Recent News

May 2026: Congratulations to my PhD student Vajra Badha on winning the Graduate Best Research Award from the College of Science and Mathematics at UMass Boston. This award recognizes his work on using structured liquid crystal interfaces to direct the dynamics of active materials. Congratulations, Vajra! Very well deserved!

October 2024: Our paper on using defects at smectic interfaces to sense bacteria is accepted in Langmuir Journal! Link. 

June 2024: Prof. Gharbi has been awarded the Manning Award for Excellence in Teaching. Congratulations! Link.

January 2024: Prof. Gharbi has been awarded the NSF CAREER Award. Congratulations!

January 2024: Undergraduate students Bhakti and Tanvi joined the Lab! They will work on the dynamics of active materials at complex fluid interfaces. Welcome!

April 2023: Prof. Gharbi has been awarded the Outstanding Service Award from the SPS and Sigma Pi Sigma at the American Institute of Physics. Congratulations!