaibhav Gupta, Pragyan Pandey — summer interns and fellows, 2013–2015
- Pranjal Singh, Kishan Sachdeva — BTech projects, IIT Delhi (pulsatile and thoracic aorta blood flow simulation)
Contact
Address
Florida International University
10555 West Flagler Street, Suite EC 2678
Miami, FL 33174
Email
anprasad@fiu.edu
Prospective students
We're often looking for motivated graduate and undergraduate students interested in
biobased materials, biomechanics, and biomedical devices. Please email a CV and a short
note about your research interests.