麻豆原创

Before Abouraddy came to 麻豆原创 in 2008, he was at MIT聽as a postdoctoral student and research scientist where he learned about fiber manufacturing. Abouraddy and his colleagues had attempted to observe a phenomenon that Harvard theoreticians previously predicted: under a high temperature, an extended fiber with an embedded, continuous core can spontaneously form a chain of spherical micro- and nanoparticles. After much effort and expense, this research question went unanswered until Abouraddy鈥檚 student stumbled upon the answer.

Abouraddy calls the 鈥渕istake鈥� the聽student had observed聽a 鈥渇antastic failure,鈥� infused with serendipity. This聽particle fabrication method聽can potentially disrupt a variety of聽industries,聽impacting everyday items such as paints and sunscreens.聽You can read more about it in this month鈥檚 Patent Trending blog (to be published on Thursday, May 5th).

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Prior to his time at MIT, he attended Boston University, where he received his Ph.D. in Optics. This rare melding of聽materials science聽and optics聽is the basis of Abouraddy鈥檚 research.

鈥淚t allows me to uniquely combine two differing areas of knowledge, and it came in very handy in what we did. In any new discovery, if it鈥檚 a real discovery, it鈥檚 going to be in an area you don鈥檛 know anything about. We need to have a broad scientific background, an ability to catch up and make up for the missing knowledge,鈥� he said.

And, to fill in the knowledge gap, Abouraddy鈥檚 work is driven by the聽pursuit of the invigorating 鈥渁-ha!鈥� moment.

鈥淚 like to understand things. I鈥檓 always bothered by contradictions or things that don鈥檛 add up. Uncovering what we don鈥檛 understand聽is very challenging, but very rewarding.聽That pleasure that comes from suddenly understanding how something works is what drives me,鈥� he said.

This single-minded curiosity was something fostered from his youth. As a child, Abouraddy liked to build things. He聽was especially obsessed with LEGOS and built large houses with them. Abouraddy grew up in an academic family.聽His father was聽the Dean of Arts and Sciences at Alexandria University in Egypt. In Britain, he attended聽a school with a strong emphasis in the sciences and was a top student.聽Throughout his younger days, he was always involved in some aspect of math and science.

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What drew Abouraddy to 麻豆原创 was the amount of latitude he鈥檚 given for聽his research.

鈥溌槎乖�创 is a young university, so there are more opportunities for growth and independence.聽So we鈥檙e growing together, and that level of freedom has allowed me to grow organically,鈥� he said.

For Abouraddy, even the labs in CREOL reflect the organic nature聽of research at 麻豆原创.

鈥淥ur labs are distributed all over the building. Whereas at a typical university, you get some lab space, and then you have to wait for an eternity for any extra space, if you grow,鈥� he said.

Abouraddy believes that this freedom provides聽more opportunities for collaboration and mentorship.

鈥淚 have quite a bit of collaboration within CREOL and within 麻豆原创:聽with people in physics, and in biomedical, mechanical, and electrical engineering. This extended network of collaboration has helped our research,鈥� he stated.

Abouraddy鈥檚 Ph.D. adviser at Boston University is now the dean of CREOL,聽, and has afforded聽him a virtually continuous mentorship throughout his career.

鈥淭he mentorship aspect has been very fulfilling here.聽I鈥檝e been mentored by other senior faculty, whom I am very lucky to have as collaborators and as mentors. That鈥檚 allowed for a level of growth that I didn鈥檛 expect before I came here,鈥� Abouraddy reflected.

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Abouraddy鈥檚 research fuses the fields of material science and optics to create new innovations with the potential to positively affect our everyday lives. His new fabrication method is currently available for licensing. To learn more, contact John Miner.