Research

Polypyrrole trilayer actuator

Photo taken by: A. Price (SAPL)

Discovering new smart materials to enable innovative mechatronic systems.

Organic Mechatronics & Smart Materials Laboratory

Key focus areas:
  • Smart Material Actuators and Sensors
  • Mechatronic Systems for Industrial Automation and Biomedical Applications
  • Additive Manufacturing of Advanced Materials
  • Conductive Electroactive Polymers and Composites
  • Magnetic and Thermal Shape Memory Materials
  • Advanced Biomedical Technologies for Better Health
Aaron Price on LinkedIn

Active Research Programs

3D Printing Technologies for the Fabrication of Nanoscale Actuator Arrays

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This Research Program is funded through the NSERC Discovery Grants Program, and aims to discover and develop the knowledge and innovative new tools required to fabricate conductive polymer actuator arrays with complex details on a nanometer scale by means of specially developed 3D printing technologies.

Current Research Activities

Enhanced performance of 3D electroactive polymer transducers via hierarchical structures

Portrait of Frederick Benjamin Holness
PhD Candidate Ben Holness is aiming to bridge the gap between the micro- and nanoscales through the additive manufacturing of 3D hierarchical electroactive polymer structures to improve transducer performance.

Biodegradable polymer-hemp composites for cosmetics packaging

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Undergraduate Research Associate Louise Furie is developing and characterizing a new class of rapidly decomposing biodegradable polymer biocomposites for environemntally friendly consumer-goods packaging.

3D Printed Polypyrrole Scaffolds for pH Induced Drug Delivery

Portrait of Matthew Lawrence
MESc Candidate Matthew Lawrence is currently employing Digital Light Projection printing methods to create smart-scaffolds that can be used in the human body where a localized pH change will cause the dopant drug to be released.

Development of Hierarchical Polypyrrole Microstructures for Improved pH-Induced Drug Delivery

Portrait of Iryna Liubchak
MESc Candidate Iryna Liubchak is exploring the application of new blends of electroactive polymers and hydrogel biomaterials to facilitate drug delivery in osteoarthritis therapies.

Carbon Nanotube – Polypyrrole Composites for Electroactive 3D Structures

Portrait of Gerardo Patiño
Mitacs Globalink Research Internship participant Gerardo Patiño incorporates functionalized carbon nanotubes to uv curable polypyrrole hybrid resins in order to produce high resolution electroactive 3D structures with enhanced properties.

Smart-material based tremor suppression

Portrait of Parisa Daemi
PhD Candidate Parisa Daemi is exploring control strategies for smart-material based tremor suppression for patients afflicted with Parkinson's Disease.

Lab Alumni

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