Dr. Robertson-Anderson awarded a $1M Research Grant from the W.M Keck Foundation

Robertson-Anderson, was recently awarded a Research Grant from the W.M. Keck Foundation. The $1M award is for collaborative research Robertson-Anderson will conduct with an interdisciplinary team of researchers from University of San Diego, University of Massachusetts-Amherst, University of Chicago, and Rochester Institute of Technology. USD undergraduates will play a key role in this cutting-edge research. The Keck Research Program aims to fund projects that are “distinctive and novel in their approach, question the prevailing paradigm, or have the potential to break open new territory in their field”. Robertson-Anderson and her team propose to create a revolutionary class of autonomous materials that can perform motion and work by harnessing biologically-derived molecular components. Specifically, the team will fuse the skeletal proteins from cells with circadian clock proteins to engineer a suite of tunable materials that can autonomously stiffen and soften. This revolutionary approach to materials engineering has the potential to create an entirely new class of “living” materials that can not only intelligently respond to external signals, but also anticipate future demands. For more information on Robertson-Anderson’s award and the Keck Research Program read the following "press release" and visit the "W. M Keck Foundation website".