Maintaining balance while walking may seem automatic — until suddenly it isn’t. Gait impairment, or difficulty with walking, is a major liability for stroke and Parkinson’s patients.  Not only do gait issues slow a person down, but they are also one of the top causes of falls. And solutions are often limited to time-intensive and costly physical therapy.

A new wearable electronic device that can be inserted inside any shoe may be able to address this challenge. The device, developed by Georgia Tech researchers, is made of more than 170 thin, flexible sensors that measure foot pressure — a key metric for determining whether someone is off-balance. The sensor collects pressure data, which the researchers could eventually use to predict which changes lead to falls.

The researchers presented their work in the paper, “Flexible Smart Insole and Plantar Pressure Monitoring Using Screen-Printed Nanomaterials and Piezoresistive Sensors.” It was the cover paper in the August edition of ACSApplied Materials & Interfaces. 

Pressure Points

Smart footwear isn’t new — but making it both functional and affordable has been nearly impossible. W. Hong Yeo’s lab has made its reputation on creating malleable medical devices. The researchers rely on the common commercial practice of screen-printing electronics to screen-print sensors. They realized they could apply this printing technique to address walking difficulties.

“Screen-printing is advantageous for developing medical devices because it's low-cost and scalable,” said Yeo, the Peterson Professor and Harris Saunders Jr. Professor in the George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering. “So, when it comes to thinking about commercialization and mass production, screen-printing is a really good platform because it's already been used in the electronics industry.”

Making the device accessible to the everyday user was paramount for Yeo’s team. A key innovation was making sure the wearable is thin enough to be comfortable for the wearer and easy to integrate with other assistive technologies. The device uses Bluetooth, enabling a smartphone to collect data and offer the future possibility of integrating with existing health monitoring applications.

Possibilities for real-world adaptation are promising, thanks to these innovations. Lightweight and small, the wearable could be paired with robotics devices to help stroke and Parkinson’s patients and the elderly walk. The high number of sensors could make it easier for researchers to apply a machine learning algorithm that could predict falls. The device could even enable professional athletes to analyze their performance.

Regardless of how the device is used, Yeo intends to keep its cost under $100. So far, with funding from the National Science Foundation, the researchers have tested the device on healthy subjects. They hope to expand the study to people with gait impairments and, eventually, make the device commercially available. 

“I'm trying to bridge the gap between the lack of available devices in hospitals or medical practices and the lab-scale devices,” Yeo said. “We want these devices to be ready now — not in 10 years.”

With its low-cost, wireless design and potential for real-time feedback, this smart insole could transform how we monitor and manage walking difficulties — not just in clinical settings, but in everyday life. 

Fat grafting is a potentially life-saving surgical technique, often used to fill and repair severe injuries. Also used in cosmetic treatments, the procedure works to move fat from one part of the body to another. Yet not all parts of fat tissue are helpful and can be damaged or even harmful when transplanted.

To improve fat grafting, a team of students from in the Master of Biomedical Innovation and Development (MBID) program in the Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering used tools in IMS’s Materials Properties Characterization Facility (MPCF) to isolate and remove harmful fat tissue.

The team designed and machined a hydrostatic press in the MPCF for their research. This kind of press applies equal pressure from all directions, which is different from a hydraulic press that only pushes in one direction.

To build their hydrostatic press, they:

• Drilled a hole into a block of aluminum
• Filled that hole with liquid
• Then pushed down on the liquid with a piston

This setup allowed them to apply over 36,000 pounds of force for 10 minutes using a special machine called a servohydraulic test frame.

Their results showed that applying this pressure to their samples would destroy the parts of the fat cells that weren’t needed, while keeping the important structural parts and healing factors. This made the fat tissue more consistent and could make it safer to use in surgeries.

Two Georgia Tech researchers in the College of Engineering have been named finalists for the 2025 Blavatnik National Awards for Young Scientists. Their discoveries, which could create cleaner industrial processes and safer, more reliable batteries, have important potential impacts for daily life. 

The Blavatnik Awards are presented by the Blavatnik Family Foundation and are administered by the New York Academy of Sciences. They honor the most promising early-career researchers in the U.S., across life sciences, chemistry, and physical sciences, and engineering. The awards are among the most prestigious and competitive in science.  

This dual recognition underscores Georgia Tech’s growing national leadership in high-impact, interdisciplinary research. 

