During my time in Prof. Kolle’s lab, I led the development of a compact dark-field imaging device inspired by the microstructure found on the wings of the Papilio Blumei butterfly. The chip I designed used the bioinspired photonic structure to recycle and amplify light within the device, providing a low-cost energy-effective solution to teachers and field biologists for high-resolution visualization of difficult-to-image biological samples.

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I next continued my work with bioinspired optical materials as a visiting student in Dr. Silvia Vignolini’s group for bioinspired photonics in the Chemistry Department of the University of Cambridge. There, I studied biocompatible sensors based on polymers derived from cellulose, an abundant biodegradable material produced by plants. I worked in collaboration with physicists and chemists on the early development and optical characterization of touch-responsive photonic sensors out of hydroxypropyl cellulose for sports apparel and medical devices.