UROP Research Mentor Project Submission Portal: Submission #1192

Research Mentor Information
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Primary Research Mentor Name: Dr. Jamel Ali
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Contact Email (FSU Email if affiliated): jali@eng.famu.fsu.edu
Position Title: Faculty
FSU College (if applicable): FAMU-FSU College of Engineering
FSU Department or Non-FSU Organization Affiliation: Chemical and Biomedical Engineering
Headshot (optional): https://cre.fsu.edu/system/files/webform/urop_project_proposal_portal/20556/NMR%20Group%20-%20Summer%202022%20Sm.jpg

Additional Research Mentor(s)
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Overall Project Details
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Title of the Project: MicroRobotic 3D-Printed Swimmers for Biological & Biomedical Applications
Project Keywords: biological materials, nanomaterials, microfabrication, 3D Printing
Are you currently looking for research assistants?: Yes
Number of Research Assistants Needed : 2
Relevant Research Assistant Major(s):
Open to all majors

Project Location:: On FSU Main Campus
If the project location is off campus, does the research assistant(s) need to provide their own transportation?: {Empty}
Please select the choice that most accurately describes your expectations for the research assistant(s):: Partially Remote
Approximately how many hours a week would the research assistant(s) need to work?: 4-5
Roughly what time frame do you expect research assistant(s) to work?: Flexible schedule (Combination of business and outside of business. TBD between student and research mentor.)
Overall Research Project Description:
There is growing interest in developing tiny wireless swimming devices capable of preforming a variety of tasks, ranging from environmental and industrial to agricultural and biomedical, in low Reynolds number fluids. Over the past two decades these devices have been fabricated though a number of methods, but often involve some form of traditional micromachining, which is costly in terms of time, materials, and fabrication steps. Alternatively, additive manufacturing holds the potential to produce similarly small structured devices at higher scale and lower cost. However, so far there are few reports that focus on additive manufacturing for producing small-scale robotic swimmers. In this proposed work, we will utilize additive manufacturing methods and magnetic wireless control methods to explore the production of swimmers of various geometry for propulsion in viscous biological media.

Research Tasks:
(1) conduct a brief literature review of additive manufacturing of micromachines, (2) use CAD software (e.g. solidworks) along with a mulit-nozzle 3D printers to produce chiral and achiral swimmers (3) assist with wet-lab experiments including (a) magnetic control experiments (b) high-resolution high-speed optical imaging, and (c) rheological characterization of viscous media. The student is expected to document all laboratory activities and write up a report which outlines specific printing parameters for effective robotic swimmers fabrication and control, in addition to their required research poster.

Skills that research assistant(s) may need::
Passion for science and engineering along with willingness to learn and ability to balance time to work on the project while taking classes and managing other responsibilities and social activities.

Mentoring Philosophy:
Research today is largely a team effort. My undergraduate mentoring approach embraces a group mentoring approach where undergraduates are not only mentored by me, but also postdoctoral fellows, Ph.D. students, and senior undergraduates.

Please provide a link to your publications, a video clip, or a website for your research project (if applicable):: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=h6DdFPcAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao
Please add any additional information here (if applicable)::
Roundtable Times and Zoom Link: Thursday, Sept. 4 from 7 – 8 PM : https://fsu.zoom.us/j/98001679878
Drop-in style
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You are welcome to email me to schedule a time to meet in the MagLab, IRCB, or in B373F on the Engineering Campus, Building B.


Are you interested in participating in the UROP Research Mentor Roundtable?: Yes
Roundtable times and Zoom links:
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Roundtable Info:
- Day: Thursday, September 4
  Start Time: 7:00
  End Time: 7:30
  Zoom Link: https://fsu.zoom.us/j/98001679878

UROP Program Elements
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Mentor Handbook, FAQs, and Communication: Yes
UROP Performance Evaluation: Yes
Materials Grant: Yes
UROP Poster Presentation: Yes

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Year: 2025
update url: https://cre.fsu.edu/urop-research-mentor-project-submission-portal?element_parents=elements/research_mentor_information/headshot_optional_&ajax_form=1&_wrapper_format=drupal_ajax&token=kPnXhhObSCJ6w5iRUPnobPSwsBORVs7j4RR4u3lm7UI