Welcome to the Vibration and Acoustics
Engineering Laboratory

Research at VAEL solves engineering problems at the intersection of acoustics, smart structures, and structural dynamics.

People

Dr. Christopher Sugino is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering in the Schaefer School of Engineering and Science at Stevens Institute of Technology. His research focuses on elastic and acoustic wave propagation in smart structures and metamaterials, with applications in noise/vibration control, aerospace engineering, and biomedical ultrasound. His recent work has considered metamaterials with digitally programmable material properties and wave propagation in the human skull. He is a recipient of the NSF CAREER Award, 2021 Doak Award from the Journal of Sound and Vibration, and the 2020 Sigma Xi Best Ph.D. Thesis Award from Georgia Tech. He received his Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology in 2019 and his B.S. in Engineering from Harvey Mudd College in 2015.

Muhammad Bilal Khan joined as a graduate research assistant in 2022. His research focuses on wave propagation in non-local metamaterials.

Selected Publications

1. Alshaqaq, M., Sugino, C., and Erturk, A., 2023, "Digital programming of reciprocity breaking in resonant piezoelectric metamaterials," Physical Review Research, 5, 043003.
   https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevResearch.5.043003.
2. Sugino, C., Alshaqaq, M., and Erturk, A., 2022, "Spatially Programmable Wave Compression and Signal Enhancement in a Piezoelectric Metamaterial Waveguide," Physical Review B, 106, 174304.
   https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.106.174304.
3. Sugino, C., Ruzzene, M., and Erturk, A., 2021, "Experimental and Computational Investigation of Guided Waves in a Human Skull," Ultrasound in Medicine and Biology, 47, pp. 787-798.
   https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ultrasmedbio.2020.11.019.
4. Sugino, C., Ruzzene, M., and Erturk, A., 2020, "Digitally Programmable Resonant Elastic Metamaterials," Physical Review Applied, 13, 061001.
   https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevApplied.13.061001.
5. Sugino, C., Xia, Y., Leadenham, S., Ruzzene, M., and Erturk, A., 2017, "A General Theory for Bandgap Estimation in Locally Resonant Metastructures," Journal of Sound and Vibration, 406, pp. 104-123.
   https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsv.2017.06.004.

• Full Publication List

News

2024

• Prof. Sugino and co-authors receive the 2024 ASME SMASIS Best Paper in Structures, Structural Dynamics, and Controls Award for the journal article "Digital programming of reciprocity breaking in resonant piezoelectric metamaterials," published in Physical Review Research in 2023.
• Bilal presents our work "Inverse design of non-local metamaterials with arbitrary non-reciprocal dispersion relations" at ASME IDETC/CIE 2024.
• Prof. Sugino presents our work "Generalized Non-Reciprocal Dispersion in Non-Local Piezoelectric Metamaterials" at ICAST 2024.
• Bilal presents our work "Non-reciprocal dispersion tailoring in non-local piezoelectric metamaterials" at SPIE Smart Structures + NDE 2024.
• Prof. Sugino receives the NSF CAREER Award (2024-2029) for his proposal titled "CAREER: Non-Local Metamaterials and Metasurfaces for Next Generation Non-Reciprocal Acoustic Devices" (total award: $650,081).
• Natalie Anfuso, Velizar Chilikov, Jasper Kern, and Jacob Normand join VAEL as undergraduate researchers. Welcome!

2023

• Jonathan Hood joins VAEL as an undergraduate researcher. Welcome!
• Celia Mauri joins VAEL for the summer as an undergraduate researcher as part of the Mechanical Engineering SURP program. Welcome!

2022

• We are hiring Ph.D. students! Please see more information below.
• Muhammad Bilal Khan joins VAEL as a PhD student. Welcome!
• Prof. Sugino and co-authors are awarded the 2021 Doak Award by the Journal of Sound and Vibration for their paper "A general theory for bandgap estimation in locally resonant metastructures."
• Prof. Sugino starts as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Stevens Institute of Technology.

Current Openings

We are looking for motivated students interested in vibration and acoustics research. Background in vibration, acoustics, mechatronics, control theory, or electrical engineering is a plus. If you are interested in joining our group, please email your resume/CV to Prof. Christopher Sugino at csugino@stevens.edu. Prospective graduate students should follow Stevens' application process, requirements, and deadlines at the graduate admission webpage.

Get in touch

We are located in Carnegie Laboratory, Room 200 at Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken, NJ, USA.