fNIRS is a cornerstone of our sensing system research. By leveraging our expertise in flexible polymers and advanced optical design, we are developing next-generation fNIRS wearables for non-invasive brain monitoring. Our work addresses critical challenges at both the component and system levels: from designing better optical-tissue coupling and improving patient comfort with novel materials, to engineering fully untethered devices and novel cognitive workload tests. Ultimately, our goal is to bring advance cognitive state detection out of the laboratory and into natural, everyday environments.

We are developing a compact single-detector spectrometer that uses electrochromic thin films to encode spectral information into a time-dependent optical signal. Instead of relying on gratings, filters, or detector arrays, the system modulates the transmission spectrum of an electrochromic film under applied voltage and records the resulting intensity changes with a single photodetector. This approach offers a pathway toward low-cost, miniaturized, and mechanically simple spectrometer suitable for embedded, wearable, and field-deployable applications.

Our research explores biodegradable, metal-free circuit platforms based on POMaC and organic electronic materials. Conventional electronics rely heavily on metals, silicon, and persistent polymer substrates, which limit their use in transient biomedical devices and raise concerns about long-term electronic waste. By using biodegradable elastomeric substrates such as POMaC together with organic conductive and semiconducting materials, we aim to develop circuit components that can function during their intended lifetime and then safely degrade. This work includes the design and fabrication of metal-free interconnects, organic rectifying elements, and flexible circuit structures that maintain electrical performance under mechanical deformation. The long-term goal is to create soft, biocompatible, and environmentally responsible electronic systems for applications in wearable health monitoring, implantable sensors, and temporary biomedical interfaces.