John Hart, PhD

John Hart is Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

John holds Ph.D. (2006) and S.M. (2002) degrees from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and a B.S.E (2000) degree from the University of Michigan, all in Mechanical Engineering. He has industrial experience in engineering and project management at General Motors, and through various consulting appointments. John received the 2006 MIT Senturia Prize for best doctoral thesis in micro/nano technology, and graduate fellowships from the Fannie and John Hertz Foundation, National Science Foundation, and MIT Martin Foundation. In 2008, John received a DARPA Young Faculty Award (for proposed research on energy harvesting using nanostructures), a R&D100 Award (for the SabreTube Desktop Thermal Processing System), and the Holcim Next Generation Award for Sustainable Construction (with Neri Oxman, for design of energy-saving responsive nanocomposite building skins).

John’s research currently focuses on synthesis and applications of nanostructured materials, machine and instrument design, and scientific visualizations.

John’s nanobliss gallery features his work on visualizations of small-scale structures. Since 2006, John’s images have been featured in Science, Nature, New Scientist, American Scientist, SEED magazine, PC Magazine, Playboy, and hundreds of other newspapers, magazines, scientific journals, trade magazines, blogs, and other media outlets worldwide.