Gabriel Sanoja Lopez

Gabriel Sanoja Lopez is an Assistant Professor in the McKetta Department of Chemical Engineering at The University of Texas at Austin. He holds the Jim and Barbara Miller Endowed Faculty Fellowship in Chemical Engineering. His research focuses on engineering the mechanical properties of soft polymeric materials to advance sustainability and functional material design.

Education: Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from the University of California, Berkeley (2016); B.S. in Chemical Engineering from MIT (2012).

Research interests include polymer network mechanics, fracture behavior of soft materials, and the development of damage-activated probes to study material deformation. His work bridges polymer chemistry, physics, and fracture mechanics to create energy-efficient and sustainable materials for applications like hydrogels, adhesives, and energy storage devices.

Key publications (2017-2018) investigate ion transport in polymer networks, photocrosslinking techniques, and material design using metal-ligand coordination.

• Awards: Outstanding Graduate Student Instructor (2015), Gold Button (2007), multiple chemistry Olympiad medals (2006-2007).

His Sanoja Research Group includes students Adam N. Mann, Anthony J. Arrowood, Aaliyah Z. Dookhith, Tiffany Jeng, and Devin Rosmarin. The group explores soft material fracture mechanisms and sustainable material innovation.