About

Transport of individual cells or chemical payloads on a subcellular scale is an enabling tool for the study of cellular communication, cell migration, and other localized phenomena. Magnetically actuated robotic systems may be used for fully automated manipulation of cells and microbeads. The strategy above uses autofluorescent robotic transporters and fluorescently labeled microbeads to aid tracking and control in optically obstructed environments. I demonstrated automated delivery of microbeads infused with chemicals to specified positions on neurons. I coupled microrobotic micromanipulation with the ability to measure piconewton-scale forces technology for applications such as targeting therapeutic nanocarriers to specific tissues, as well as for the more general task of assessing binding affinity between proteins.

Research topics

• Computer Science
• Artificial Intelligence
• Materials science
• Nanotechnology
• Biology
• Systems engineering
• Engineering
• Biological system
• Engineering ethics

Selected publications

• Nanozyme Microrobots: Programmable Spatiotemporal Catalysis for Targeted Therapy and Diagnostics

  Advanced Science · 2026-01-28 · 1 citations

  articleOpen accessCorresponding

  Nanozyme microrobots combine catalytic nanomaterials with small-scale robotic control to deliver programmable, spatiotemporal catalysis for biomedical applications with precision. Actuated by external stimuli, such as magnetic, acoustic, optical, or chemical gradients, these systems localize and modulate catalytic activity on demand, overcoming long-standing limitations of bulk catalysis, including poor spatial precision, restricted substrate access, and limited adaptability in complex biological environments. By uniting targeted navigation with stimulus-responsive activation, nanozyme microrobots facilitate precise intervention in anatomically challenging and inaccessible niches, from biofilms to solid tumors, and support theranostic workflows with real-time readouts. This review focuses on design principles for integrating nanozymes with microrobotics, surveys actuation, automation, and control strategies, and highlights biomedical applications across biofilm infection control, oncology, and catalytic diagnostics. Together, the convergence of nanozyme catalysis and microrobotic mobility is yielding versatile, adaptive platforms with the potential to transform targeted diagnostics and therapy.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Can nanozymes make the leap to the clinic? Advances, hurdles, and prospects

  Trends in biotechnology · 2026-04-01 · 1 citations

  articleOpen access
  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Artificial Intelligence in Endodontics/Robotics- Microrobotics in Endodontics: A Revolutionary Approach to Root Canal Treatment and Nanozymes

  Dental Clinics of North America · 2025-07-30 · 2 citations

  review
  PublisherDOI

• Robotic Microcapsule Assemblies with Adaptive Mobility for Targeted Treatment of Rugged Biological Microenvironments

  ACS Nano · 2025-01-13 · 19 citations

  articleOpen accessSenior authorCorresponding

  Microrobots are poised to transform biomedicine by enabling precise, noninvasive procedures. However, current magnetic microrobots, composed of solid monolithic particles, present fundamental challenges in engineering intersubunit interactions, limiting their collective effectiveness in navigating irregular biological terrains and confined spaces. To address this, we design hierarchically assembled microrobots with multiaxis mobility and collective adaptability by engineering the potential magnetic interaction energy between subunits to create stable, self-reconfigurable structures capable of carrying and protecting cargo internally. Using double emulsion templates and magnetic control techniques, we confine 10 nm iron oxide and 15 nm silica nanoparticles within the shell of 100 μm microcapsules that form multiunit robotic collectives. Unexpectedly, we find that asymmetric localization of iron oxide nanoparticles in the microcapsules enhances the intercapsule potential energy, creating stable connections under rotating magnetic fields without altering the magnetic susceptibility. These robotic microcapsule collectives exhibit emergent behaviors, self-reconfiguring into kinematic chain-like structures to traverse complex obstacles, arched confinements, and adhesive, rugged biological tissues that typically impede microscale systems. By harnessing these functions, we demonstrate targeted antifungal delivery using a localized biofilm model on mucosal tissues, showing effective killing ofCandida without binding or causing physical damage to host cells. Our findings show how hierarchical assembly can produce cargo-carrying microrobots with collective, self-adaptive mobility for traversing complex biological environments, advancing targeted delivery for biomedical applications.

  PublisherDOI

• Nanozyme‐Shelled Microcapsules for Targeting Biofilm Infections in Confined Spaces (Adv. Healthcare Mater. 8/2025)

  Advanced Healthcare Materials · 2025-03-01

  articleOpen access
  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Spiky Magnetic Microparticles Synthesized from Microrod‐Stabilized Pickering Emulsion

  Small · 2024-06-12 · 15 citations

  articleOpen access

  Tailoring the microstructure of magnetic microparticles is of vital importance for their applications. Spiky magnetic particles, such as those made from sunflower pollens, have shown promise in single cell treatment and biofilm removal. Synthetic methods that can replicate or extend the functionality of such spiky particles would be advantageous for their widespread utilization. In this work, a wet-chemical method is introduced for spiky magnetic particles that are templated from microrod-stabilized Pickering emulsions. The spiky morphology is generated by the upright attachment of silica microrods at the oil-water interface of oil droplets. Spiky magnetic microparticles with control over the length of the spikes are obtained by dispersing hydrophobic magnetic nanoparticles in the oil phase and photopolymerizing the monomer. The spiky morphology dramatically enhances colloidal stability of these particles in high ionic strength solutions and physiologic media such as human saliva and saline-based biofilm suspension. To demonstrate their utility, the spiky magnetic particles are applied for magnetically controlled removal of oral biofilms and retrieval of bacteria for diagnostic sampling. This method expands the toolbox for engineering microparticle morphology and could promote the fabrication of functional magnetic microrobots.

