Master Theses and Internships

The spontaneous retraction of a liquid film from a substrate is a subject of major importance in many aspects: it can be either desired (e.g. removal of water film on windscreens) or undesired (e.g. dry eyes disease due to unstable tear film). This phenomenon, known as dewetting, is well understood on flat surfaces, but less on rough or textured substrates. This project aims to provide insights into dewetting on rough microtextured substrates, through practical experiments, state-of-the-art study and computational simulations. It lies at the interface of Materials and surface science, fluid dynamics, and micro-fabrication. 

The project will consist in several aspects, including extensive fabrication of microtextured surfaces on silicon, optimization of thin-film deposition methods, literature comparison with previous studies, and theoretical formulation and simulations of the observed phenomena. The experimental work will involve microfabrication and surface preparation. It will be performed in the EPFL cleanrooms facilities (CMi), with training and regular operation on several equipment. Thin film deposition and dewetting processes will be also carried out in our laboratory, through an experimental campaign. The theoretical work will involve analytical formulation and simulation of the observed fluid dynamics-based phenomena. Throughout this project, the student will answer address physics questions, both theoretically and experimentally. 

We are looking for one (or several) motivated Master students from Microengineering, Material Sciences and Engineering, or Electrical Engineering Master programs, with strong interest in micro-fabrication, who is problem-solving oriented and with an analytical mindset. 

Thanks to the multi-material thermal drawing technique, we are now able to single-step co-process soft fibers of extended length and fine architectures that can be actuated via tendon or magnetic forces. These fibers can also be weaved into functional textiles for programmed shape morphing and are envisioned to be used for assisting in rehabilitation. In addition, we can co-process magnetic materials and sensing composite to design high aspect ratio functional fibers for potential surgical tools developments. Through this project, we envision pushing the frontier of soft multi-material robotic fibers further and demonstrating magnetic textiles for rehabilitation purposes with human subjects and potential technology transfer.

We are looking to welcoming a highly motivated master’s student from Microengineering, Mechanical Engineering, Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Material Sciences and Engineering Master programs, with a strong interest in embedded design and product development. Preference will be given to students who like working on challenging interdisciplinary projects, in a serious but also friendly and very cooperative and team-work oriented environment.

Please send an email to [email protected] and [email protected] with your CV, one possible idea based on the following references, and a motivation paragraph.

Experimental and modeling tools:
• Multi-material perform fabrication and thermally drawn technique
• Mechanical properties characterization (rheology, mechanical testing, etc.)
• Materials characterization (Optical Microscopy, SEM)
• Engineering design
• Signal processing
• Motion tracking

References:

1. Qu, Yunpeng, et al. “Superelastic multimaterial electronic and photonic fibers and devices via thermal drawing.” Advanced Materials 30.27 (2018): 1707251.

2. Kim, Yoonho, and Xuanhe Zhao. “Magnetic soft materials and robots.” Chemical Reviews 122.5 (2022): 5317-5364.

3. Kim, Yoonho, et al. “Ferromagnetic soft continuum robots.” Science Robotics 4.33 (2019).

4. Kim, Yoonho, et al. “Printing ferromagnetic domains for untethered fast-transforming soft materials.” Nature 558.7709 (2018): 274-279.

5. Kim, Yoonho, et al. “Telerobotic neurovascular interventions with magnetic manipulation.” Science Robotics 7.65 (2022): eabg9907.

6. Kilic Afsar, Ozgun, et al. “OmniFiber: Integrated Fluidic Fiber Actuators for Weaving Movement Based Interactions into the ‘Fabric of Everyday Life’.” The 34th Annual ACM Symposium on User Interface Software and Technology. 2021.

Rapid methods for the detection of microorganisms, contaminants and biochemical markers are in demand in many areas such as environmental monitoring, food and beverage testing, and medical diagnosis. On-site analysis in particular is becoming a key component of safety and quality monitoring, when costs, equipment, or time limitations preclude the use of conventional laboratory techniques.

Lab-on-chip systems have been extensively researched to achieve fully automated and multiplexed analysis, but still fail to be competitive in terms of price and throughput. In the opposite direction, simple, low-cost paper-based devices have found wide adoption thank to their ease of fabrication and use, but often suffer from insufficient limit-of-detection and reproducibility, or only provide semi-quantitative information.

Centered around the needs for fast results, scalable fabrication, and ease-of-use, our laboratory is developing a new platform called FiberLab: a low-cost multicapillary-format test capable of collecting and analysing µL-sized sample by colorimetric chemical assays. Where most approaches rely on cumbersome fabrication process based on the chemical post-modification of capillaries, we leverage our unique thermal drawing facility to produce ready-to-use lab-in-fiber tests at large scale and low cost.

The aim of this semester project is to expand the potential and performances of our platform by developing new sensing strategies and materials compatible with our thermal drawing process. In this perspective, the student will be involved along the entire development cycle, from the development and testing of new formulations for in-fiber chemical assay, manufacturing of the test by thermal drawing, and characterization of the final product in our laboratory setup.

This is an applied research project at the crossroad of material science, chemistry, image processing and optoelectronics, with the goal to deliver a functional demonstrator by the end of the semester.
We are looking for candidates with a background in material sciences, life or biological sciences, analytical chemistry, or pharmaceutical sciences, with a strong interest in multidisciplinary and applied research.
Please send an email to [email protected] and [email protected] with your CV or description of your academic path.