Research Labs

We are conducting fundamental research in different areas including Soft Robotics, Bio-inspire Sensors and Actuators, Rehabilitation Robotics, Human Augmentations, Exoskeletons, Prosthesis and Haptic Devices.

The main focus of the ARM Lab is on design and development of novel robotic platforms (including sensors, actuators, materials and mechanisms) that can physically interact with humans.

Faculty: Amir Jafari

Website: https://engineering.unt.edu/bme/research/labs/arm/

Our lab is focusing on creating miniaturized tissue constructs containing several layers of human cell types in biomimetic hydrogels (bioinks) on several biochip platforms using "microarray three-dimensional (3D) bioprinting" technology.

Faculty: Moo-Yeal Lee

Website: https://engineering.unt.edu/bme/research/labs/bioprinting/

We are interested in using protein and cellular engineering and quantitative systems-level analyses to study biological behaviors and functions.

Faculty: Clement Chan

Website: https://www.clementchanlab.org/

We apply cutting-edge multiscale biomedical engineering tools and pluripotent stem cell technologies to understand and treat human cardiovascular diseases (CVDs), such as myocardial infarction, familial cardiomyopathies, congenital heart diseases, and cardiovascular toxicity.

Faculty: Huaxiao "Adam" Yang

Website: https://sites.google.com/view/adamyanglab/

The Meckes Research Group seeks to develop novel tools and technologies for the development of next generation therapeutics and disease models.

Faculty: Brian Meckes

Website: https://meckeslab.wordpress.com/

The is focused on integrating nanotechnology and biomaterials to develop new nanotherapeutics with higher efficiency compared to conventional therapeutic systems. Nanomedicine provides benefits such as improving biodistribution, controlling delivery of drug molecules, targeting to cells, reduced systemic toxicity and overall improving the drug’s efficacy. 

Faculty: Neda Habibi

Website: https://engineering.unt.edu/bme/research/labs/nanomedicine/

The research interests of our lab lie in polymer science and biomedical engineering. We actively combine both fields to develop biomedical devices.

Faculty: Melanie Ecker

Website: https://eckerlab.com/

We seamlessly integrate computational and experimental methodologies with machine learning to revolutionize the field of medical predictions and treatment optimization. Our focus is on providing patient-specific insights into the outcomes of various medical procedures, anticipating post-surgery complications, and designing tailored treatment and prevention strategies.

Faculty: Fateme Esmailie

Website: https://engineering.unt.edu/bme/research/labs/tfam/

Biocomputing Research Group is developing bioinformatics tools and applying these revolutionary technologies to critical scientific and engineering applications related to biology.

Faculty: Xuan Guo
Website: https://guo-xuan.github.io/

We use machine learning to advance medicine, with a history in wearable device analytics to aid clinicians in the treatment of mobility disorders, as well as broadly using AI to improve health outcomes.

Faculty: Mark Albert
Website: https://www.biomed-ai.com/

The lab’s research goal is to develop open source integrative computational tools to analyze high dimensional biological, clinical and environmental exposure datasets to infer context-specific gene regulatory interactions and modules, and to predict disease associated genes and patient-specific drug response.

Faculty: Serdar Bozdag
Website: https://engineering.unt.edu/cse/research/labs/biocomp

The Human Intelligence and Language Technologies (HiLT) lab focuses on research on natural language processing (NLP), machine learning (ML), and cognitive science, with an emphasis on Spoken-Dialogue Educational Health & Wellbeing Companion Robots (Companionbots), Educational Technology, Health & Clinical Informatics, and End-User Software Engineering.

Faculty: Rodney Nielsen
Website: https://engineering.unt.edu/cse/research/labs/hilt/

The lab focuses on developing a variety of general techniques for representing, searching, filtering, organizing, and mining text information, with applications in multiple domains including the Web, homeland security, and biomedical and health informatics. The research draws on methods from information theory, natural language processing, and data mining to tackle problems in information retrieval and discovery, and emphasizes on both fundamental research and system development.

