Interview from Grant Marshall and Bailey Dossett with Dr. Amanda Koh. 

Dr. Amanda Koh’s group focuses on engineering multifunctional materials through the intentional design of interfaces. Current research focuses on materials for soft robotics, stretchable electronics, sensing, and environmental remediation.

As devices become more advanced in the fields of defense, health, and manufacturing, it is no longer enough for materials to have a single function or be useful to only a single application. Materials that are responsive and multifunctional are key to creating robust, practical, and adaptive systems. The Koh lab seeks to develop these materials through the engineering of internal and composite interfaces either through the manipulation of existing chemistry or the addition of novel components.

Much of the current work in Koh’s lab focuses on developing soft materials, which are both deformable and have electronic, magnetic, or sensing capabilities. Applications of these materials include stretchable electronics (ex. wearables and health monitoring), soft robotics (ex. human-machine interfaces and manned-unmanned teaming), and environmental contaminant sensing (ex. heavy metals and petroleum derivatives).