Great Throughts Treasury

"The technological reinvention of silk [Tufts Website]: We are specifically interested in engineered and biomimetic optical materials (such as photonic crystals and photonic crystal fibers) and novel/unconventional organic, sustainable optical materials for photonics and optoelectronics. In close collaboration with resident biopolymer expertise, we have pioneered silk optics and we are interested in the use of silk as a material for photonics and high technology applications. The use of nonlinear optics, femtosecond laser pulse control and appropriately designed (micro and nano) structures in new materials provides a rich field of research and offers unprecedented opportunity for technological advances and new diagnostic approaches. The research context is necessarily interdisciplinary and establishes natural links among multiple and diverse fields (such as Physics, Engineering, Biology, Medicine, Material Sciences and Chemistry). As a consequence, we are actively engaged in collaborations across departments and outside Tufts to develop ways to approach a problem from multiple vantage points. Our research thrives on combining methods and expertise from different scientific backgrounds and looking for connections between traditionally separate fields. Our goal is to provide an environment that will foster the individual's scientific curiosity and creativity no matter how fundamental or applied it may turn out to be. "