Faculty: Wei Jin

The lab conducts research on multimedia material (videos and images) processing, multimedia information extraction, and multimedia information modeling and retrieval, which include video and image segmentation, motion and color analysis, image quality analysis, and object recognition by region clustering and classification.

Faculty: JungHwan Oh

Our research interest lies in responsible AI, generative AI, and data privacy.

Faculty: Yunhe Feng
Website: https://yunhefeng.me/

Our research focuses on AI for equitable, robust and efficient decision making, integrating methods from machine learning, optimization, and social networks.

Faculty: Jing Yuan

The lab focuses its work on researching multithreaded and multicore architectures for both embedded and high-performance applications. Research includes work in processing architectures, memory systems, cache memories and software tools to utilize the special capabilities of underlying hardware systems, and in developing both hardware and software solutions to improve performance, reduce energy consumption and prevent security breaches.

Faculty: Krishna Kavi
Website: https://engineering.unt.edu/cse/research/labs/csrl/

The Dependable Computing Systems Laboratory conducts research on failure modeling, failure management, adaptive failure resilience, failure-aware resource management, and power-aware dependable computing. The lab conducts both fundamental and applied research to develop highly dependable and energy-efficient distributed and cloud computing systems.

Faculty: Song Fu

The Energy-Efficient High Performance Computing Laboratory focuses on designing computer systems that achieve high performance with limited power budgets. Our research spans across multiple areas of micro architecture design, which includes embedded systems, multi-core processors, memory hierarchies, on-chip interconnections and accelerators.

Faculty: Hui Zhao

The Smart Electronic Systems Laboratory (SESL) conducts research in Smart Electronics for the efficient realization of Internet-of-Things (IoT) based components for Smart Cities.

Faculty: Saraju Mohanty

The lab was established with the following mission: to increase general wireless communications awareness among computer science and engineering graduates, produce skilled wireless specialists, and conduct research and development activities to advance the state-of-the-art in wireless sensors.

Faculty: Robert Akl

The lab was established to increase general wireline and wireless network security awareness of computer science and engineering graduates, to produce skilled security specialists, and to conduct research and development activities to advance the state-of-the-art in wireline and wireless network security and communication.

Faculty: Ram Dantu, Kirill Morozov
Website: https://engineering.unt.edu/cse/research/labs/nsl/

The lab's mission is to conduct cutting-edge research in advanced techniques concerning Visual Computing and Biometric Security.

Faculty: Ajita Rattani
Website: https://vcbsl.github.io/lab-website/

The Laboratory for Recreational Computing (LARC) serves as a center for research, education and development in the field of video game programming.

Faculty: Ian Parberry
Website: https://larc.unt.edu/

The lab explores advances in software engineering through the areas of compiler design, domain-specific programming languages, human-computer interaction, logic programming, model-driven engineering, and software testing.

Faculty: Renee Bryce, Hyunsook Do, Stephanie Ludi, Paul Tarau

The lab focuses on the domain of applied electromagnetics with applications ranging from developing biomedical devices to designing antennas for various wireless systems. Research topics include:

• Microwave ablation and monitoring
• Self-interference cancellation techniques for in-band full-duplex communications
• Adaptive phased-array antennas for beam-steering applications
• Reconfigurable multi-beam antennas for millimeter-wave communications

The Applied Optics Lab aims at:

1. Optical system (imaging and non-imaging) design and modeling, tolerance analysis, and system optimization to improve design for manufacturability.
2. Design and fabrication of electro-optic polymer integrated circuits for chemical/biological sensors and optical current sensors (OCS) for smart grid electric distribution system.

The lab focuses on design and development of advanced communication techniques to provide efficient and robust information transmission over wired and wireless networks. Working in concert with academia and industry partners, CSPL is dedicated to research in coding and information theory; aerial communication and networks; drone system design and applications, especially in emergency response; and wireless sensor networks.