  PublisherDOI

• Nanozyme‐Shelled Microcapsules for Targeting Biofilm Infections in Confined Spaces

  Advanced Healthcare Materials · 2024-10-14 · 9 citations

  articleOpen accessCorresponding

  Bacterial infections in irregular and branched confinements pose significant therapeutic challenges. Despite their high antimicrobial efficacy, enzyme-mimicking nanoparticles (nanozymes) face difficulties in achieving localized catalysis at distant infection sites within confined spaces. Incorporating nanozymes into microrobots enables the delivery of catalytic agents to hard-to-reach areas, but poor nanoparticle dispersibility and distribution during fabrication hinder their catalytic performance. To address these challenges, a nanozyme-shelled microrobotic platform is introduced using magnetic microcapsules with collective and adaptive mobility for automated navigation and localized catalysis within complex confinements. Using double emulsions produced from microfluidics as templates, iron oxide and silica nanoparticles are assembled into 100-µm microcapsules, which self-organize into multi-unit, millimeter-size assemblies under rotating magnetic fields. These microcapsules exhibit high peroxidase-like activity, efficiently catalyzing hydrogen peroxide to generate reactive oxygen species (ROS). Notably, microcapsule assemblies display remarkable collective navigation within arched and branched confinements, reaching the targeted apical regions of the tooth canal with high accuracy. Furthermore, these nanozyme-shelled microrobots perform rapid catalysis in situ and effectively kill biofilms on contact via ROS generation, enabling localized antibiofilm action. This study demonstrates a facile method of integrating nanozymes onto a versatile microrobotic platform to address current needs for targeted therapeutic catalysis in complex and confined microenvironments.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Autonomous 3D Position Control for a Safe Single Motor Micro Aerial Vehicle

  IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters · 2023-04-21 · 4 citations

  article

  We present the Maneuverable Piccolissimo 2 (MP2), an autonomous, controllable, single motor micro aerial vehicle (MAV). The small size of MP2 makes it safe to operate in the presence of humans, and its simple design facilitates the creation of large swarms of capable MAVs. MP2 is equipped with on-board sensing capabilities and uses active environmental beacons to compute its three-dimensional position and yaw orientation. Its novel design enables autonomous takeoff, flight, and landing while maintaining a small, simple form factor. We describe a feedback controller and demonstrate its feasibility in a series of flight tests that display position holding, step response, and path following capabilities. The results indicate that MP2 is capable of controlled autonomous 3D flight with only one actuator.

  PublisherDOI

• Targeting biofilm infections in humans using small scale robotics

  Trends in biotechnology · 2023-11-13 · 35 citations

  reviewOpen accessCorresponding
  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Numerical and experimental study on the addition of surface roughness to micro-propellers

  Physics of Fluids · 2023-11-01 · 13 citations

  articleOpen access

  Micro aerial vehicles are making a large impact in applications such as search-and-rescue, package delivery, and recreation. Unfortunately, these diminutive drones are currently constrained to carrying small payloads, in large part because they use propellers optimized for larger aircraft and inviscid flow regimes. Fully realizing the potential of emerging microflyers requires next-generation propellers that are specifically designed for low Reynolds number conditions and that include new features advantageous in highly viscous flows. One aspect that has received limited attention in the literature is the addition of roughness to propeller blades as a method of reducing drag and increasing thrust. To investigate this possibility, we used direct numerical simulation to conduct a numerical investigation of smooth and rough propellers. Our results indicate that roughness produces a 2% increase in thrust and a 5% decrease in power relative to a baseline smooth propeller operating at the same Reynolds number of Rec = 6500, held constant by rotational speed. We complement our numerical findings using thrust-stand-based experiments of 3D-printed propellers identical to those of the numerical simulations. Our study indicates that surface roughness is an additional parameter within the design space for micro-propellers, which may offer improved drone efficiencies and payloads.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

Frequent coauthors

• Vijay Kumar

  University of Pennsylvania

  27 shared

• Min Jun Kim

  22 shared

• Hyun Koo

  University of Pennsylvania

  19 shared

• Alaa Babeer

  King Abdulaziz University

  18 shared

• Mahmut Selman Sakar

  École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne

  16 shared

• Zhi Ren

  First Affiliated Hospital of Bengbu Medical College

  16 shared

• Kathleen J. Stebe

  University of Pennsylvania

  14 shared

• Min Jun Oh

  University of Pennsylvania

  11 shared