Dr. MinJun Kim is the Robert C. Womack Endowed Chair Professor in Engineering at Southern Methodist University. He has been developing new approaches to control small-scale robots in in vivo environments for drug delivery as well as fabricate solid-state nanopores for in-depth understanding of protein-protein interactions and membrane deformability of viruses and vesicles.
mjkim@lyle.smu.edu
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Harry Wang is a doctoral student who is developing reconfigurable modular robots for assembly and disassembly. He received his B.S. in Electrical and Computer Engineering from Southern Methodist University in 2020 and M.S. in Electrical Engineering from Stevens Institute of Technology in 2022.
zhengguangw@mail.smu.edu

Kamruzzaman Joty is a Ph.D. candidate in the Applied Science Program in the Lyle School of Engineering at Southern Methodist University and a Graduate Research Assistant at the BAST Laboratory. He is specializing in fabricating and utilizing SANE sensors to analyze unfolding and detection of selective proteins and protein-receptor (PR) complexes by optical trapping and electrical recapturing at the molecular level. He received his B.Eng. (Hons.) in Mechanical Engineering from SEGi University, Malaysia in 2022.
kjoty@smu.edu
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Yasin Cagatay Duygu is a Ph.D. student at BAST Lab. His research focuses on haptics-assisted microrobotics. He received his B.S degree in Mechanical Engineering from Istanbul Technical University in 2020.
aduygu@smu.edu

Navod Thyashan is a Ph.D. student at Lyle School of Engineering, Southern Methodist University and a research assistant at BAST lab. His research focuses on utilizing SANE sensors to investigate the deformability of soft nanoparticles like viruses and liposomes. He received his B.Sc. in Mechanical Engineering from University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka in 2021.
nsudirikkujayaweera@smu.edu
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Matthew Odonohue is a Ph.D. candidate in the Applied Science Program in the Lyle School of Engineering. His research focuses on utilizing a bimodal nanopore sensor for single-molecule analysis, analyzing and characterizing cancer-related proteins and viruses, among other analyte. He received his B.S. in Biomedical Engineering from The Ohio State University in 2020. When not conducting research, Matthew likes to shred on his 7-string guitar.
modonohue@mail.smu.edu

Austin is a junior at the Harker School with an interest in developing control algorithms. He is currently working on scripting in Python to control V-shaped robotic microswimmers in microfluidic networks for drug delivery.
elderpoderp@gmail.com

Dr. Chaoming Gu is a Post Doctoral Fellow at BAST Lab, Southern Methodist University. His research focuses on SANE nanopore devices to detect/characterize adeno-associate viruses. He received his B.Sc and Ph.D in Electronic Engineering from Zhejiang University, China. His previous research is about using solid-state nanopores with 2-D materials to detect protein molecules.
chaomingg@smu.edu
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Dr. Sangwon Lee is a postdoctoral researcher at the BAST Lab at Southern Methodist University. His research focuses on the development of non-vision localization and feedback control of magnetically driven micro-robots. He received his M.Eng. degree in Mechatronic Engineering from the University of Manchester in 2018, and Ph.D. degree in Electrical and Computer Engineering from Seoul National University in 2024.
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Muhammad Muhammad is a Ph.D. student at the Lyle School of Engineering, Southern Methodist University, and a research assistant in the BAST Lab. His research specializes in the non-vision-based localization of magnetically driven soft robots. He earned his B.Sc. and M.Sc. in Mechanical Design and Production Engineering from Zagazig University, Egypt, in 2020 and 2023, respectively.
mmuhammad@mail.smu.edu
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Amira Khedewy is a Ph.D. student at the Lyle School of Engineering, Southern Methodist University, and a research assistant at the BAST Lab. Her research involves designing and analyzing bacteria-inspired modular soft robots, focusing on locomotive dynamics, embedded sensing, and morphological adaptability. Amira received her B.S. and M.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Zagazig University, Egypt, in 2020 and 2024, respectively.
akhedewy@mail.smu.edu
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Dr. Dongwhi Cho is a visiting associate professor for his sabbatical research at BAST lab. He is currently an associate professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Kyunghee University. During his stay, Dr. Cho is investigating mechanical sensor devices and systems based on rational mechanical design and polymer processing.
dongwhi.choi@khu.ac.kr
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Janeesha Manawasinghe is a Ph.D. student at Lyle school of Engineering, Southern Methodist University. Her research focuses on characterize the electro-deformation of AAV capsid variants and engineered AAVs based on cargo content and their interaction with target receptors modified nanopores at the single-particle level using recapture protocol. She received her B.Sc. in mechanical engineering from University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka in 2023.
jmanawasinghe@smu.edu
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Lasheen Gurusinghe is a Ph.D. student at the Lyle School of Engineering, Southern Methodist University, and a Graduate Research Assistant at the BAST Lab. His research focuses on the design and manufacturing of soft robotics, with an emphasis on developing closed-loop control systems to enhance precision and adaptability in micro-scale robotic applications. Lasheen earned his B.Sc. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka, in 2023.
lmaduwegurusinghe@smu.edu
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Tianrui Li is currently a master’s student at the Lyle school of Engineering, Southern Methodist University. His research interests are modular robotics and related areas. In 2022, he received a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from North China University of Technology, Beijing, China.
tianruil@smu.edu

Adair Oropeza is currently an undergraduate student at the Lyle School of Engineering. He is pursuing a Bachelor’s Degree in Electrical and Computer Engineering with a Biomedical Specialization. His research interests are bio sensors and engineering applications in medicine.
aoropeza@mail.smu.edu

Marisela Leon is an undergraduate student at the Lyle School of Engineering at Southern Methodist University, pursuing a Bachelor’s Degree in Mechanical Engineering with a Biomedical Specialization. Within the BAST Lab she will assist in research involving nanopore technology and related fields.
mcleon@mail.smu.edu

Dr. Santosh Khatri is a postdoctoral researcher at Bast Lab at Southern Methodist University, where he focuses on nanopore sensing for biomolecular analysis. He earned his M.S. from the University of Texas at Rio Grande Valley and completed his Ph.D. at Florida International University. During his Ph.D., he gained experience working with multifunctional nanopipettes for single-entity analysis. With extensive expertise in nanopore technology, Dr. Khatri is committed to advancing molecular sensing strategies for biomedical and analytical applications.
skhatri@smu.edu
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