Thao Nguyen

Thao (Vicky) Nguyen is a Professor of Mechanical Engineering at Johns Hopkins University, with a secondary appointment in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering. She is co-Deputy Director of the Hopkins Extreme Materials Institute (HEMI). Her research focuses on biomechanics of soft engineering and biological materials, including adaptive polymers, fracture mechanics, and ocular biomechanics related to glaucoma. Key collaborators include the National Eye Institute and National Science Foundation.

Nguyen holds a B.S. from MIT (1998), and M.S. and Ph.D. from Stanford (2000, 2004). She previously worked at Sandia National Laboratories. Awards include the James R. Rice Medal (2025), NSF CAREER Award, and multiple ASME honors. Her lab integrates experimental and computational approaches, with notable work on shape-memory polymers and scleral biomechanics.

Research interests include collagen growth, liquid crystal elastomers, and architected materials. She leads studies on optic nerve head mechanics, funded by DOD, NEI, and BrightFocus. Nguyen serves on editorial boards for ASME journals and professional societies.