Sangwoo Kim

Sangwoo Kim is a Tenure Track Assistant Professor at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne (EPFL) in the Institute of Mechanical Engineering. He leads the Mechanics of Soft and Biological Matter Laboratory (MESOBIO), focusing on the interplay between mechanics, physics, and biology in living systems. His research spans soft matter physics, developmental biology, and mechanical engineering.

• 2023–Present: Tenure Track Assistant Professor, EPFL School of Engineering
• Postdoctoral Fellow, UC Santa Barbara Mechanical Engineering
• Ph.D. in Theoretical and Applied Mechanics, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Kim’s research investigates fundamental properties of biological and soft materials, including:

• Tissue morphogenesis and embryonic development
• Mechanical behavior of amorphous and active matter
• Non-equilibrium dynamics in cellular systems
• Phase transitions in biological tissues
• Stress and osmotic pressure quantification

His recent publications reveal a focus on:

• Biological jamming and fluidization
• Zebrafish axis elongation mechanics
• Energy landscapes of cellular matter
• Active matter modeling
• Statistical mechanics of soft materials
• Developmental force transmission

Kim supervises PhD students and teaches courses in structural mechanics at EPFL, emphasizing problem-solving in engineering design.