Trevor Jones
· Assistant ProfessorVerifiedCarnegie Mellon University · Mechanical Engineering
Active 1978–2024
About
The MInEnS Lab, associated with Professor Trevor Jones, derives its name from the Ojibwemowin word for bead, manidoominens, which translates to spirit-seed in English. Reflecting the spirit of its English acronym, the lab's general aim is to seed technologies that transform simple mechanical inputs into the complex assembly and control of materials. The research conducted at the MInEnS Lab spans multiple applications including soft robotics, architecture, medical devices, and roll-to-roll manufacturing. The lab operates at the intersections of interfacial, flexible, granular, and active matter, emphasizing a curiosity-driven approach to developing and disseminating knowledge alongside all technical pursuits.
Research topics
- Artificial Intelligence
- Computer Science
- Mechanical engineering
- Engineering
- Physics
- Control engineering
- Thermodynamics
- Materials science
- Structural engineering
- Nanotechnology
- Classical mechanics
- Mechanics
Selected publications
Soft Deployable Structures via Core-Shell Inflatables
Physical Review Letters · 2023 · 20 citations
1st authorCorresponding- Computer Science
- Computer Science
- Mechanical engineering
Deployable structures capable of significant geometric reconfigurations are ubiquitous in nature. While engineering contraptions typically comprise articulated rigid elements, soft structures that experience material growth for deployment mostly remain the handiwork of biology, e.g., when winged insects deploy their wings during metamorphosis. Here we perform experiments and develop formal models to rationalize the previously unexplored physics of soft deployable structures using core-shell inflatables. We first derive a Maxwell construction to model the expansion of a hyperelastic cylindrical core constrained by a rigid shell. Based on these results, we identify a strategy to obtain synchronized deployment in soft networks. We then show that a single actuated element behaves as an elastic beam with a pressure-dependent bending stiffness which allows us to model complex deployed networks and demonstrate the ability to reconfigure their final shape. Finally, we generalize our results to obtain three-dimensional elastic gridshells, demonstrating our approach's applicability to assemble complex structures using core-shell inflatables as building blocks. Our results leverage material and geometric nonlinearities to create a low-energy pathway to growth and reconfiguration for soft deployable structures.
Nature · 2021 · 273 citations
1st authorCorresponding- Computer Science
- Artificial Intelligence
- Computer Science
Deformation and bursting of elastic capsules impacting a rigid wall
Nature Physics · 2020 · 27 citations
- Mechanics
- Physics
- Classical mechanics
Frequent coauthors
- 16 shared
Keren Fraiman
- 16 shared
Elizabeth Saunders
Marshall University
- 16 shared
Adam Kleinfeld
George Washington University
- 16 shared
Joshua R. Itzkowitz Shifrinson
- 16 shared
Monica Lee
Lancaster University
- 16 shared
Gabriel Mares
Dartmouth College
- 16 shared
Laura Thaut
George Washington University
- 16 shared
Harris Mylonas
Education
- 2023
Ph.D., Chemical Engineering
Princeton University
- 2017
B.S., Chemical Engineering
Vanderbilt University
Awards & honors
- AISES Lighting the Pathway Fellow
- Trailblazer in Engineering
- Rising Star in Soft and Biological Matter
- NSF Faculty Early Career Development award
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