Michael Dickey
Alcoa Professor
- Phone: 919.513.0273
- Email: mddickey@ncsu.edu
- Office: Engineering Building I (EB1) 2088G
- Website: https://www.cbe.ncsu.edu/dickeygroup/
The Dickey group is studying new ways to pattern, actuate, and control soft materials (gels, polymers, liquid metals). A common theme of our projects is the importance of thin films, interfacial phenomena, and microfabrication. Our approach is to (i) elucidate the fundamental properties of materials such that they can be harnessed in a useful manner, and (ii) develop new, unconventional approaches to fabricate, actuate, and assemble these materials. Applications of the research include patterning, 3D printing, stretchable / soft electronics, self-folding, actuation of soft robotics, wearable electronics, energy harvesting devices, reconfigurable circuits, and microfluidics..
We are also interested in photo-curable polymeric materials, particularly those used in both photo- and imprint lithography. The properties (curing speed, sensitivity, elemental composition, dielectric constant, mechanical properties, viscosity, etc.) of these materials must be tailored and optimized depending on the application.
Research Interests
Michael Dickey’s research focuses on Focus Areas – Soft Materials, Interfaces, Microfabrication, Liquid Metals, Polymers / Gels, Stretchable & Wearable Electronics, Energy Harvesting, Soft Robots.
Education
| Degree | Program | School | Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ph.D. | Chemical Engineering | University of Texas at Austin | 2006 |
| MS | Chemical Engineering | University of Texas at Austin | 2003 |
| BS | Chemical Engineering | Georgia Institute of Technology | 1999 |
Honors and Awards
- 2020 | Alumni Association Outstanding Research Award
- 2020 | Outstanding Research Mentor Award
- 2020 | American Chemical Society Distinguished Speaker of the Year, NC Chapter
- 2019 | Distinguished Leadership and Contributions to Scientific Research Award, Sigma Xi
- 2017 | Member: Defense Science Study Group (DSSG 2018-2019)
- 2017 | Alumni Distinguished Undergraduate Professor (NC State)
- 2017 | Alcoa Foundation Distinguished Engineering Research Award
- 2016 | Curtis W. McGraw Research Award
- 2016 | SPIE Nanoengineering Award
- 2014 | Selectee: NAE Frontiers of Engineering Research Symposium
- 2013 | ASEE Southeastern Section New Faculty Research Award
- 2013 | Selectee: NAE Frontiers of Engineering Education Symposium
- 2013 | University Faculty Scholar
- 2012 | Outstanding Teacher Award – Member of the Academy of Outstanding Teachers at NC State University
- 2011 | Sigma Xi Faculty Award
- 2010 | National Science Foundation CAREER Award
Publications
- Bioinspired adaptive pupil reflex based on liquid-metal shape-shifters for machine vision
- Liang, K., Wang, R., Lyda, G., Zhang, A., Xie, W., Wang, Y., … Bai, W. (2026, February 11), Science Robotics, Vol. 2. https://doi.org/10.1126/scirobotics.adx0715
- Carbon nanotube microelectrode arrays enable scalable and accessible electrophysiological recordings of cerebral organoids
- Mishra, N., Kaveti, R., Liu, P., Uzunoglu, B. E., Mirabedini, A., Tran, A., … Bandodkar, A. J. (2026, April 1), Npj Biosensing, Vol. 4. https://doi.org/10.1038/s44328-026-00088-9
- Hydrodynamic Metamaterials Enable Radial Fingering Instabilities of Liquid Metals via Cartesian Topography
- Wang, X., He, Y., You, J., Tang, J., Wang, Z., Somers, A., … Dickey, M. (2026, February 18), Research Square. https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-8411847/v1
- Introduction: Tough Gels
- Dickey, M. D., Gong, J. P., & Suo, Z. (2026, January 28), Chemical Reviews, Vol. 1. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.chemrev.5c01078
- Laser-programmed stiffness and interfaces for textile hybrid electronics
- Luo, H., Cai, Z., Yang, G., Ye, K., Tang, J., Liu, T., … Xu, K. (2026, January 13), Nature Communications, Vol. 1. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-67149-x
- Programmable soft matter: Shaping function
- Hebner, T. S., White, T. J., Dickey, M. D., Hayward, R. C., & Ware, T. H. (2026, January 1), Matter. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.matt.2025.102526
- Rewriting Polymer Fate via Chemomechanical Coupling
- Huang, J., Zhang, H., Chen, J., Sui, X., Krisnadi, F., He, D., … Hu, Y. (2026, February 3), Advanced Materials, Vol. 2. https://doi.org/10.1002/adma.202518567
- Soft giant magnetoimpedance electronics enable contact-free human–machine interactions
- Wu, Y., Xing, S., Yang, D., Liu, Y., Ding, C., Li, Z., … Bai, W. (2026, January 20), Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Vol. 1. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2526097123
- Capture and Release of Molecules with Liquid Metals
- Zare, M., Vong, M. H., Irfan, M., Lee, S., McKelvy, C., Krisnadi, F., … Dickey, M. D. (2025), ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces, 12. https://doi.org/10.1021/acsami.5c18650
- Connecting the Dots: Sintering of Liquid Metal Particles for Soft and Stretchable Conductors
- Lee, S., Jaseem, S. A., Atar, N., Wang, M., Kim, J. Y., Zare, M., … Dickey, M. D. (2025). [Review of , ]. Chemical Reviews, 3. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.chemrev.4c00850
