CAREER: Adaptive Modular Circuit Metamaterials (AMCMs) for Scalable and Secured Computation System Designs

This Faculty Early Career Development Program (CAREER) project supports integrated research and education to develop a novel class of adaptive modular circuit metamaterials (AMCMs) that will lay the foundation for secure computation and information-processing systems across multiple scales. Addressing critical challenges in thermal adaptability, computational scalability, and power supply has revealed new opportunities for transformative material systems and next-generation engineering design. This CAREER award advances the theory and methods of autonomous engineered materials by addressing four specific research objectives: (a) demonstrating a new generation of adaptive modular circuit metamaterials with integrated sensing, energy harvesting, and digital computation capabilities, enabled by a graph neural network (GNN) combined with a large language model (LLM) for accelerated AMCM design and optimization; (b) understanding the coupled thermal, mechanical, and electrical behaviors of AMCMs; (c) inventing new thermo-mechanical and thermo-mechano-electrical logic and responsive mechanisms for information processing and memory; and (d) integrating these novel AMCMs into practical systems for diverse real-world engineering applications. This research introduces a new paradigm of thermo-mechano-electrical circuitry, and the resulting knowledge will significantly advance the design of engineering systems based on autonomous materials. In addition, the modular design framework provides exceptional versatility for developing devices across a wide range of applications. By enabling adaptable and reconfigurable device architectures, this work opens new avenues for innovation in medical devices, robotics, human-machine interfaces, MEMS/NEMS, and flexible electronics, with broad impact across the electronic materials community. In parallel with advancing fundamental research, the program will provide comprehensive education and hands-on training in advanced materials, modular engineering system designs, and advanced manufacturing techniques while fostering STEM engagement and capacity building throughout New Mexico. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.