2024
March 2024
APS March Meeting @ Minneapolis, MN
2023
October 2023
Congratulations to Moumita Das for being named a 2023 APS Fellow!
Citation: For fundamental mechanistic insights into the collective properties and rigidity transitions in multi-component biological and bio-inspired soft materials, and for contributions to building an inclusive and diverse soft matter community.
July 2023
Summer Training @ University of San Diego
June 2023
DMREF Hackathon @ UC Santa Barbara
Hosted by the Valentine Lab!
May 2023
Congratulations to Maya Hendija for being awarded an SPS Award for Outstanding Undergraduate Research!
This award from the Society of Physics Students recognizes students based on exceptional research achievement. For additional details, see the SPS website.
April 2023
The USD Vista wrote a feature story on Maya Nugent’s and Rae Robertson-Anderson’s outstanding achievements recognized at APS March Meeting!
Read the feature here!
March 2023
Congratulations to Maya Hendija and Rae Robertson-Anderson for being awarded a 2023 Cottrell Postbac Award!
This award from the Research Corporation for Science Advancement (RCSA) supports the work of an undergraduate senior working under the supervision of a Cottrell Scholar for a year after graduation. Rae and Maya are one of seven scholar-trainee pairs that received this award this year. For more details, see the RCSA website.
Congratulations to Maya Nugent for being awarded an APS Division of Soft Matter Poster Award!
Maya received this award for the poster that she presented at APS March Meeting. She is one of only 4 award recipients (out of over 100 posters) and the only undergraduate.
APS March Meeting @ Las Vegas, NV
Rae Robertson-Anderson, the recipient of the 2023 APS Prize for a Faculty Member for Research in an Undergraduate Institution, gave a talk: “The Whole is More than the Sum of its Parts”. Read the abstract here.
Several of our trainees also gave talks: Yongkui Tang, Maya Hendija, Gregor Leech, Karthik Peddireddy, Mehrzad Sasanpour, Lauren Melcher, and Jonathan Michel. Our faculty collaborator, Janet Sheung (Scripps University), gave two talks. Great work, everyone!
Moumita Das co-chaired the sessions on Mechanics of Cells and Tissues I and IV. Rae Robertson-Anderson chaired the sessions on DNA-based Soft Matter: Design Dynamics, and Active Mechanics; Emerging Trends in Soft Microscale Mechanics I; and the DSOFT Early Career and Student Awards Session. Megan Valentine chaired the session on Emerging Trends in Soft Microscale Mechanics II.
February 2023
Congratulations to Yongkui Tang for being awarded a Heeger Fellowship!
This award will support his upcoming travel to the APS March Meeting in Las Vegas, where he will present results of his hydrogen design and mechanics work. For more details, see the Valentine lab website.
January 2023
Congratulations to Jenny Ross for being named a 2022 AAAS Fellow!
This honor was presented by the Physics section of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, “for [Dr. Ross’s] distinguished contributions to biophysics, particularly for experimentally elucidating regulatory mechanisms in intracellular transport.” Read the press release from Syracuse.
NASEM Biohybrid Materials and Technologies for Today and Tomorrow: A Workshop
Megan Valentine leads this workshop as Chair of the Program Committee. Find more details and watch a recording of the workshop on the NASEM website.
Congratulations to Rae Robertson-Anderson for receiving the 2022-23 Glenn D. White, Jr. ‘78 Faculty Research Award!
This award recognizes research mentors that bring respect and excellence to the practice of mentoring undergraduates in research and scholarly activities. For more details, visit the USD OURMA webpage.
2022
October 2022
Congratulations to Rae Robertson-Anderson for receiving the 2023 APS Prize for Research in an Undergraduate Institution!
This award honors a physicist whose research in an undergraduate setting has achieved wide recognition and contributed significantly to physics and who has contributed substantially to the professional development of undergraduate physics students.
September 2022
Frontiers in Soft Matter and Macromolecular Networks Symposium
Rae Robertson-Anderson is the co-Chair of this annual symposium, held at USD. For more information, see the event page from the USD News Center.
Congratulations to Rae Robertson-Anderson for being named a 2022 APS Fellow!
Citation: For pioneering microrheology and microscopy experiments that elucidate the mechanics and dynamics of bio-inspired soft matter systems and complex biopolymer networks, and advancing undergraduate physics research and curriculum.
July 2022
DMREF-BioPACIFIC Hackathon @ UC Santa Barbara
May 2022
Congratulations to Daisy Achiloraie for being awarded a Barry Goldwater Scholarship!
See this press release from Scripps College.
2021
October 2021
Our team is awarded a $1.8 million grant from the NSF!
Read press releases from the USD News Center and the UCSB Current.