Picture of Dr. Sree Kalyan Patiballa

Assistant Professor

Mechanical Engineering, Alabama Transportation Institute

2013C South Engineering Research Center
 (205) 348-6163
 (205) 348-6324
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Education

  • Postdoc, Yale University, 2021
  • PhD, Systems Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2020
  • MS, Aerospace Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2014
  • B.Tech., Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham, 2013

Biography

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.

Honors and Awards

  • NSF CMMI’s Game Changer Academies , 2021-2022
  • Mavis Future Faculty Fellowship, UIUC, 2018-2019
  • Freudenstein / General Motors Young Investigator Award, 2017
  • List of Teachers Ranked as Excellent by their students 2016-2017
  • Graduate College Conference Travel Award, UIUC 2016-2018
  • Silver Medal, Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham, 2013

Areas of Research

Latest Publications

  • Baines, R.*, Patiballa, S. K.*, Booth, J., Ramirez, L., Sipple, T., Garcia, A., … & Kramer-Bottiglio, R. (2022). Multi-environment robotic transitions through adaptive morphogenesis. Nature, 610(7931), 283-289.(*Equal Contribution) (Nature Cover Article)
  • Yang, B., Baines, R., Shah, D., Patiballa, S., Thomas, E., Venkadesan, M., & Kramer-Bottiglio, R. (2021). Reprogrammable soft actuation and shape-shifting via tensile jamming. Science Advances, 2021.
  • Patiballa, S. and Krishnan, G. “On the design of three-dimensional mechanical metamaterials using load flow visualization”, Mechanics based design of structures and machines, 2020.
  • Krishnan, G. and Patiballa, S. “Conceptual Insightful Synthesis of Spatial Compliant Mechanisms using the Load Flow Formulation,” ASME Journal of Mechanical design, 2019.
  • Patiballa, S. and Krishnan, G. “Qualitative Analysis and Conceptual Design of Planar Metamaterials with Negative Poisson’s Ratio” ASME Journal of Mechanisms and Robotics, 2018.
  • Baines, R., Patiballa, S., Kramer-Bottiglio, R. “Rapidly Reconfigurable Inextensible Inflatables” RoboSoft 2021