Ryan Lively, Thomas C. DeLoach Jr. Endowed Professor in the School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, is recognized in the Chemical Sciences category for pioneering scalable technologies that will reduce industrial carbon emissions and energy use. He develops new materials that can capture carbon and separate chemicals, using much less energy than conventional methods. His innovations could make industry cleaner and play a key role in addressing climate change. 

Matthew McDowell, Carter N. Paden Jr. Distinguished Chair in the George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering holds a joint appointment in the School of Materials Science and Engineering. Recognized in the Physical Sciences and Engineering category for groundbreaking battery research, he and his team develop new materials to make batteries last longer and store more energy. He has discovered ways to visualize how battery materials change during use — insights that help improve the performance and safety of future energy technologies. 
 
This year’s 18 finalists were selected from 310 nominees. On Oct. 7, 2025, three laureates will be announced at a gala at New York City’s American Museum of Natural History. Each laureate will receive $250,000, the largest unrestricted scientific prize for early-career researchers in the U.S.  

 

The Institute for Matter and Systems (IMS) announced that beginning September 1, 2025, the Materials Characterization Facility and the Micro/Nano Fabrication Facility will implement new user rates. The adjustment, the first since 2022, reflects rising operational costs and recent investments in state-of-the-art equipment.

Over the past three years, IMS Core Facilities have upgraded or added more than 60 toolsets, significantly expanding research capabilities for users across disciplines. At the same time, costs for personnel, utilities, specialty gases, maintenance, and consumables have increased. The new rate structure ensures the facilities’ financial sustainability while preserving the ability to deliver cutting-edge research support.

Despite the increase, IMS’s facilities continue to offer one of the best values of any academic institution in the country, providing access to advanced tools, expert staff, and collaborative opportunities at rates that remain highly competitive compared to peer institutions.

“Our mission has always been to provide researchers with world-class facilities that are both accessible and affordable,” said Eric Vogel, executive director of the Institute for Matter and Systems. “This rate adjustment allows us to keep that promise—sustaining our operations, supporting new capabilities, and ensuring that IMS remains the best value for fabrication and characterization research in the nation.”

The updated rate table is available online [insert link]. Current users with questions about the changes or their impact are encouraged to contact Walter Henderson, director of the Materials Characterization Facility and Gary Spinner, director of Cleanroom Operations.

The Institute for Matter and Systems (IMS) has selected six interdisciplinary research projects to receive funding including four new research initiatives and two new programs. This funding is part of a larger IMS effort to identify and support visionary leaders driving groundbreaking research and innovation.

IMS focuses on transformational technological and societal systems that arise where innovative materials, devices, and processes converge.

“Interdisciplinary research often struggles to find a home,” said Michael Filler, IMS deputy director. “IMS aims to fill that gap—through programs like the CPI, we provide a place where unconventional collaborations from across Georgia Tech and beyond can take root, grow, and ultimately redefine what’s possible.

The funded initiatives come from four colleges and 11 schools across the Institute, and from GTRI. These research projects were selected based on their innovative approaches, potential impact, and alignment with IMS’ mission to push the boundaries of science and technology. They will receive funding, access to state-of-the-art facilities, and other support from IMS to bring their projects to life.

IMS supports interdisciplinary research both in nationally recognized areas of need and those just emerging. It scaffolds research from the ground up, from seed funding for new initiatives to infrastructure support for research programs and embedded support for research centers. The four newly announced initiatives are funded at the lowest level of IMS’ three-tiered model.

The two new research programs were previous IMS research initiatives that have been elevated to the program level. The successful elevation to research program highlights the funding pipeline and its design to support novel interdisciplinary research. As initiatives, these researchers were given seed funding and support for workshops, visioning and team nucleation, they demonstrated dedication to their research and team building. As IMS research programs, these projects will have the opportunity to expand their operations including with support for team expansions, proposals, and some staff support. 

“The IMS funding pipeline is about giving researchers a ladder where none exists—support to take the first step with a new idea, and the structure to keep climbing as their work matures,” said Filler. “By providing that scaffold, we enable bold, interdisciplinary teams to turn early sparks of discovery into thriving research programs with real-world impact.”