The lab focuses on research in the areas of statistical signal processing, machine learning, real-time embedded systems, and wireless sensor networks with applications in wireless localization and tracking, environmental monitoring, cyber-physical systems, Internet of Things, and artificial intelligence. The overarching goal of our research is to solve real-life system-level challenges through theoretical research in signal processing and machine learning, networking protocol design and analysis, and practical system developments with hardware and software implementations.

The lab focuses on the application of information theory to communications, networking, privacy, security and storage. Current research interests include private information retrieval, index coding, optimality of treating interference as noise, topological interference management, and interference alignment.

The lab focuses on fundamental algorithm development at the forefront of machine learning seeking efficient and accurate solutions based in traditional optimization, signal processing and control theory techniques. Current research topics include:

• Classification and Identification
• Image Compression
• Image Super Resolution
• PCA Applications
• STEM Outreach

The lab focuses on information assurance, decision making and video communications aspects in autonomous systems, such as unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). This laboratory consists of infrastructure and simulation tools necessary to develop protocols for autonomous systems and to analyze their performance. The laboratory has several UAVs that are being used to develop and test decentralized decision-making and task-scheduling algorithms. The laboratory's infrastructure includes computing and networking equipment suitable for simulating civilian and military applications.

The lab focuses on the advancement of control theory and technology with applications to intelligent and autonomous systems. Current research topics include control systems with time delay, unmanned aerial vehicles, deep reinforcement learning based control, and active magnetic bearings.

The lab integrates environmental modeling, real-time monitoring, and renewable power systems for applications to sustainability. Research topics include food-energy-water nexus, sustainable brackish water desalination systems, land-use change, landscape dynamics, and forest ecology, coupled human-natural systems, watershed and reservoir management, wireless sensor networks and environmental observatories, and global climate change.

The lab focuses on fundamental algorithm development at the forefront of machine learning seeking efficient and accurate solutions based in traditional optimization, signal processing and control theory techniques. Current research topics include:

• Classification and Identification
• Image Compression
• Image Super Resolution
• PCA Applications
• STEM Outreach

The lab focuses on developing effective power electronics technologies to improve the generation, conversion, and control of electrical energy in smart cities and sustainable energy applications. Research topics include wide-bandgap semiconductor applications, renewable energy conversion technologies, smart grids, distributed energy systems, and electric vehicle grid integration.

The Analog/Mixed-Signal Design and Simulation Lab focuses on design and simulation of analog/mixed-signal AMS) integrated circuits (ICs) for multimedia and IoT security applications. Research topics include:

• Surrogate modeling (metamodeling) of complex IC functional design units
• Hardware/software co-design of secure multimedia digital systems
• High-level behavioral simulation of AMS ICs
• Hardware design of Physically Unclonable Functions (PUFs)
• Embedded system design for the IoT

The lab focuses on emerging devices from low-dimensionality solid-state materials.  Research topics include but are not limited to:

• Low-power nanoelectronic devices and circuits
• Photodetectors and optoelectronic devices
• Flexible and printed electronics
• Physical sensors and sensor arrays
• Synthesis of semiconducting selenides and sulphides
• Nanofabrication

The lab provides infrastructure for electronic design automation, including several workstations with the latest Electronic Design Automation (EDA) software, enabling design and simulation of a range of electronic chip designs. Students have access to EDA software including Cadence, Synopsys, and Xilinx design tool suites. The laboratory supports high quality research activities related to digital design, reconfigurable computing, FPGAs, ASICs, VLSI design, electronic design automation, SoC design, portable computing, and wearable computing.

The AMMM Research Group is dedicated to exploring the interrelationship between processing, microstructure, and properties in advanced metals through the application of multi-scale ex- and in-situ characterization techniques within the context of advanced manufacturing. Our primary research focus centers on the discovery, synthesis and innovative design of next generation high-performance materials by microstructure engineering, with a particular emphasis on the realm of the lightweight advanced metals and alloys.

