Prof. Carlos M. Portela

Robert N. Noyce Career Development Assistant Professor

Department of Mechanical Engineering

cportela@mit.edu

2019 Ph.D. Mechanical Engineering, California

Institute of Technology

2016 M.S. Mechanical Engineering, California

Institute of Technology

2014 B.A. Physics, University of Southern

California

2013 B.S. Aerospace Engineering, University of

Southern California

 

Carlos M. Portela is the Robert N. Noyce Career Development Professor in Mechanical Engineering at MIT. Prof. Portela received his Ph.D. and M.S. in Mechanical Engineering from the California Institute of Technology, where he was given the Centennial Award for the best thesis in Mechanical and Civil Engineering, and he received degrees in Aerospace Engineering (B.S.) and Physics (B.A.) from the University of Southern California. At Caltech he worked on exploring the mechanical response of 3D architected materials from experimental and computational perspectives. He joined MIT in August of 2020.    

The Team

Janet Sabio Maslow

Janet Sabio Maslow

Administrative Assistant

Janet assists the Portela Research Group in a myriad of administrative realms. She joined us in January 2021, but has been at MIT for over a decade.
Email – jsabio@mit.edu
James Surjadi

James Surjadi

Postdoctoral Associate

James’ research interests lie in the fabrication, testing, and characterization of multifunctional 3D micro/nano-architected materials. Outside the lab, he enjoys playing badminton, tennis, and table tennis.

Email – jsurjadi@mit.edu

Jet Lem

Jet Lem

Postdoctoral Associate

Jet’s research interests lie in investigating the high strain-rate response of architected materials as well as the testing of novel acoustic metamaterials. Outside of the lab, he enjoys ice hockey, skateboarding, and photography.

Somayajulu Dhulipala

Somayajulu Dhulipala

Graduate Student

Somayajulu is currently working on fabricating and predicting the mechanical properties of scalable nanomaterials. His research interests lie in architected materials, phase-field modeling , and nanomechanical testing. Outside of the lab he likes meditating, hiking and badminton.

Email – dsom@mit.edu

Thomas Butruille

Thomas Butruille

Graduate Student

Thomas is a graduate research assistant pursuing his masters in Mechanical Engineering. His research interests are the mechanics and design of 3D architected materials for high strain-rate applications. Outside of the lab, he enjoys lifting weights, reading, and skiing.

Email – thomasb3@mit.edu

Rachel Sun

Rachel Sun

Graduate Student

Rachel is currently researching the mechanics and fabrication of reconfigurable metamaterials. Her research interests include metamaterials and mechanics of structures. Outside of the lab, she enjoys playing soccer, lifting weights, reading, and exploring Boston for good food and coffee.

Email – rmsun@mit.edu

Samuel David Figueroa

Samuel David Figueroa

Graduate Student

Sam has a background in additive manufacturing and nanoengineering. His research interests encompass material property characterization, impact resilience, and bioinspired design of 3D nanoarchitected materials for extreme environments. Outside the lab, Sam does weighted calisthenics and parkour, studies the archaeology of ancient mesoamerican civilizations, and critiques films.

Email – sdfiguer@mit.edu

Andrew Chen

Andrew Chen

Graduate Student

Andrew’s research focuses on the fabrication and characterization of functional materials and metamaterials. His research interests lie at the intersection of additive manufacturing and mechanics of materials. Outside of the lab, he enjoys tinkering with 3D-printers, building rockets, and watching baseball.

Email – achen314@mit.edu

Michael Espinal

Michael Espinal

Graduate Student

Michaels research is currently on the fabrication and characterization of scalable metamaterials. His research interests are in scaling up mechanically efficient materials to one day be realized in industry applications. Outside of lab, he enjoys climbing, Brazilian jiu-jitsu, and traveling.

Email – mike4262@mit.edu

Rishi Kommalapati

Rishi Kommalapati

Graduate Student

Rishi is working on the fabrication and characterization of composite micromaterials and scalable metamaterials. His research interests lie in improving the design space through advancing manufacturing and materials. Outside of the lab, he enjoys archery, video games, and building keyboards.

Email – rtk@mit.edu

Undergraduates

Pau Illerbaig Bajona

UROP

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Aidan Salazaar

UROP

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Alumni

Yun Kai

Yun Kai

Postdoctoral Associate

Yun served as a postdoctoral associate from January 2021 to November 2023, focusing on the development of ultrafast optics for characterizing 3D architected materials. Subsequently, he transitioned to a postdoctoral associate position at MIT, working alongside Prof. Keith Nelson.

Molly Carton

Molly Carton

Postdoctoral Associate

Molly’s served as a postdoctoral associate from September 2022 -August 2024. Her research was in the design and fabrication of compliant architected materials. Subsequently, she transitioned to an Assistant Research Professor at University of Maryland.