Lab Members – Saif Lab

PI – Professor Saif

Professor Taher Saif

Grainger Distinguished Chair in Engineering saif@illinois.edu

Post-Doctoral Associates

Coming Soon

Graduate Students

Md. Saddam Hossain Joy

MechSE PhD Candidate Mechanics of neuro-muscular junctions󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ msjoy2@illinois.edu

William Cartwright Drennan

MechSE PhD Candidate‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ Muscle-Powered Biohybrid Systems‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ wcd2@illinois.edu

Saeedur Rahman

MechSE PhD Candidate 󠀠󠀠 󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠 󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠 󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠󠀠 󠀠 󠀠Mind in vitro: computation with neurons saeedur2@illinois.edu

Ki Yun Lee

MechSE PhD Student Neuroscience kiyunyl2@illinois.edu

Abdallah Aly

MechSE PhD Student ‎ ‎ ‎ Mechanics of Suction Cups ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ aaly2@illinois.edu

Ahmadreza Kashefi

MechSE PhD Student ‎ ‎ ‎‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ Cancer Mechanics ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ kashefi2@illinois.edu

Elijah Berger

MechSE PhD Student ekb4@illinois.edu

Undergraduate Research Assistants

Movviz Ahmed

movvizahmed@gmail.com B.S. Chemistry ’24

Mohammad Zayyad

mzayy2@illinois.edu‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ FA 23 – Present‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ B.S. Computer Science (2021 – Exp. 2026)

Sumayyah Ismail

sismail3@illinois.edu‎ ‎ ‎‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ FA 24 – Present‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ B.S. Bioengineering (2024 – Exp. 2028)

Katie Tuyet Anh Ly

katietl2@illinois.edu‎ ‎ ‎‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ SP 25 – Present‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ B.S. Molecular and Cellular Biology (2024 – Exp. 2028)

Calla Litteken

callasl2@illinois.edu ‎ ‎‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ SP 25 – Present‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ B.S. Neural Engineering (2024 – Exp. 2028)

Sophia Santiago

sgs13@illinois.edu ‎ ‎‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ Summer 25 – Present‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ B.S. Interdisciplinary Health Sciences (2024 – Exp. 2028)

Hahnseul Hong

hh44@illinois.edu Summer 25 – Present B.S. Bioengineering (2024 – Exp. 2028)

Brandon Kim

bkim231@illinois.edu Summer 25 – Present B.S. Molecular and Cellular Biology (2022 – Exp. 2026)

Lab Alumni

Onur Aydin, PhD

Post-Doctoral Associate @ Northwestern University Living Machines onur.aydin@northwestern.edu

Bashar Emon, PhD

Cancer Tumor Microenvironment emon2@illinois.edu

Aja Anh Phan

aphan20@illinois.edu ‎ ‎‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ Undergraduate Assistant (FA23-SP25) ‎‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ Mechanical Engineering Ph.D. Student & OCF Fellow @ WashU ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ UIUC B.S. Mechanical Engineering ’25

Umnia Doha, PhD

Research Scientist, Institute for Genomic Biology Mechanobiology of collective cell behavior udoha2@illinois.edu

Reed Brockstein

Undergraduate Assistant

Andrew Lin

Undergraduate Assistant

Zhengwei Li, PhD

Post-Doctoral Associate (2017-2019) Biohybrid machines

Jagannathan Rajagopalan, PhD

Post-Doctoral Associate (2009-11) Plasticity of nano grained metals/biohybrid robotics Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona

Mohamed Elhebeary, PhD

Doctoral Student (PhD: 2019) Brittle to ductile transition in single crystal silicon Senior Packaging R&D Engineer at Intel, Corporation, Chandler, Arizona, United States

Anthony Fan, PhD

Doctoral Student (PhD: 2018) Neuromechanics iPhone Product Design at Apple Shenzhen, Guangdong, China

Samantha Knoll, PhD

Doctoral Student (PhD: 2016) Cell-light interaction Customer Experience Lead, New Business Models Bayer, Chicago, Illinois, USA

Brian Williams, PhD

Doctoral Student (PhD: 2016) Biological machines Equipment Intelligence engineer at Lam Research Portland, Oregon, United

Muhammad Yakut Ali, PhD

Doctoral Student (PhD: 2015) Cell Mechanics Engineering Manager in Wafer Assembly Technology Development, Intel Corporation, Oregon, USA

Sandeep Anand, PhD

Doctoral Student (PhD: 2015) Biological machines Intel Corporation

Ali Tofangchi, PhD

Doctoral Student (PhD: 2015) Neuromechanics SPD-Lou Auto Robotics Rsch Ins. J.B. Speed School of Engineering, University of Louisville, Louisville, Kentucy

Xin Tang, PhD

Doctoral Student (PhD: 2013) Mechanics of cancer cells Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida

Wylie Ahmed, PhD

Doctoral Student (PhD: 2012) Neuromechanics Department of Physics California State University, Fullerton, California

Wonmo Kang, PhD

Doctoral Student (PhD: 2012) Nanomechanics of single crystal silicon School for Engineering of Matter, Transport and Energy Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona

Shengyuan Yang, PhD

Doctoral Student (PhD: 2017) Mechanics of single living cells Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Department Florida Institute of Technology, Melbourne, Florida, United States

Jonh Han, PhD

Doctoral Student (PhD: 2007) Mechanics of MEMS Senior Engineer at Owens Corning Columbus, Ohio, USA

Sathyanarayan Mani, PhD

Doctoral Student (PhD: 2006) MEMS Director of Engineering at Applied Materials Fremont, California, United States

Deepti Tiwari, MS

Masters Student (MS: 2005) Internal Friction of Resonant Micro Beams

Mark Meinhart, MS

Masters Student (MS: 2004) Mechanics of MEMS Ford Motor Company

Marc Sulfridge, PhD

Doctoral Student (PhD: 2003) Mechanics of MEMS Member of Technical Staff at ON Semiconductor Boise, Idaho, United States

Erdem Alaca, PhD

Doctoral Student (PhD: 2003) Nanomechanics Mechanical Engineering Koc University, Istanbul, Turkey

Aman Haque, PhD

Doctoral Student (PhD: 2002) Nanomechanics of thin metal films Mechanical and Nuclear Engineering Pennsylvania State University

Zayd Leseman, MS

Masters Student (MS: 2000) MEMS Mechanical Engineering King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals, Dhahran 31261, Saudi Arabia