Donglei “Emma”Fan
- dfan@austin.utexas.edu
- 512-471-5874
- GLT 3.344
Intelligent materials, structures, and patterning, AI-powered micro/nanorobotics, active matter, molecular control and quantum sensing; applications in health and environmental biochemical detection, water purification; development of equipment, platforms and bio-tools
About
D. Emma Fan is a professor in the Walker Department of Mechanical Engineering at The University of Texas at Austin, a faculty member of the Materials Science and Engineering Program and the Texas Materials Institute, and an affiliated professor in Electrical and Computer Engineering,
Prof. Donglei Emma Fan develops intelligent materials and precision tools to address challenges in robotics, biomedicine, and water purification. Her interdisciplinary research integrates materials science, physics, chemistry, and artificial intelligence to fabricate, design and control micro/nanoscale structures, hierarchical porous materials, and smart responsive systems.
Fan and her collaborators demonstrated the first targeted subcellular delivery of biomolecules, including TNF-α, to individual cells using manipulated nanowires (Nature Nanotechnology, 2010). Her group later invented the patented 3D Electrokinetic Tweezers, enabling nanoparticle manipulation in solution with 20 nm positional precision and 0.5° angular control under a standard optical microscope (Nature Nanotechnology, 2023; highlighted in News & Views). Her team also discovered light–semiconductor–electric-field interactions for multimodal, reconfigurable robotic nanodevices (Nature Communications, 2019; Science Advances, 2018) and developed micromotor swarms with programmable spatiotemporal control (Science Advances, 2023).
More recently, she and her collaborators created a scalable microbubble-based soft robotic platform for the parallel, precise, and biocompatible assembly of nanoparticles, cells, and exosomes (Nature Communications, 2025). The method overcame the problems that have hindered the practical use of microbubbles for manipulating sensitive bioparticles for over a decade.
Fan’s lab also develops hierarchical porous materials for sustainable technologies, including self-powered systems, water purification, and catalysis. Key advances include branched porous graphite electrodes for portable water disinfection (ACS Nano, 2023), scalable fabrication of MoS₂ nanostructures (Advanced Materials, 2020), and rational fabrication of hierarchical graphite foams through the Kirkendall effect (Chemistry of Materials, 2017).
Committed to translating research into societal impact, Fan is an inventor on nine granted patents and 8 pending patents or disclosures. Multiple patents have been licensed or optioned to companies.
Educational Qualifications
- Ph.D., Materials Science and Engineering, The Johns Hopkins University, 2007
- M.S., Electrical and Computer Engineering, The Johns Hopkins University, 2005
- M.S., Materials Science and Engineering, The Johns Hopkins University, 2003
- B.S., Department of Intensive Instruction, Nanjing University
Select Awards & Honors
- Board of Directors, American Institute of Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE) (2025)
- Senior Member, National Academy of Inventors (2025)
- Fellow of the American Institute of Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE) (2024)
- General Program Chair, International Conference on Manipulation, Automation, and Robotics at Small Scale (MARSS) (2024)
- National Science Foundation Mid-Career Advancement Award (2022)
- 2022 Johns Hopkins Whiting School of Engineering Ilene Busch-Vishniac Lecturer (2022)
- Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry (2021)
- Invited Official Nominator of Japan Prize, The Japan Prize Foundation (since 2017)
- Invited participant, National Academy of Engineering (NAE) 2013 EU-US Frontier of Engineering Symposium (2013)
- National Science Foundation CAREER Award (2012)