Faculty: Yufeng Zheng
Website: https://engineering.unt.edu/mse/research/labs/ammm/

The Center for Advanced Battery Technology (CABT) focuses on accelerating the development of the next generation of rechargeable batteries such as Li-S, Zn-ion, solid-state batteries and metal air batteries. The aim of CABT is to develop sustainable, high-performance batteries for the future and to make a decisive contribution to advancing battery cell production with the development of new active materials, electrodes, solid-state electrolyte and cells.

Faculty: Wonbong Choi

The lab focuses on functional glass and ceramic materials for biomedical, electronic, environmental and energy application, as well applying and development computer simulations and materials modeling methods to study various types of material structures and behaviors. We are currently working on research topics like bioactive glasses, nuclear waste glasses, glass corrosion, solid state electrolytes, low-k dielectrics, and electronic ceramics.

Faculty: Jincheng Du
Website: https://engineering.unt.edu/mse/research/labs/fgmm/

Following are the areas of research for the group:

• Solid State Manufacturing Technologies
• Metastability engineering of high entropy alloys
• Tailor-made microstructures using additive manufacturing
• Low-cost manufacturing of novel high temperature FSW tools
• ICME driven development of alloys for additive manufacturing 

Faculty: Rajiv Mishra
Website: https://engineering.unt.edu/mse/research/labs/imap/

The group’s research interests include: thin film deposition, coatings tribology, surface engineering, high temperature solid lubrication, laser additive manufacturing, spark plasma sintering, ceramic armor, ceramic-ceramic and ceramic-metallic composites, advanced characterization techniques, and structure-property relationships in structural materials.

Faculty: Thomas Scharf
Website: https://engineering.unt.edu/mse/research/labs/lamma/

LAPOM specializes in development of materials, components and coatings with predefined mechanical (high load applications), tribological (high scratch and wear resistance), thermophysical (service at high temperatures, low thermal expansivity) and dielectric (a wide range of dielectric constants) applications.

Faculty: Witold Brostow
Website: https://engineering.unt.edu/mse/research/labs/lapom/

The state-of-the-art research facility houses multiple high-power infrared laser systems. These lasers are specifically designed and configured for efficient, reliable, cost-effective, precise, and efficient additive and subtractive manufacturing processes for advanced materials, including metals, ceramics, composites, etc.

Faculty: Narendra Dahotre
Website: https://engineering.unt.edu/mse/research/labs/laasm/

Our research interests lie in the nanoscale design of the soft materials together with advanced lithography methods to engineer 2D, 3D or hierarchical structures, as well as translating these novel structures and methods into potential applications, such as water purification, soft robotic, functional coatings, and energy related devices.

Faculty: Xiao Li
Website: https://engineering.unt.edu/mse/research/labs/liresearch/

Our research is broadly categorized into three general areas: (a) materials synthesis using bottom-up assembly and top-down nanofabrication techniques; (b) materials property characterization which includes electronic, opto-electronic, mechanical and strain-dependent properties; (c) device characterization for platforms such as low-power, energy-efficient electronics, opto-electronics, sensors, solar cells, flexible and printed electronics, and devices for biosensing and implantable applications.

Faculty: Anupama Kaul
Website: https://engineering.unt.edu/mse/research/labs/nmdl/

The lab studies nanocarbon-based superlubricity solution, interactions at solid/liquid interface, and nanoporous ceramics coatings.

Faculty: Diana Berman
Website: https://engineering.unt.edu/mse/research/labs/nmti/

Under the broad heading of Metallic Processing and Characterization of Materials, Dr. Young's research group focuses on the development, processing, and characterization of structural alloys, specifically:

• shape memory alloys (e.g. NiTi-, Cu-, and Fe-based, etc…)
• strain glass alloys
• refractory and reactive metal alloys (e.g. Ti-, Zr-, Hf-, Nb-, and Ta-based, etc…)
• lightweight alloys (e.g. Al-, Mg-, Ti-, and Zn-based, etc…)
• amorphous metal alloys
• high entropy alloys (HEAs) and complex concentrated alloys (CCAs)

Faculty: Marcus Young
Website: https://engineering.unt.edu/mse/research/labs/metallics/

This lab is used in support of field-based environmental monitoring of air pollutants. Measurement of environmental contaminants in the ambient atmosphere and indoors is conducted using state-of-science compliance grade monitors for ozone, fine particulate matter, oxides of nitrogen, carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, volatile organics, and toxic compounds.