The new research initiatives and programs:

Research Initiatives

Multifunctional Materials for Efficient Buildings | Akanksha Menon, George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering

Adaptive Biomacromolecular and Cellular Networks | Anant Paravastu, School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering; Vinayak Agarwal, School of Chemistry and Biochemistry; Andrew McShan, School of Chemistry and Biochemistry; and Itamar Kolvin, School of Physics

Precision Agriculture in Controlled Environments | Antonio Facchetti, School of Materials Science and Engineering; Yongsheng Cheng, School of Civil and Environmental Engineering; Anju Toor, School of Materials Science and Engineering

Electrochemical Manufacturing of Materials and Resource Recovery | Hailong Chen, George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering

Research Programs

Autonomous Research for Materials | Mark Losego, School of Materials Science and Engineering; Shreyas Kousik, George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering; Animesh Garg, School of Interactive Computing

Magnetometry and Spectrum-Based Quantum Sensing Platforms| Zhigang Jiang, School of Physics; Martin Mourigal, School of Physics; Yan Wang, George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering

 

Learn more about IMS’s research focuses and see a full list of its centers, programs, and initiatives.

Fast charging a battery is supposed to be risky — a shortcut that leads to battery breakdown. But for a Georgia Tech team studying zinc-ion batteries, fast charging led to a breakthrough: It made the battery stronger. This result could revolutionize how we power homes, hospitals, and the grid.

By flipping a foundational belief in battery design, Hailong Chen, an associate professor in the George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering, and his team found that charging zinc-ion batteries at higher currents can make them last longer. The surprising result, recently published in Nature Communications, challenges core assumptions and offers a path toward safer, more affordable alternatives to lithium-ion technology. 
 

Why Zinc-Ion Batteries? 

Zinc-ion batteries have several key advantages over lithium-ion batteries, the most commonly used rechargeable battery technology:

• Abundant: Zinc is one of the most abundant metals on Earth, and it’s mined in many countries.
• Low cost: Zinc is significantly cheaper than lithium and doesn’t rely on scarce materials.
• Nonflammable: Unlike lithium, zinc batteries won’t catch fire — a critical safety benefit.
• Environmentally safer: Zinc is less toxic and easier to recycle than lithium-based materials.

However, until Chen’s discovery, zinc-ion batteries had one major drawback. The growth of dendrites, the sharp metal deposits that form during charging, can eventually short-circuit the battery. 

“We found that using faster charging actually suppressed dendrite formation instead of accelerating it,” Chen said. “It’s a very different behavior than what we see in lithium-ion batteries.”

With this approach, the zinc doesn’t build up into dendrites. Instead, it settles into smooth, compact layers — more like neatly stacked books than splintered shards — a structure that not only avoids short circuits but also helps the battery last longer.

“It goes against the conventional thinking that fast charging shortens battery life,” Chen said. “What we found expands people’s understanding of fast charging that could rewrite how we think about battery design and where they can be used.
 

Solving Half of the Problem

Even breakthroughs have limits. Chen was quick to point out that while his discovery solves a major issue, it only fixes one half of the battery.

A battery has two main ends, the anode and the cathode. Chen’s team made the anode last much longer. Now, the cathode must catch up. He is working to improve the cathode so the whole battery performs reliably over time. His team is also experimenting with mixing zinc with other materials to make zinc-ion batteries even more durable.

Testing Everything at Once

Chen’s team didn’t just stumble on these results. They built a novel tool that allowed them to watch how zinc behaved under different charging rates in real time, studying many samples simultaneously.

That real-time, side-by-side view was important. Traditional battery experiments usually test one variable at a time. But this novel approach allowed researchers to test hundreds of conditions at the same time, speeding up discovery and revealing patterns that would have been easy to miss.

“We weren’t just seeing whether the battery worked or not; we were watching the structure of the material evolve as it charged,” Chen noted. Using their new tool, he and his team uncovered for the first time why fast charging makes zinc settle into smooth, tightly packed layers instead of dangerous, needle-like spikes. No one had ever experimentally mapped out this process before.

It’s an approach that combines efficiency with insight.
 

Charging Into the Future

Chen’s team didn’t reinvent the battery. They challenged the status quo — and the data took them somewhere no one imagined. That unexpected result could redefine battery science.

“You can imagine these zinc-ion batteries being used to store solar energy in homes, or for grid stabilization,” Chen said. “Anywhere you need reliable, affordable backup power.”

With growing demand for clean energy, unstable lithium supply chains, and safety concerns over flammable batteries, the need for alternatives has never been more urgent.

If all goes well, Chen hopes zinc-ion batteries could be ready for everyday use in about five years.

