Karina Torres-Castro, PhD
Research Assistant Professor, Mechanical Engineering,
Manager of Research and Innovation (CEAS)
Office: Engineering 127
Email Address: karina.torrescastro@stonybrook.edu
Phone Number: (631) 632-1438
Bio:
Karina Torres-Castro joined the College of Engineering in Fall 2025 as Manager of Research and Innovation and Research Assistant Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering. Her research focuses on the intersection of microfluidics, computational fluid dynamics, and system integration, with applications in lab-on-a-chip and organ-on-a-chip technologies. She aims to integrate a range of electrokinetic and electromechanical techniques, such as dielectrophoresis, impedance sensing, and acoustofluidics, to advance these systems.
Through her role, she promotes collaborative research partnerships between faculty and industry, with strong potential for scalability and technology transfer.
Education:
- University of Virginia, Electrical Engineering, Ph.D. 2022
Professional Experience:
- Manager of Research and Innovation, College of Engineering (CEAS), Stony Brook University, 2025-present
- Research Assistant Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Stony Brook University, 2025-present
- Research Associate, National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), 2023-2025
- NIST-Prep Postdoctoral Fellow, Georgetown University, 2022-2023
- Co-founder, Splitcell Biotechnology, 2020-2024
- Graduate Research Assistant, University of Virginia, 2016-2022
- Solar Energy Consultant, IguanaSolar (Startup), 2013-2016
- R&D Engineer, University of Costa Rica (CELEQ), 2013-2015
- Process Engineer, Firestone Industrial Products, 2010-2013
- RF Project and Material tests Intern, Ad Astra Rocket Company, 2009-2010
Overview:
Karina Torres-Castro works on developing microfluidic systems to measure various biophysical and/or condensed-matter properties, as well as electrokinetics-based techniques for particle and microstructure manipulation.
Her interests include fluid metrology, particle manipulation and characterization,
microsystem integration technologies, microrobots, and bioelectronics.
For a listing of Dr. Torres-Castro's publication, please visit her Google Scholar Page.
Highlights & Accomplishments:
- Designed and developed dielectrophoretic separation bio-particle devices.
- Designed and integrated acoustic and impedance sensors for real-time monitoring and actuation into OoC devices.
- Designed and modeled efficient microfluidic cooling packaging for 3D-IC stacks
Research Areas:
Research Interests:
- Mechanobiology approaches for measuring the mechanical properties of biological or other particles at the microscale.
- Microfluidic systems that exploit the properties of laminar flow to manipulate and control particles, as well as their integration with external force fields.
- Microfluidic cooling technologies for integrated circuit (IC) packaging and other microscale thermal management applications.