Faculty: Kuruvilla John

The computational fluid dynamics lab focuses on the development of numerical methods including turbulent flow modeling using large-eddy simulation and detached eddy simulation methods, two-phase free-surface flow modeling, particulate flow modeling, fluid-structure interactions, higher-order discretization methods such as spectral difference, non-traditional CFD approaches such as Lattice Boltzmann Method, deterministic and stochastic simulation-based design and optimization, uncertainty quantification (UQ), and high-performance computing methodology.

Faculty: Hamid Sadat
Website: https://engineering.unt.edu/me/resaerch/labs/cfd/

The lab performs research in two major areas:

High heat flux thermal management with two-phase cooling techniques

• Immersion Cooling
• Spray Cooling
• Enhenced Surfaces
• Heat Spreaders

with applications in computing, power electronics and electro-optics

Stirling cycle-based energy conversion

• Innovative Rotary Displacer Stirling Engine

with applications in distributed power generation and waste heat recovery

Faculty: Huseyin Bostanci
Website: https://engineering.unt.edu/me/research/labs/tml/

The lab focuses on research in the following areas:

• Sensor development
• Instrumentation and flow diagnostics
• Biomedical micro-devices

Faculty: Maurizio Manzo
Website: https://sites.google.com/site/photonicsdevfabricationlab/

The lab is focused on design, analysis, and experiments for piezoelectric devices used for sensing, energy harvesting, and structure health monitoring applications. This group has conducted research in high-temperature material test methodology, modeling and experiment of novel sensing and energy harvesting mechanism, and structure health monitoring in harsh environments.

Faculty: Haifeng Zhang
Website: https://engineering.unt.edu/me/research/labs/sml/

Our research focuses on Thin-Walled, Cold-Formed Steel Structures: Research and Development, Computational Mechanics, Earthquake Engineering, Structural Dynamics and Control,Structural Stability, Building Information Modeling, and Construction Technology.

Faculty: Cheng Yu
Website: https://engineering.unt.edu/me/research/labs/structures/

This lab is used for fabrication and study of bio products which can include wood products, bio composites, activated carbon, and any materials made from renewable resources.

Faculty: Sheldon Q. Shi

The lab's research focuses on the following:

• Profilometry for Surface Characterization
• 3D Printing with UV Projection in Biocompatible Materials
• Mold and Die Manufacturing with High-Speed Machining
• Computer-Aided Engineering and Topology Optimization
• Nano and Micro Scale Surface Mechanics by Nanoindentation
• Rapid Fabrication for Biomedical and Aeronautical Applications

Faculty: Hector R. Siller
Website: https://sites.google.com/view/digitalmanufacturinglab

Materials: iron oxides and hydroxides; magnetic materials (magnetite); cubic boron nitride; diamond coatings; diamond like carbon, silicon; nanocomposites

Applications: corrosion resistance coatings; rust transformers formulation; durable flat panel display; micro-electro mechanical systems (MEMS); thermal management in electronic packaging; advanced tooling for materials processing

Processes: physical vapor deposition (electron beam evaporation); hot filament chemical vapor deposition; micro and nano surface engineering; materials characterization; failure analysis; electron microscopy

Faculty: Seifollah Nasrazadani
Website: https://engineering.unt.edu/me/research/labs/mtl/

The lab focuses on the following:

• Understanding nanoscale heat transfer phenomena, by modeling quantum interactions and electrodynamics of atomic-scale energy carriers, such as electrons, phonons, and photons. Outcomes in theoretical methods for optical and infrared properties of ultra-thin films, heat conduction in 2D materials and nanotubes/wires, and thermoelectric/piezoelectric effect for waste heat recovery.
• Characterization of materials for aerospace systems, including optical reflectors, radiators, thermal switches, interfaces, electronics, etc. Supporting student-led CubeSat design and testing team for NASA space flights.

