Momentum - The Magazine for Virginia Tech Mechanical Engineering Vol. 4 No. 4 Winter 2019 | Page 13

13
Li receives NSF CAREER Award
Ling Li, an assistant professor of mechanical
engineering in the College of Engineering has
received a National
Science Foundation
Faculty Early Ca-
reer Development
CAREER award to
support research to
study the structural
designs and forma-
tion mechanisms of
biomineralized ar-
chitected materials.
The $520,000 five-
year award will support Li’s research of how
biomineralized starfish skeletons are designed
and formed.
“The internal microscopic structures of
many biomineral-based structures found in
organisms have extremely intricate 3D orga-
nizations,” Li said. “They show remarkable
mechanical strength, durability and efficiency,
despite the fact that they are made of intrinsi-
cally brittle minerals and often highly porous.”
Li’s research group focuses on the under-
standing the mechanical and multifunctional
design of a variety of biological materials, such
as low-density biological porous structures
and tough biocomposites. His research also
aims to develop new materials by utilizing
the design strategies learned from biological
material systems. For example, his group
recently developed a chiton mollusk-inspired
armor that provides simultaneous mechanical
protection and flexibility.
“Currently, we have limited knowledge in
explaining how biominerals’ complex 3D
microstructures are controlled and how they
are related to their mechanical properties. By
using the biomineralized skeleton in a starfish
as a model system, we aim to quantitatively
characterize its 3D network-like microstruc-
ture, the underlying formation mechanisms as
well as its mechanical significance,” he said.
Starfish skeletons contain hundreds of
millimeter-sized mineralized elements known
as ossicles which are embedded within the
soft body of the starfish. This skeletal design
allows the starfish to be flexible in motion and
stiff when required.
“Ossicles are characterized by their lat-
tice-like porous microstructure which is
based on a single-crystalline calcite, which
makes them lightweight, strong, and dam-
age tolerant,” Li said. “The new knowledge
gained from this study will provide us better
understanding of the 3D structural evolution
processes for echinoderms, or possibly, even
other invertebrate and vertebrate biomineral-
ized tissues.”
Li said the work will provide lessons on the
design and fabrication of synthetic low-densi-
ty materials.
In addition to the CAREER Award, Li
received the 2018 Air Force Office of Re-
search Young Faculty Award, and the 2019
MIT Technology Review TR35 China
Award, and the 2019 College of Engineering
Dean’s Award for Outstanding New Assistant
Professor.
At left, the 3D
microstructure of a
biomineralized skel-
eton of a starfish.