 

 

Chen’s research was supported by Yifan Ma, ME 2024; Josh Kasher, associate professor in the School of Materials Science and Engineering; and the U.S Department of Energy National Laboratories. The study was funded by Novelis through the Novelis–Georgia Tech Research Hub, with additional funding from the National Science Foundation. Two Novelis researchers, Minju Kang and John Carsley, are co-authors on the paper.

 

 

The inaugural cohort of Georgia Tech’s Research Leadership Academy (RLA), a distinguished group of researchers selected from a highly competitive pool of applicants across campus, has been announced.

These outstanding faculty members were chosen for their exceptional research accomplishments, demonstrated leadership, and ability to drive high-impact, interdisciplinary initiatives. Representing a wide range of academic disciplines, they embody the depth, innovation, and collaborative spirit that define Georgia Tech’s research community.

Over the next year, this inaugural cohort will engage in a dynamic, immersive program designed to cultivate strategic research leadership through mentorship, experiential learning, and cross-campus dialogue. Their work through the RLA will not only strengthen Georgia Tech’s research enterprise but also help shape its trajectory for years to come.

Please join us in celebrating and congratulating these remarkable scholars as they embark on this exciting journey. 

• Steve Diggle – Institute for Bioengineering and Bioscience; School of Biological Sciences
• Marta Hatzell – Institute for Matter and Systems; Renewable Bioproducts Institute; Strategic Energy Institute; George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering
• Ada Gavrilovska - Institute for Data Engineering and Science; School of Computer Science
• Margaret Kosal – Institute for Bioengineering and Bioscience; Strategic Energy Institute; Institute for Matter and Systems; Sam Nunn School of International Affairs
• Sheng Dai – Institute for Bioengineering and Bioscience; Strategic Energy Institute; School of Civil and Environmental Engineering
• Yuguo Tao – George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering; Nuclear and Radiological Engineering; and Medical Physics
• Chris Wiese – Institute for Bioengineering and Bioscience; Institute for Data Engineering and Science; Institute for People and Technology; School of Psychology
• Mathieu Dahan – Institute for People and Technology, H. Milton Stewart School of Industrial and Systems Engineering
• Thackery Brown – School of Psychology
• Charlotte Alexander – Tech AI, Scheller College of Business; Law and Ethics
• Jeff Young – Institute for Data Engineering and Science; Partnership for Advanced Computing Environments; Office of Information Technology
• Meltem Alemdar – Center for Education Integrating Science, Mathematics, and Computing
• Kamran Paynabar – Georgia Tech Manufacturing Institute; Institute for Data Engineering and Science; Renewable Bioproducts Institute; H. Milton Stewart School of Industrial and Systems Engineering
• John A. Christian – Daniel Guggenheim School of Aerospace Engineering
• Farzaneh Najafi – Institute for Bioengineering and Bioscience; School of Biological Sciences
• Dave Flaherty – Strategic Energy Institute; School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering
• Eunhwa Yang - Institute for Matter and Systems; Strategic Energy Institute; School of Building Construction
• James Tsai – Strategic Energy Institute; School of Civil and Environmental Engineering
• Jennifer Hirsch – Brook Byers Institute for Sustainable Systems; Center for Sustainable Communities Research and Education; Strategic Energy Institute

Beginning this fall, The Institute for Matter and Systems (IMS) will offer graduate students immersive, hands-on experience in its world-class core facilities, and the opportunity to work alongside leading scientists and engineers through the new IMS Graduate Apprenticeship Program for Georgia Tech graduate students.

“This unique program is designed to support graduate students in their education while equipping them with valuable skills necessary for the workforce,” said Eric Vogel, IMS executive director. 

The IMS Graduate Apprenticeship Program offers a structured, hands-on research apprenticeship in the IMS fabrication and characterization core facilities. Students will gain in-depth training with advanced instrumentation and tools for materials analysis, micro/nanoscale fabrication, spectroscopy, manufacturing, and process development — skills and experience that can directly transfer to their own research projects.

This initiative aims to cultivate the next generation of scientific leaders by integrating rigorous academic coursework with practical, systems-level problem-solving. Apprentices will contribute to cutting-edge projects in materials science, complex systems, and emerging technologies, gaining valuable skills and mentorship along the way.

Applications are now open for the inaugural cohort of the IMS Graduate Apprenticeship Program. Applications are due August 31st.