Erin Evke
PhD expected Dec. 2020
Materials Science and Engineering
University of Michigan
We are excited to introduce the 1st place winner in the 2020 WELocal Buffalo Graduate Collegiate Competition, Erin Evke! Erin has been a member of SWE since 2013, and her first global SWE conference was WE15 in Nashville. She recruited graduate students on behalf of Michigan for WE17 in Austin, and she also attended WE19 in Anaheim. Since starting graduate school at Michigan, she has held several officer positions, starting as professional development co-chair, moving to treasurer, and most recently, serving as co-director.
Erin’s research is in highly tunable kirigami structures for biomedical and wireless applications.
Erin’s thesis concerns developing kirigami (Japanese art of cutting) approaches to creating sophisticated 3-dimensional structures and devices starting from flat sheets. While the manufacturing of 2-dimensional patterns of functional films and components is well-established in research and industry, many useful structures and applications require more complex 3D topologies. Integrating flat and rigid electronics with those shapes is very challenging. Erin’s goals are to design, predict, and analyze these kirigami structures and use this knowledge to create devices having unprecedented capabilities and performance for biomedical and wireless applications. One of her projects involves developing accurate real-time tracking of the shoulder joint and muscle behavior using an engineered pattern of concentric ellipses. The combination of electrical sensing elements and closed-shape kirigami structures enables a textile-integrable and inexpensive joint motion monitoring device that can be used for rehabilitation, athletic training, robotics, and other applications. In addition, Erin is creating a kirigami-based optical tracking mechanism and exploring the incorporation of kirigami in polymer composites for electromagnetic radiation management and deployable smart materials.
Erin has earned the Rackham Merit Fellowship. There are two career paths that she sees herself pursuing: managing an R&D lab in industry, and starting her own company.
Outside of the lab, Erin likes running, playing soccer, and lifting. She also really likes traveling.
Fun fact: Erin ran a marathon through two countries!
PhD expected Dec. 2020
Materials Science and Engineering
University of Michigan
We are excited to introduce the 1st place winner in the 2020 WELocal Buffalo Graduate Collegiate Competition, Erin Evke! Erin has been a member of SWE since 2013, and her first global SWE conference was WE15 in Nashville. She recruited graduate students on behalf of Michigan for WE17 in Austin, and she also attended WE19 in Anaheim. Since starting graduate school at Michigan, she has held several officer positions, starting as professional development co-chair, moving to treasurer, and most recently, serving as co-director.
Erin’s research is in highly tunable kirigami structures for biomedical and wireless applications.
Erin’s thesis concerns developing kirigami (Japanese art of cutting) approaches to creating sophisticated 3-dimensional structures and devices starting from flat sheets. While the manufacturing of 2-dimensional patterns of functional films and components is well-established in research and industry, many useful structures and applications require more complex 3D topologies. Integrating flat and rigid electronics with those shapes is very challenging. Erin’s goals are to design, predict, and analyze these kirigami structures and use this knowledge to create devices having unprecedented capabilities and performance for biomedical and wireless applications. One of her projects involves developing accurate real-time tracking of the shoulder joint and muscle behavior using an engineered pattern of concentric ellipses. The combination of electrical sensing elements and closed-shape kirigami structures enables a textile-integrable and inexpensive joint motion monitoring device that can be used for rehabilitation, athletic training, robotics, and other applications. In addition, Erin is creating a kirigami-based optical tracking mechanism and exploring the incorporation of kirigami in polymer composites for electromagnetic radiation management and deployable smart materials.
Erin has earned the Rackham Merit Fellowship. There are two career paths that she sees herself pursuing: managing an R&D lab in industry, and starting her own company.
Outside of the lab, Erin likes running, playing soccer, and lifting. She also really likes traveling.
Fun fact: Erin ran a marathon through two countries!
