Gutgsell Endowed Chair: Taher A. Saif

Professor Taher A. Saif joined the University of Illinois in 1997 and is a Professor in the Mechanical Science and Engineering. He is the Director of the MEMS/Micromechanics Lab. His B.S. in Civil Engineering is from Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (’84), his M.S. in Civil Engineering is from Washington State University (’87) and his Ph.D. in Theoretical and Applied Mechanics is from Cornell University (’93).

Professor Saif's research focuses on the mechanics of microelectromechanical systems (MEMS), fracture mechanics, submicron materials behavior and bio-MEMS. He uses MEMS devices, often of his own design, to explore the mechanics of extremely small things-from nanocrystalline metal films to living cells. Using micro force and strain sensors, he demonstrated for the first time that plastic deformation in nanocrystalline metal films can be reversible. The research, which was reported in Science, raises the possibility of designing and manufacturing metal components that recover or heal themselves after being deformed or dented.

Professor Saif also developed an innovative MEMS device that places loads on single living cells by stretching them, and he records their responses through the use of MEMS force sensors that he also developed. His research has advanced the state of knowledge about cells because he found that contrary to conventional wisdom, the force response of a cell has a linear relationship to the amount of force applied rather than being much higher. He also found that the force response is reversible, that is, the cell's force response follows the loading path as the stretching is decreased. Again, this defied expectations that cells would not return to their original configurations once a load was removed. In measuring a cell's response to stretching, he was also able to determine how strongly a cell was attached to tissue. He believes knowledge of such mechanical properties as cell stickiness and stiffness may have important implications for the detection and treatment of such diseases as cancer, atherosclerosis and malaria.

Professor Saif has received many prestigious recognitions throughout his career including being named Willett Faculty Scholar in College of Engineering at Illinois, receiving the Xerox Award for Faculty Research (2003, 2006), named as Associate at the Center for Advanced Study (2004-05), named a NSF Invited Member, U.S.-Japan Young Researchers' Exchange Program for Nanotechnology (US.) (Sept. 25-Oct. 2, 2003) and an NSF Invited Member, U.S.-Japan Young Researchers' Exchange Program for Nanotechnology (Japan) (Nov. 5-13, 2003), receiving the NSF CAREER Award (1998), and being named a GE Scholar (1998). He is also Vice Chair, Electronic Materials Committee of the ASME Materials Division, American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME), and a member of the Materials Research Society.