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We are part of a research team that received a DOE Genesis Mission Award to bring autonomous robotics to scientific research.

Our work Optothermal Bubble Etch Lithography [ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces 18 (2026) 35493-35499] was featured as a Front Cover Article (July 2026).

We were awarded “New Directions” Seed Funding through the University’s Office of the Vice President for Research, Scholarship and Creative Endeavors to explore emerging research opportunities – photonic methods for reducing the neurotoxicity of microplastics (June 2026).

Anand Swain has accepted a Process Engineer III position at Applied Materials (Santa Clara, CA), starting in August 2025. Congratulations, Anand! (July 2025)

Jingang Li has accepted a tenure-track Assistant Professor position with a joint appointment in Mechanical Engineering and Materials Engineering at Purdue University, starting in August 2025. Congratulations, Jingang! (May 2025)

Yuebing Zheng is appointed as holder of the Cullen Trust for Higher Education Endowed Professorship in Engineering #4 (August 2024).

Our work Light-Driven C-H Activation Mediated by 2D Transition Metal Dichalcogenides (Nature Communications 2024) was featured by Electro Optics as How to transform complex plastics into valuable chemicals, using a low-powered laser (August 2024).

Our work Light-Driven C-H Activation Mediated by 2D Transition Metal Dichalcogenides (Nature Communications 2024) was featured by Photonics Spectra as Light-Matter Interaction Converts Plastic Waste to Functional Materials (August 2024).

Dr. Zhihan Chen was selected to receive the 2023 Chinese Government Award for Outstanding Self-financed Students Abroad. Congratulations! (July 2024).

Our work Light-Driven C-H Activation Mediated by 2D Transition Metal Dichalcogenides (Nature Communications 2024) was featured on University Research News headline on the Office of Science homepage (July 2024).

Our works Synchronous and Fully Steerable Active Particle Systems for Enhanced Mimicking of Collective Motion in Nature (Advanced Materials 2024) and Persistent and Responsive Collective Motion with Adaptive Time Delay (Science Advances 2024) were featured by ASME as Simple Instructions Make a Robot Swarm (July 2024).

Our work Light-Driven C-H Activation Mediated by 2D Transition Metal Dichalcogenides (Nature Communications 2024) was featured by Anthropocene as The next chapter in plastic recycling could be laser focused (July 2024).

Our work Light-Driven C-H Activation Mediated by 2D Transition Metal Dichalcogenides (Nature Communications 2024) was featured by Hackaday as LASERS COULD HELP US RECYCLE PLASTICS INTO CARBON DOTS (July 2024).

Our work Light-Driven C-H Activation Mediated by 2D Transition Metal Dichalcogenides (Nature Communications 2024) was featured by Optics & Photonics News as Using Light to Break Down Plastics (July 2024).

Our work Light-Driven C-H Activation Mediated by 2D Transition Metal Dichalcogenides (Nature Communications 2024) was featured by Youtube Channel Science News (July 2024).

Our work Light-Driven C-H Activation Mediated by 2D Transition Metal Dichalcogenides (Nature Communications 2024) was featured by Earth as Lasers may completely transform the future of plastic recycling (July 2024).

Our work Light-Driven C-H Activation Mediated by 2D Transition Metal Dichalcogenides (Nature Communications 2024) was featured by Futurity as Laser Blasts Could Solve the World’s Plastic Problem (July 2024).

Our work Light-Driven C-H Activation Mediated by 2D Transition Metal Dichalcogenides (Nature Communications 2024) was featured by Knowridge as Scientists turn plastic waste into treasure with lasers and 2D materials (July 2024).

Our work Light-Driven C-H Activation Mediated by 2D Transition Metal Dichalcogenides (Nature Communications 2024) was featured by Science Times as Plastics Waste Management Revolutionized As Texas Engineers Use Lasers, 2D Materials for Sustainable Recycling (July 2024).

Our work Light-Driven C-H Activation Mediated by 2D Transition Metal Dichalcogenides (Nature Communications 2024) was featured by Phys.org as How lasers and 2D materials could solve the world’s plastic problem (July 2024).

