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Professor  Md. Taher Abu Saif

University of Illinois Urbana Champaign

Biography
Dr. Md. Taher Abu Saif is a distinguished engineer and researcher renowned for his groundbreaking work in biohybrid robotics and nanoscale materials. Born in Bangladesh, Dr. Saif's academic journey began at the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology, where he earned his Bachelor's in Civil Engineering with Honors in 1984. He then pursued his Master's in Civil Engineering at Washington State University, followed by a PhD in Theoretical and Applied Mechanics from Cornell University in 1993. 
For over four decades, Dr. Saif has been a trailblazer in his field, currently serving as the Edward William and Jane Marr Gutgsell Professor at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. His research focuses on characterizing the mechanical properties of materials at small scales, with profound implications in both materials science and biology. 
Among his notable achievements, Dr. Saif demonstrated, for the first time, the reversibility of plastic deformation in nanocrystalline metal films, a discovery that has opened new avenues in materials science. His dedication to advancing knowledge and innovation in engineering has earned him global recognition as one of the foremost engineers of our time. In 2024, Professor Saif became a fellow of the National Academy of Engineering, the highest professional honor in engineering, also known as the “Nobel Prize of Engineering”. 

Research Interests
  • Biohybrid robots, engineered living systems 
  • Biomechanics: Cellular mechanics and mechanotransduction, cancer metastasis, neuro mechanics 
  • Deformation mechanisms of nanoscale materials 
  • Mechanics of Micro-Electro Mechanical Systems (MEMS)
Research Areas
  • Applied Physics 
  • Chemistry 
  • Health and Bio 
  • Manufacturing 
  • Security and Defense 
  • Solid Mechanics and Materials
Research Description
Professor Saif's research focuses on the mechanics of nanoscale materials and living cells. He uses both theory and experiment to explore (1) the effect of size on the mechanics of materials, and (2) the role of mechanical force in determining the functionality of cells and cell clusters. Professor Saif demonstrated experimentally, for the first time, that plastic deformation in nanocrystalline metal films can be reversible. After plastic deformation, metals with grain sizes between 50 and 100 nanometers recover most of their plastic strain under macroscopically stress-free condition. This recovery is time dependent and thermally activated. Saif showed that the recovery originates from the small size and heterogeniety of microstructure of the metal specimens. The research, which was reported in Science, raises the possibility of manufacturing metal components that can heal themselves after being deformed or dented. In the area of cellular mechanics, Professor Saif's projects involve neurons, cancer and cardiac cells, and interactions between cells in clusters. He seeks to address questions such as: What is the role of tension in neurons on memory and learning? Does mechanical microenvironment influence the onset of metastasis during cancer development? Can clusters of cells be guided so that they evolve into biological machines? He, together with Professor Akira Chiba of the the University of Maimi, showed that neurons are under mechanical tension, and that such tension might be essential for memory and learning.

Education
  • Ph.D. Theoretical & Applied Mechanics, Cornell University 1993 
  • M.S. Civil Eng. Washington State University 1987 
  • B.S. Civil Eng. Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (with Honors) 1984
Academic Positions 
  • Distinguished Visiting Professor, Leibniz Institute for New Materials, Saarbrücken, Germany, June-Dec 2019 
  • Visiting Professor, Faculty of Physics, University of Vienna, May 23 - June 22, 2011 
  • Edward William and Jane Marr Gutgsell Professor, University of Illinois, January 2009-date 
  • Professor, Department of Mechanical Science and Engineering, UIUC, Aug. 15, 2005–date 
  • Associate Professor, Department of Mechanical Science and Engineering, UIUC, Aug. 16, 2003-Aug. 15, 2005 
  • Assistant Professor, Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, UIUC, May 26, 1997-Aug. 15, 2003 
  • Research Associate, School of Electrical Engineering and National Nano-Fabrication Facility, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, Aug. 1996-May 1997 
  • Post Doctoral Associate, School of Electrical Engineering and National Nano-Fabrication Facility, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, Aug. 1993-July 1996 
  • Teaching Assistant, Department of Physics and Department of Theoretical and Applied Mechanics, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, Aug. 1991-May 1993 
  • Teaching Assistant Fellow, College of Engineering, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, Aug. 1991-May 1992 
  • Teaching Assistant, Sibley School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, Aug. 1990-May 1991 
  • Research Assistant, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, Jan. 1988-Aug. 1990 
  • Teaching Assistant, Department of Civil Engineering, Washington State University, Pullman, WA, Aug. 1986-Dec. 1987 
  • Lecturer, Department of Civil Engineering, Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology, Dhaka, Bangladesh, Sept. 1984-Aug. 1986
Additional Campus Affiliations
  • Edward William and Jane Marr Gutgsell Professor, Mechanical Science and Engineering 
  • Professor, Mechanical Science and Engineering 
  • Professor, Bioengineering Professor, Biomedical and Translational Sciences 
  • Professor, Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology 
  • Professor, Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology

Highlighted Publications
  • Austin P. Passaro, Onur Aydin, M. Taher A. Saif, Steven L. Stice. Development of an objective index, neural activity score (NAS), reveals neural network ontogeny and treatment effects on microelectrode arrays. Scientific Reports, Scientific Reports volume 11, Article number: 9110 (2021) 
  • Hangbo Zhao, Yongdeok Kim, Heling Wang, Xin Ning, Chenkai Xu, Judy Suh, Mengdi Han, Gelson J. Pagan-Diaz, Wei Lu, Haibo Li, Wubin Bai, Onur Aydin, Yoonseok Park, Jiaojiao Wang, Yao Yao, Yishan He, M. Taher A. Saif, Yonggang Huang, Rashid Bashir, John A. Rogers. Compliant 3D frameworks instrumented with strain sensors for characterization of millimeter-scale engineered muscle tissues. PNAS May 11, 2021 118 (19) e2100077118; https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2100077118 
  • Bashar Emon, Zhengwei Li, Md Saddam Hossain Joy, Umnia Doha, Farhad Kosari, M Taher A Saif. A novel method for sensor-based quantification of single/multi-cellular force dynamics and stiffening in 3D matrices. Science Advances, 7 (15) (2021) eabf2629. https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.abf2629. 
  • M A Bashar Emon, Samantha Knoll, Umnia Doha, Lauren Ladehoff, Luke Lalonde, Danielle Baietto, Mayandi Sivaguru, Rohit Bhargava and M Taher A Saif. Dose-independent threshold illumination for non-invasive time-lapse fluorescence imaging of live cells. Extreme Mechanics Letters, 101249, 2021. 
  • Zhengwei Li, Alireza Tofangchi, Robert A. Stavins, Emon Bashar, Ronald D. McKinney, Paul J. Grippo and M. Taher A. Saif. Elastic modulus pen (EPen): A portable device to measure stiffness of soft tissues in vivo. Scientific Reports, volume 11, Article number: 378 (2021)