Jie Yin
Bio
Dr. Yin is currently a Professor and University Faculty Scholar in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at NC State University. He received his Ph.D. in Engineering Mechanics from Columbia University and his M.S. in Solid Mechanics from Tsinghua University. Prior to joining NC State, he was a Postdoctoral Associate at MIT and served as an Assistant and then Associate Professor at Temple University. He is the recipient of several prestigious honors, including 2024 Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE) from the White House, the 2022 Cozzarelli Prize from the National Academy of Sciences (NAS), the 2019 NSF CAREER Award, and the 2017 Young Investigator Award from Extreme Mechanics Letters (EML).
The Yin Group conducts research on the fundamental mechanics and multifunctionality of novel materials and structures across multiple length scales. For more details, visit Dr. Yin’s Google Scholar profile and the Yin Lab website.
Dr. Yin’s research centers on the mechanics-guided design of soft robotics, mechanical metamaterials, and multifunctional shape-morphing materials and structures. His work aims to advance physically intelligent soft robotics capable of high-performance manipulation, locomotion, autonomy, and adaptability, with broad applications in navigation, rehabilitation, healthcare, and space exploration. He also explores the science and engineering of kirigami—the traditional art of paper cutting and folding—as a powerful tool for creating novel mechanical properties and programmable functionalities. In addition, his group develops shape-morphing materials and structures for applications in sustainable energy and environmental systems. His research integrates theoretical modeling, numerical simulation, and experimental investigation to address fundamental questions and enable real-world impact.
Publications
- Magnetic coupling transforms random snapping into ordered sequences in soft metamaterials , Science Advances (2026)
- Solution-processed electrochromics for synergistic solar and radiative heat management , Nature Sustainability (2026)
- Aerial Track‐Guided Autonomous Soft Ring Robot , Advanced Science (2025)
- Autonomous Slip-Prevention Grip Force Control and Its Potential in Shared Control of Robotic Prosthetic Hands , IEEE Transactions on Medical Robotics and Bionics (2025)
- Enhancing soft robots with chemical shielding for harsh corrosive liquid environments , Materials Horizons (2025)
- Examining the Mechanics of Polyester Coatings to Assess the Opportunity to Replace BPA in Metal Food Packaging , ACS Applied Polymer Materials (2025)
- Multistable thin-shell metastructures for multiresponsive reconfigurable metabots , Science Advances (2025)
- Programmable seconds-to-days-long delayed snapping in jumping metashells , Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (2025)
- Reprogrammable snapping morphogenesis in ribbon-cluster meta-units using stored elastic energy , Nature Materials (2025)
- Adaptive hierarchical origami-based metastructures , Nature Communications (2024)