From hands-on testing sessions to internal training and visiting collaborators,
These highlights reflect the day-to-day work that drives the Intelligent Biomechanics Lab forward.
Our First Year Scholars team presented a poster on how differences in esophageal tissue strain may support more personalized AI-based analysis of endoscopy results. The project focused on comparing the muscular and mucosal layers of the esophagus and examining how tissue response changes by direction.
We welcomed Boyang, a second-year PhD student from Columbia University. During the visit, he conducted biaxial mechanical stretching experiments on the heart and collaborated with our team on experimental planning and analysis.
This visit supported cross-institution collaboration and hands-on knowledge exchange in cardiac biomechanics. The team discussed protocols, data quality checks, and next steps for integrating results into modeling workflows.
Our lab welcomed Dr. Hai Dong from Emory University for a research seminar! Topic: The Unified-Fiber-Distribution (UFD) Model: Three Aplications In Vascular Biomechanics
During the seminar, Dr. Dong introduced the UFD model, a new way to represent fibers in vascular tissues that’s more realistic and accurate than traditional fiber-family-based models. He also showcased three applications:
Our lab’s freshman scholars held a meet-and-greet event with the Y Computing System Lab. The event provided an opportunity for students to connect, exchange ideas, and foster collaboration between the two labs.
We welcomed Hannah, a 3rd-year PhD student from Columbia University, to our lab! She worked on uniaxial heart stretching experiments and got hands-on experience in cardiac biomechanics research.
Hannah’s visit strengthened our collaboration with Columbia University and provided hands-on training in uniaxial testing for cardiac tissue. During her time in the lab, she supported experiment setup and execution, reviewed data quality checks, and helped align testing parameters with our broader study goals in cardiac biomechanics.
Dr. Shi was interviewed by the university for the second time, discussing his work on gastrointestinal research. The interview focused on how he leverages his engineering background to develop solutions for stomach diseases, highlighting the innovative, interdisciplinary approach of his lab.
Dr. Shi and his PhD student Yue Li represented our lab at the ASME SB3C Summer Bioengineering Conference (SBC 2025). During the conference, Yue Li received the Culture and Community Travel Award for the 2025 ASME SBC in recognition of her contributions.
SBC 2025 gave our team a chance to step back from day-to-day experiments and benchmark our work against what other groups are building right now. Beyond attending sessions, we used the conference to trade notes on current best practices, get feedback on our research direction, and bring home practical ideas we can apply immediately—especially around presenting results clearly and designing studies that are easier to reproduce across labs.
