CCM CONNECTS: Research Series

The annual Research Series comprise of monthly overviews of CCM’s research focus areas with presentations on topics ranging from composites process modeling, interface characterization, thermoplastic composites, micro-mechanics of composites, additive manufacturing and many more. The Research Series are free and open to the public, and speakers include graduate students, post-docs, research associates, affiliated faculty members and invited speakers from the government and industry.

 

December 9, 2025

PRESENTER	TITLE	ABSTRACT
Swarna Shiv CEO, Unsmudgeable	From Dorm Room to Customers at 24: A Materials Startup Journey	At 24, I’ve taken a materials startup from a dorm room idea to a patent-pending company with five enterprise pilots, initial revenue, and over $250K in funding: all without a science background. This talk shares the unconventional journey of building application-driven science outside academia: the challenges of gaining credibility in a technical field, the pivots that led to enterprise pilots, and the lessons learned bridging research and commercialization. Whether you’re a researcher considering your first startup or an entrepreneur exploring deep tech, you’ll walk away with practical insights on validating ideas and taking the leap from concept to company

 

November 11, 2025

 

PRESENTER	TITLE	ABSTRACT
Troy Wilford Director, Commercialization Programs, Venture Development Center	Unlocking Resources for Innovation	Research translation is a lengthy and risky process. Many have found success navigating this process by augmenting their mastery of scientific research with an entrepreneurial mindset molded by support programs and resources made available through Horn Entrepreneurship. Hear from Troy Wilford, Director of Commercialization Programming, to learn more.
Navid Niknafs Kermani, Ph.D. Research Associate III	Strain Rate Dependent Constitutive Model for Uncured Aligned Discontinuous Fiber (Or TuFF) Composites for Forming: Development, Implementation, And Validation	A strain-rate-dependent constitutive model is developed, implemented in FEA software and validated for uncured aligned discontinuous fiber (ADF) prepregs under uniaxial tension. Experiments spanning three orders of magnitude in strain rate reveal nonlinear stiffening up to a rate-dependent peak stress, followed by pronounced softening and viscous relaxation. A phenomenological model with distinct stiffening, softening, and relaxation regimes is calibrated, reproducing the full stress–strain behavior across all rates. An incremental formulation is developed that enables arbitrary strain-rate histories and finite element implementation in AniForm and Abaqus. Validation studies using both coupon-level specimens and complex part geometries demonstrate excellent agreement between model predictions and experimental measurements. This methodology can be applied to other ADF material systems and supports future extensions to multiaxial and non-isothermal conditions.
Sagar Doshi, Ph.D. Scientist	Carbon Nanocomposite Coated Fabric Based Flexible Pressure Sensors — Uunderstanding Sensing Mechanism and Applications in Gait Analysis	Dr. Doshi will provide recent progress made in understanding the sensing mechanism for the flexible pressure sensors, uncovering the underlying reasons that enable an extremely wide range of sensing, from tactile range to tons. Recent progress made in using these sensors for gait analysis will be discussed, and how machine learning is leveraged to classify gait types.

 

December 9, 2025

PRESENTER	TITLE	ABSTRACT
Swarna Shiv CEO, Unsmudgeable	Coming Soon	Coming Soon.

 
 

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