The Laboratory for
Synthetic, Emergent
and Animate Materials
We manipulate matter on the smallest of scales to build materials with properties that none of their parts possess alone — materials that sense, respond, toughen, and act.
ATLAS Institute & Rady Mechanical Engineering · University of Colorado Boulder
What the name means
Three words, one method
By synthesizing, assembling, combining and organizing nanoscale building blocks, we design technologies that improve human lives in health, energy, sensory augmentation and self-expression.
The lab’s name is also its method. Each word names a stage of the work — and each one has real projects behind it.
Who we are
An interdisciplinary tribe of scientists and engineers who think big and build small
How we work
The 10 principles of our lab
These are not aspirations. They are how we actually run the place, and the best description we have of what it is like to work here.
Ideas are alive.
They cannot be owned. Ideas gift themselves to us, not the other way around. You are probably not the first person to be visited by any idea. Technologies can be patented, yes, but a technology is not an idea; it is a created artifact inspired by an idea. Ideas are meant to be shared.
Personal responsibility.
You are responsible for your own education and training. Find mentors to help you, but you have to do it yourself.
Spirit of collaboration.
We are here to help each other and to give ourselves to a research team. Embody a spirit of giving and helping.
Inclusion.
All are welcome to participate in our research. We try not to say no to people who want to join and help — pending appropriate alignment of goals and interests, training, and bandwidth in the lab.
Communication is key.
Speak your mind. Don't keep what you are thinking to yourself.
Take risks. Make mistakes. Change your mind.
This is the true essence and spirit of science.
Self care is important.
Do it; care for yourself. You can't be a good researcher if you are not healthy in body, mind, heart and spirit.
Read the literature.
A day in the library is worth 100 days in the lab. Spend lots of time getting to know what your peers in the field have done.
Tell the truth.
Always. Act with integrity. Be honest.
Fun.
Team is how we win, and fun is how we team. Enjoy. Play. Delight. Research is a privilege. Don't take it for granted.