/College of Engineering and Applied Sciences
Department of Mechanical Engineering

Shanshan Yao, PhD

Shanshan YaoAssistant Professor

Office: Light Engineering 161

Email Address: shanshan.yao@stonybrook.edu 

Phone Number: (631) 632-9164 

Lab Website:  Yao Research Group 

Bio:

Shanshan Yao joined the Mechanical Engineering Faculty at Stony Brook University in the Spring of 2020. Her research is primarily in the areas of functional materials, smart structures, advanced manufacturing, and soft electronics. Professor Yao's research aims to provide new solutions and/or explore new applications in personal healthcare, fitness tracking, rehabilitation, soft robotics, and entertainment through combined innovations in materials engineering, mechanical design, and multi-scale manufacturing and integration.

Examples of her research interests include synthesis and characterization of nano/micro materials and structures; manufacturing and integration techniques for smart devices; soft actuators and soft robotics; flexible and stretchable electronics for healthcare, motion tracking, and human-machine interaction. Professor Yao serves as a reviewer for many journals including Advanced Materials, Advanced Functional Materials, Materials Horizons, Journal of Materials Chemistry A, ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces, and Nanoscale. 


Education:

  • North Carolina State University, Mechanical Engineering, Ph.D. 2016
  • Xi’an Jiaotong University, Microelectronics & Solid-State Electronics, M.E. 2012
  • Xi’an Jiaotong University, Microelectronics, B.E. 2009

Professional Experience:

  • Assistant Professor, Mechanical Engineering, Stony Brook University, 2020 – present
  • Postdoctoral Research Scholar, Department of Mechanical Engineering, North Carolina State University,  2017-2019

Awards & Publications:

  • Recipient of the  Defense University Research Instrumentation Program (DURIP) award as the co-principal investigator for the project:  A Computational and Physical Framework for Rapid Prototyping of Robotics Systems with Embodies Intelligence: From Cobotics Exoskeletons to Flying Robots,” led by Drs. Anurag Purwar and William Stewart with Co-PIs Drs. Nilanjan Chakraborty, Shikui Chen, David Hwang, Kedar Kirane, and Shanshan Yao.  
  • Recipient of NSF Presidential Early Career Awards for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE), 2024 

Professional Memberships & Service:

  • TBD

Overview:

Professor Yao’s research interests and contributions span the broad areas of design and manufacturing, with particular emphasis on bio-integrated systems, soft actuators, haptic interfaces, and manufacturing and integration techniques for soft electronics and robotics. Her research aims to provide transformative solutions and capabilities in healthcare, activity tracking, rehabilitation, soft robotics, and entertainment. These innovations are made possible through the synergistic integration of mechanical design, functional materials, smart structures, and advanced integration techniques. 


Highlights & Accomplishments:

  • Developed unobtrusive silent speech interfaces based on biopotential or body movements
  • Developed skin-integrated multimodal mechano- and thermo- haptic interfaces
  • Designed epidermal/implantable sensors, soft robots,
    wireless power transfer for bio-integrated systems

Research Interests:

  • Functional materials, smart structures, and advanced manufacturing
  • AI-guided design of sensors, soft robots, and soft electronics
  • Applications in biomedical devices, soft robotics, surgical robots, activity tracking, human-machine interfaces, and VR/AR