Dr. Arash Adel is an Assistant Professor at the School of Architecture at Princeton University. He is the founder and director of ARG. ARG is an interdisciplinary laboratory that conducts research at the intersection of design, computation, and robotics; the research contributes to resilient, sustainable, and low-carbon construction outlooks and achievements. At the core of his comprehensive research is investigating human-robot collaborative processes, which tackle fundamental questions related to the future of the design and construction industries and their potential to have a broader impact on inclusive and equitable building culture. His research interests include human-robot collaboration, automated building assembly, additive manufacturing, construction robotics, computational design, extended reality, and STEM education.

Design of adaptive structural systems for building energy efficiency, design of large span complex curved structures for minimum material use, reclaimed material construction, circular economy

Improved batteries, energy storage; materials recycling and sustainability, water purification, catalysis, advanced manufacturing, light-matter interactions.

Dr. Atkinson’s research aims to use approaches from synthetic biology, protein engineering, biophysics and electrochemistry to understand and control how microbes and proteins transport electrons. The Atkinson Lab seeks to elucidate the critical role electron transport plays in energy and information processing in cells and microbial communities and to use this knowledge to engineer new biotechnologies that address societal challenges in sustainability, environmental monitoring & remediation, chemical synthesis, and resource recovery & extraction. Areas of current emphasis are the development and application of design rules for (i) how microorganisms use proteins to regulate electron transfer in metabolic networks, (ii) how electron flows shape the structure of microbial communities that impact geochemical cycles, and (iii) how living electronic materials can be built that couple the information processing and catalytic capabilities of biology with electrochemical devices.

Directed evolution of algae for biofuel production, specifically the fast, consistent and high-volume production of oils; reduction in need for external nutrients such as nitrogen for biofuel production

Application and development of technologies in synthetic biology and metabolic engineering; development of microorganisms for the production of advanced biofuels, commodity chemicals, specialty chemicals, and bioplastics; biosensor and metabolic engineering for bioremediation

Glacial-interglacial climate change, photosynthesis and respiration in phytoplankton and plants

Optimal configurations for improved fuel cell operation (producing electricity from hydrogen); hydrogen production; efficient electrochemical pumps for hydrogen purification; gasification to produce fuels from organic materials

Improving membrane fuel cells that convert H2 and O2 or alcohols into electricity; exploring proton exchange polymer membranes; charge transfer processes and materials chemistry for alternate energy schemes including solar photochemistry and electrochemistry; electrochemical and semiconductor based photoelectrochemical conversion of CO2 to liquid fuels and syngas; water splitting for hydrogen production

Measurements and simulations of heat and water exchanges between buildings and the atmosphere; urban microclimatology and hydrology; boundary layer meteorology; environmental fluid mechanics and turbulence; wind energy forecasting and wind farm design, urban and agricultural photovoltaic applications.