Josh Steimel
I majored in Materials Science and Engineering at MIT for my undergrad and graduate studies. I specialized in polymeric and biomaterials and my research interests involve developing novel experimental platforms and devices to mimic vital and ubiquitous biological systems of interest. These systems are synthetic and aim to mimic biological processes in order to better understand any underlying physical phenomenon driving unique biological behavior. In particular, I work on measuring the affinity and kinetics of biological interactions using actively driven microscopic magnetic tribological probes. I am also interested in studying novel collective dynamical behavior in active matter systems and understanding the origin of such unique non-equilibrium behavior. I am starting the Laboratory for Biomimetic Active Matter Systems at the University of the Pacific and I encourage undergraduates, grad students, and anyone who may be interested in this research to contact me to discuss potential projects. This work is inherently interdisciplinary involving mechanical, biological, chemical, and electrical engineering as well as physics and computer science concepts as well. Outside of work, I'm a very avid surfer.
Ph.D., Materials Science and Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, 2017
B.S., Materials Science and Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 2012
Materials Sciences and Engineering
Polymeric and Biomaterials
Programming for Engineers: LabView, Matlab, Mathematica
Developing novel biological ligand assay platforms for measuring biological ligand-receptor binding affinity and kinetics
Investigating tribology and developing new techniques for surface characterization, potential applications begin prevention of biofilm formation/biofouling
Designing novel biomimetic systems that can be utilized in biological sensing or in vivo drug delivery
PATENTS
C.E. Sing, J.P. Steimel, and A. Alexander-Katz. "Systems and Methods for Detecting Molecular Interactions using Magnetic Beads." U.S. Patent Number 9977015. 2018
PUBLICATIONS
J.L. Aragones, J.P. Steimel, and A. Alexander-Katz, Elasticity-induced force reversal between active spinning particles in dense passive media, Nat Commun, vol. 7, p. 11325, Apr. 2016
J.P. Steimel, J.L. Aragonex, H. Hu, N. Qureshi, and A.Alexander-Katz, Emergent ultra long range interactions between active particles in hybrid activeinactive systems, PNAS, vol. 113, no. 17, pp. 46524657, Apr. 2016.
J.P. Steimel, J. L. Aragones, and A. Alexander-Katz, Artifical tribotactic Microscopic Wlakers: Walking Based on Friction Gradients, Phys. Rev. Lett., vol. 113, no. 17, p. 178101, Oct. 2014.
