Maxwell J. Robb

Maxwell J. Robb is a Professor of Chemistry at the California Institute of Technology, where he leads the Robb Group at the intersection of synthetic organic, physical organic, and polymer chemistry. Since joining Caltech as an Assistant Professor in 2017 and being promoted to Professor in 2024, his research has focused on polymer mechanochemistry, developing mechanophores that enable mechanically triggered molecular release, stress sensing, and photoswitching. His group's work combines experimental and theoretical approaches to establish structure-activity relationships for force-responsive materials.

• Research Areas: Synthetic Organic Chemistry, Polymer Mechanochemistry, Stimuli-Responsive Materials, Molecular Release Systems, Stress Sensing Polymers
• Key Collaborations: Shapiro Group (Caltech), Shabat Group (Tel Aviv University)

Scientific Awards include the 2023 National Fresenius Award, 2023 Rose Hills Innovator Award, 2022 Camille Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar, 2022 PMSE Young Investigator, 2022 Sloan Research Fellowship, and 2022 NSF CAREER Award. His group has received major grants from the Army Research Office (2023) and the NIH (2023 R35 MIRA grant).

Advising has produced 8 PhD graduates (Tian Zeng, Anna Overholts, Ross Barber, Molly McFadden, Corey Husic, Brooke Versaw, Quan Gan, and Jolly Patro), with current students including Analiese Wiedenbeck, Nathan Ballinger, and Liam Ordner. The group maintains a publications page with over 58 research articles and holds 3 U.S. patents related to mechanical force applications in chemistry.