Prestigious magazine prints Q&A with BU metamaterials pioneer
“Even dentists have contacted me about this metamaterial. They’re all worried about noise,” Distinguished Professor of Engineering Xin Zhang (ME, ECE, BME, MSE) told American Scientist magazine. “Ten different car companies have contacted me, and I thought they would all be asking for the same thing, but they have 10 different cases.”
Zhang and her students have developed a mathematically optimized metamaterial—a material with properties not found in nature—that cancels noise without blocking air flow. She spoke at length about this and other projects with American Scientist editor-in-chief Fenella Saunders.
“Zhang credits collaboration across engineering and other disciplines with finding the connections that have helped her make functional and innovative devices,” the magazine noted.
“I’m a big fan of meaningful, practical applications, that improve quality of life and have societal benefit,” said Zhang.
The interview is published in the November/December 2024 issue.
Read the full Q&A in American Scientist.