The Philadelphia Section of the STLE is pleased to award a $1,000 scholarship to University of Delaware Materials Science & Engineering graduate student Nishtha Pant, working under the direction and mentorship of Associate Professor Charles Dhong. Pant’s research uses contact and adhesion mechanics to study the human perception of touch. Elastic, viscoelastic and strain-dependent material systems with different rheological behavior but similar surface energies are used to decouple interfacial and bulk contributions to adhesion. The perceptual intensity of stickiness from the human testing data is successfully predicted by the contact mechanics model, therefore quantifying force stimuli responsible for tactile perception. Understanding how the perception of stickiness depends on the viscoelastic adhesion between the finger and an object would contribute to more rational design of tactile sensations, important for designing tactile graphics, improving haptics devices for low vision and blind individuals, and soft robotics grippers for haptic feedback.
Pant is described as the consummate team player and an outstanding researcher. She is a positive influence within her own research group and is responsible for driving collaboration between the MS&E team and a synthetic chemistry group.