45:I[66857,["2972","static/chunks/2972-6e808e5bed7e01ab.js","5878","static/chunks/5878-b6b7d2fcd574ef45.js","6186","static/chunks/app/%5Blocale%5D/(website)/people/%5Bslug%5D/page-092b6d140d131a78.js"],"default"] 47:I[52516,["2972","static/chunks/2972-6e808e5bed7e01ab.js","5878","static/chunks/5878-b6b7d2fcd574ef45.js","6186","static/chunks/app/%5Blocale%5D/(website)/people/%5Bslug%5D/page-092b6d140d131a78.js"],"default"] 46:T704,

Mathias Kolle was a 2017 principal investigator within the Abdul Latif Jameel Water and Food Systems Lab (J-WAFS) at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), where he has been an associate professor of mechanical engineering since 2013. Prior to joining MIT, he worked as a postdoctoral researcher for professor Joanna Aizenberg at the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences of Harvard University.

Mathias' research focuses on translating unique biological optical sensing, communication and energy-conversion mechanisms into 'bioinspired', adaptive and 'tunable' micro-optical materials and devices. His 2017 J-WAFS funded research project, 'Multifunctional light-diffusing fibers for simultaneous light management and fluid transport in microalgae bioreactors' sought out a viable alternative source for food, feed, and biofuel by engineering solutions for light and nutrient management in microalgae cultures that can help produce algal biomass in a scalable, energy-efficient, affordable way.

His recent research takes inspiration from nature and butterflies to design materials that exhibit advanced optical functions, such as colour-changing sheets and fibres that can be woven into pressure-monitoring bandages, tied into strength-testing knots or fluid droplets that amplify the rainbow.

Mathias took a diploma in physics

Mathias Kolle

Media

Colouring outside the lines: A J-WAFS researcher's colour-changing materials