Magnetoelastic generators (MEGs) are based on the giant magnetoelastic effect, where variation of magnetic properties within soft systems composed of nanomagnets can be converted into electricity.
Bioengineering Research
October 2022 - October 2024
During my sophomore year, I joined the Bioelectronics Research Lab in UCLA’s Department of Bioengineering under Dr. Jun Chen. Here, I conducted research on the various applications of soft and liquid magnetoelastic generators for wearable bioelectronics. MEGs are composed on nanomagnets dispersed within a polymer that can vary in magnetic field with applied mechanical stress. This effect can be coupled with Faraday’s law of induction to produce electricity.
Magnetoelastic generator working principle
My responsibilities focused on fabricating the MEG sensors in multiple different forms utilizing PDMS and neodymium iron boron (NdFeB) nanomagnets. More specifically, I helped design a new method of manufacturing our sensors using 3D-printing. This can be seen with the video on the right.
Video demonstration of 3D-printing method
Video demonstration of 3D-printing method
Poster at UC Systemwide Bioengineering Symposium
I helped test the output of the sensors for various different applications, such as feedback for prosthetics, voice recognition, and ambulatory cardiac monitoring. This culminated in several oral and poster presentations at events like the UC Systemwide Bioengineering Symposium 2023 and UCLA Undergraduate Research Week 2023. I also contributed with publications in peer-reviewed journals such as Nature Communications and Nature Electronics, which can be found below.
A self-filtering liquid acoustic sensor for voice recognition
A reconfigurable and conformal liquid sensor for ambulatory cardiac monitoring
©2024 Aaron Li