Faculty: Richard Z. Zhang
Website: https://engineering.unt.edu/me/research/labs/net/

This lab is used for material characterizations including, mechanical properties, thermal, acoustic, electrical, surface properties, specific surface area, and porosity, biodegradability, flammability, and etc. This lab contains a large amount of equipment that is used to determine the properties of the different materials that are brought to our department or made within the department.

Faculty: Sheldon Q. Shi

The lab is focused on design, analysis, and experiments for piezoelectric devices used for sensing, energy harvesting, and structure health monitoring applications. This group has conducted research in high-temperature material test methodology, modeling and experiment of novel sensing and energy harvesting mechanism, and structure health monitoring in harsh environments.

Faculty: Haifeng Zhang
Website: https://engineering.unt.edu/me/research/labs/sml/

This lab is used in support of field-based environmental monitoring of air pollutants. Measurement of environmental contaminants in the ambient atmosphere and indoors is conducted using state-of-science compliance grade monitors for ozone, fine particulate matter, oxides of nitrogen, carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, volatile organics, and toxic compounds.

Faculty: Kuruvilla John

Our research is focused on cellular level thermal characterization to understand the pathogenesis of the disease and translational implications. We apply principles of materials science such as thermodynamics and heat transfer to human cells, considering “the cell as a material” combined with the biological sciences, such as the cell cycle.

Faculty: Taeyul Theo Choi
Website: https://biothermalcancerdetection.unt.edu/

The computational fluid dynamics lab focuses on the development of numerical methods including turbulent flow modeling using large-eddy simulation and detached eddy simulation methods, two-phase free-surface flow modeling, particulate flow modeling, fluid-structure interactions, higher-order discretization methods such as spectral difference, non-traditional CFD approaches such as Lattice Boltzmann Method, deterministic and stochastic simulation-based design and optimization, uncertainty quantification (UQ), and high-performance computing methodology.

Faculty: Hamid Sadat
Website: https://engineering.unt.edu/me/research/labs/cfd/

The lab focuses on the following:

• Understanding nanoscale heat transfer phenomena, by modeling quantum interactions and electrodynamics of atomic-scale energy carriers, such as electrons, phonons, and photons. Outcomes in theoretical methods for optical and infrared properties of ultra-thin films, heat conduction in 2D materials and nanotubes/wires, and thermoelectric/piezoelectric effect for waste heat recovery.
• Characterization of materials for aerospace systems, including optical reflectors, radiators, thermal switches, interfaces, electronics, etc. Supporting student-led CubeSat design and testing team for NASA space flights.

Faculty: Richard Z. Zhang
Website: https://engineering.unt.edu/me/research/labs/net/

The Laboratory of Small Scale Instrumentation (LSI) has been served for several research projects including thermal characterization of one dimensional, two dimensional and three-dimensional materials. One dimensional materials are carbon nanotubes, boron nitride nanotubes, and silicon carbide nanowires. Their thermal conductivities were characterized by using either 3-omega or thermal conductance method. Recent advances in micropipette-based thermal sensors have been used to measure thermal conductivities of 2D materials such as graphene and carbon nanotube thin film.

Faculty: Tae-Youl Choi

The lab performs research in two major areas:

High heat flux thermal management with two-phase cooling techniques

• Immersion Cooling
• Spray Cooling
• Enhenced Surfaces
• Heat Spreaders

with applications in computing, power electronics and electro-optics

Stirling cycle-based energy conversion

• Innovative Rotary Displacer Stirling Engine

with applications in distributed power generation and waste heat recovery

Faculty: Huseyin Bostanci
Website: https://engineering.unt.edu/me/research/labs/tml/