Nima Rahbar
White Family Distinguished Professor
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Department of Mechanical Engineering
Worcester Polytechnic Institute
Dr. Rahbar received his Ph.D. in Mechanics, Materials, and Structures in the Department of Civil Engineering at Princeton University. He joined WPI in August 2012 as an Assistant Professor after starting his career at UMass Dartmouth. His research interests are in the bioinspired design of materials with an emphasis on mechanical and thermal properties. Dr. Rahbar has won several awards including the NSF CAREER award in 2012, TMS Young Leader’s award in 2013, Air Force Summer Faculty Fellowship Award in 2013, the Consecutive ASCE 2015 and 2016 Outstanding Reviewer, the 2018 Sigma Xi Outstanding Junior Faculty Research Award, the 2020 and 2022 ONR Summer Senior Faculty Fellowship. He was a visiting associate professor at the MIT CEE Department and Cornell CEE in 2020. His latest work is focused on Enzymatic Self-Healing Concrete and Negative Emission Construction Materials.
Current Members
Prof. Desmond Klenam
Visiting Scientist (Website)
Ph.D.: University of Witwatersrand, Johannesberg
Dr. Tabiri Asumadu
Post-doctoral research scientist
Ph.D. Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology
Dr. Shuai Wang
Research Scientist (Website)
Ph.D.: Worcester Polytechnic Institute
M.Sc.: Worcester Polytechnic Institute
B.Sc.: University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Mobin Vandadi (Ph.D. Candidate., Website)
B.Sc.: Sharif University of Technology
Sara Heidarnezhad (Ph.D. candidate., Website)
MS: Sharif University of Technology
B.Sc.: Babol Noshirvani University of Technology
Dalton Vassalo (Ph.D. student)
B.Sc.: University of Vermon
Alumni Students
Habibeh Ashouri Choshali
Ph.D.: Worcester Polytechnic Institute
M.Sc.: Sharif University of Technology
B.Sc.: Sharif University of Technology
Jessica Ann Rosewitz (graduated Ph.D. Website)
Current Position: Assistant Professor at WPI
Ph.D.: Worcester Polytechnic Institute
M.Sc.: Worcester Polytechnic Institute
B.Sc.: Worcester Polytechnic Institute
Arvand Navabi
Ph.D.: Worcester Polytechnic Institute
M.Sc.: Northeastern University
B.Sc.: Tehran University
Vahid Rahneshin
Ph.D.: Worcester Polytechnic Institute
M.Sc.: Worcester Polytechnic Institute
B.Sc.: Sharif University of Technology
Sina Askarinejad
Ph.D.: Worcester Polytechnic Institute
M.Sc.: Worcester Polytechnic Institute
B.Sc.: Sharif University of Technology
Current Position: Assistant Professor at the University of Dundee
Sina Youssefian
Ph.D.: Worcester Polytechnic Institute
M.Sc.: Worcester Polytechnic Institute
B.Sc.: Sharif University of Technology
Current Position: ASML
Faezeh Shalchy
Current Position: Assistant Professor, Herriot-Watt University ()
Kwabena Kan-Dapaah
Current Position: Senior Lecturer, University of Ghana (Website)
Alireza Mahdavi Nejad
Current Position: Assistant Professor, Wentworth Institute of Technology (Website)
BIOINSPIRED MATERIAL DESIGN LAB 