Directory profile for Dr. Sree Kalyan Patiballa

Dr. Patiballa’s research broadly investigates the nexus of design, manufacturing, and integration of mechanical metamaterials and soft robotics to develop intelligent material and robotic systems. His research takes an integrated numerical and experimental approach to achieve designs that parallel natural systems and beyond.

Before joining UA, Dr. Sree Patiballa was a Postdoctoral Associate at Yale University. Prior to that, he earned his Ph.D. (2020) in Systems Engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC). He is the recipient of the Mavis Future Faculty Fellowship in 2018 and the Freudenstein/General Motors Young Investigator Award from the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) in 2017. He received his M.S. (2015) in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) and B.Tech. (2013) in Mechanical Engineering from Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham University in India.

Dr. Patiballa’s research involves integrating the novel deformation mechanisms of metamaterials within soft robots to achieve adaptive robots that could autonomously and safely navigate among people while changing their mechanical, structural, and functional properties. His research lies at the intersection of computational mechanics, materials science, soft robotics, and design education.