Michael Espinal

Michael Espinal is a graduate student in mechanical engineering working at the forefront of architected materials design. His research explores spinodal architectures and other shell-based mechanical metamaterials to create lightweight, self-assembled structures with tunable curvature that offer superior mechanical performance compared to traditional forms. By uncovering how geometry governs deformation and energy absorption, Michael aims to develop predictive design tools that accelerate the deployment of these materials across aerospace, transportation, and defense sectors. As a MathWorks Fellow, he will pursue a unified mechanics framework to better understand and engineer the next generation of shell-based materials. MATLAB plays a pivotal role in his work. Michael uses it to generate complex geometries, extract curvature fields, and process microtomography scans to reconstruct the 3D microstructure of self-assembled spinodal architectures. His integrative approach, which combines theory, computation, and fabrication, stands to reshape how engineers design high-efficiency materials for real-world structural and energy-absorbing applications.