Associate Professor Javier G. Fernandez

Profile 

• 'Innovators Under 35' by MIT in 2016 

• One of the top innovators in sustainability by the Launch Organization (NASA, U.S. Agency for International Development, and U.S. Department of State)

• Awarded world’s most outstanding young researcher in materials science by the Bayer Foundation in 2014 

• Research at SUTD is focused on the broad study, development, and application of biological materials in science and technology

His Work 

Using Chitin, a Bioinspired Material, to Manufacture Tools and Shelters on Mars

Assoc Prof Fernandez and PhD student Ng Shi Wei look into a building material that could be the key to building structures and tools on Mars. 

Creating Heart Cells from Stem Cells Using 3D Printing

Assoc Prof Fernandez and PhD student Rupambika Dass successfully created heart cells from stem cells using 3D printing, opening new avenues for regenerative medicine and allow it to propel alongside the rapidly advancing field of 3D printing. 

Setting a New Paradigm Based on Biological Materials for Sustainability

"We are not trying to remove plastic. We are not trying to go back 100 years on technology. What we are trying to do is to bring materials that outperform plastic in many senses." Associate Professor Javier G. Fernandez

Of these materials, apart from chitin, FLAM (fungal-like adhesive material) is a material Assoc Prof Fernandez made in collaboration with Assoc Prof Stylianos Dritsas from SUTD's Architecture and Sustainable Design. 

"They open new possibilities and they enable to make engineering and a society that moves around biology and by definition, that society will be sustainable."