Our work Light-Driven C-H Activation Mediated by 2D Transition Metal Dichalcogenides (Nature Communications 2024) was featured by Mirage as Lasers, 2D Materials Could Tackle Global Plastic Crisis (July 2024).

Our work Light-Driven C-H Activation Mediated by 2D Transition Metal Dichalcogenides (Nature Communications 2024) was featured by Nanowerk as Laser and 2D materials enable novel plastic breakdown for recycling (July 2024).

Our work Persistent and Responsive Collective Motion with Adaptive Time Delay (Science Advances 2024) was featured on the Frontiers of Engineering homepage (June 2024).

Congratulations to Dr. Rohit Unni, Dr. Youngsun Kim, and Dr. Zhihan Chen (from left to right in second photo) on receiving their Ph.D. degrees in MSE! (May 2024).

Our work on Metamaterials-Enhanced Optical Chiral Detection was featured by Chemistry World as Telling left from right: chirality detection faces up to its weaknesses (April 2024).

Our work Persistent and Responsive Collective Motion with Adaptive Time Delay (Science Advances 2024) was featured by DPA Magazine as Have you ‘herd’? Smart swarms of tiny robots adopt collective mindset (April 2024).

Our work Persistent and Responsive Collective Motion with Adaptive Time Delay (Science Advances 2024) was featured by IoT World Today as Robot Swarms Developed by University of Texas (April 2024).

Our work Persistent and Responsive Collective Motion with Adaptive Time Delay (Science Advances 2024) was featured by Futurity as HERD MENTALITY INSPIRES SMART SWARMS OF TINY ROBOTS (April 2024).

Our work Persistent and Responsive Collective Motion with Adaptive Time Delay (Science Advances 2024) was featured by Space War as Robotic Swarms Mimic Nature to Advance Collective Performance (April 2024).

Our work Persistent and Responsive Collective Motion with Adaptive Time Delay (Science Advances 2024) was featured by Knowridge as How tiny robots are mimicking nature to make big strides (April 2024).

Our work Persistent and Responsive Collective Motion with Adaptive Time Delay (Science Advances 2024) was featured by ThePrint as Can ‘smart’ robots have herd mentality? (April 2024).

Our work Persistent and Responsive Collective Motion with Adaptive Time Delay (Science Advances 2024) was featured by Industry News USA as From Schools of Fish to Swarms of Robots: UT Austin’s Groundbreaking Discovery (April 2024).

Our work Persistent and Responsive Collective Motion with Adaptive Time Delay (Science Advances 2024) was featured by CSE as ‘Smart Swarms’ of Tiny Robots Inspired by Natural Herd Mentality (April 2024).

Pavana was featured by Texas Mechanical Engineering Magazine 2024 for his publication on Hypothermal Opto-thermophoretic Tweezers and Ben Streetman Prize (April 2024).

Our work Three-Dimensional Optothermal Manipulation of Light-Absorbing Particles in Phase-Change Gel Media (ACS Nano 2024) was featured by Nanowerk as Scientists achieve reconfigurable 3D optical manipulation of microscopic particles (March 2024).

Our work Deep Convolutional Mixture Density Network for Inverse Design of Layered Photonic Structures (ACS Photonics 2020) was featured in a Nanowerk article Machine learning innovations and applications in nanotechnology (February 2024).

Yuebing Zheng is promoted to Professor effective 16 August 2024 (February 2024).

Our work Synchronous and Fully Steerable Active Particle Systems for Enhanced Mimicking of Collective Motion in Nature [Advanced Materials (2024)] was featured by Nanowerk as Breakthrough optical platform unlocks secrets of natural swarm intelligence for next-gen collective microrobotics (February 2024).

Our work Synchronous and Fully Steerable Active Particle Systems for Enhanced Mimicking of Collective Motion in Nature [Advanced Materials (2024)] was featured as Editor’s Choice and Frontispiece (February 2024).

An interview with Benjamin Skuse at Photonics Focus on The virtuous circle of AI and photonics (January 2024).