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About

Zhengyi Mao is a materials scientist and engineer whose research spans additive manufacturing, smart materials, soft robotics, and bioinspired structural design. His most influential contribution, "Additive Manufacturing of Structural Materials" (2021), has garnered over 664 citations, establishing him as a leading voice in understanding how 3D printing technologies can be harnessed to fabricate high-performance structural components. This work addressed the fundamental trade-offs between printing resolution and scalability that continue to shape the field. Beyond manufacturing, Mao has made significant strides in shape-morphing materials and soft actuators. His 2020 work on direct-ink written shape-morphing films demonstrated programmable, multi-motion actuation capabilities relevant to soft robotics and tissue engineering. More recently, he has pushed boundaries in human-machine interaction through a frequency-encoded smart contact lens for eye tracking (2024, 45 citations) and developed a magnet-driven soft bistable actuator (2024, 37 citations) with broad applications in flexible electronics and mechanical computing. His work on nacre-inspired tough materials further reflects his interest in biomimetic design principles. Collectively, Mao's research bridges advanced manufacturing, intelligent materials, and emerging wearable technologies, making him an increasingly influential figure in multidisciplinary materials engineering.