Prof. Demirel, the Lloyd and Dorothy Huck Chair in Biomimetic
Materials, is a scientist and innovator (National Academy of Innovators-NAI
member) with expertise in biotechnology, nanotechnology, and materials science.
He also founded a cleantech company for decarbonizing textiles (Tandem Repeat,
Inc.) and an AI-infrastructure company for engineering biology (Molecular
Composites, Inc.). Over the last two decades, Prof. Demirel and his research
team have focused on developing functional nanoscale biomimetic materials. His
team designed, fabricated, and synthesized advanced materials by studying the
functional transitions of biomimetic systems, both computationally and
experimentally. Prof. Demirel's achievements have been recognized through his
receipt of a Young Investigator Award from the Department of Defense, an
Alexander von Humboldt Fellowship, a Wyss Institute Visiting Scholar
appointment at Harvard University, an Institute for Complex Adaptive Matter
Junior Fellowship, The Nicholas and Gelsa Pelick Biotechnology Innovation Award,
the Pearce Development Professorship, and a Penn State Engineering Alumni
Society Outstanding Research Award. Prof. Demirel received his PhD from
Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, USA, and BS/MS degrees from Bogazici
University, Istanbul, Turkey. Prof. Demirel is well known for his
groundbreaking work on bioinspired programmable materials.