Fernando is a nanoengineer who has developed microengines the size of a human cell. His research included designing, building, and powering tiny engines during his PhD at the University of California, San Diego.
Fernando wants to pivot his research to the development of programmable materials to create autonomous biorobots. By integrating responsive synthetic materials into biologically inspired structures that could operate across scales he aims to design robots where responsive materials generate movement or action. These robots could perform tasks too difficult, dangerous, or inaccessible for humans.
Fernando wants to bridge the gap between nanotechnology and bioengineering towards creating living robots and medical devices.