Saima Aktar Sumaiya is a postdoctoral research scientist at Sahin Lab at Columbia University, USA. Saima’s research interests include high resolution surface imaging, nanomechanics and nanotribology. Her current research focuses on studying mechanics of hygroscopic biological materials using atomic force microscopy-based nanomechanical approaches.
Hygroscopic biological materials, ranging from wood to bacterial spores, constitute a substantial portion of the biological realm. Traditionally, these materials have not been considered part of the same class, and the mechanical behavior of some is explained within the context of "poroelasticity". Research conducted at the Sahin lab has revealed that poroelastic theory falls short in explaining all the traits of these materials. Instead, hydration force, ariseing from the confinement of water within nanometer-scale gaps, emerges as a dominant factor in dictating their mechanical behavior. Saima’s research at Sahin Lab is part of a broader initiative to identify commonalities in the mechanical behavior of hygroscopic biological materials, despite their significant differences in chemical composition. She studies the equilibrium and non-equilibrium mechanical characteristics of these materials through frequency dependent AFM measurements. The experimental results are consistent with the theoretical predictions based on hydration force and reveal a jamming-driven increase in elastic modulus. These findings potentially categorize several hygroscopic biological materials collectively as "hydration solids," a term coined due to the influence of hydration force in their behaviour.
Recent papers:
Biography: Saima carried out her Ph.D. at University of California, Merced, USA as well as her Masters Degree in Mechanical Engineering under the supervision of Prof. Mehmet Baykara. During her Ph.D., she specialized in high-resolution surface imaging through atomic force microscopy. Her noteworthy achievements include demonstrating the capability to achieve atomic-resolution surface imaging under ambient conditions, a feat that led to her receiving the Graduate Research Award from the American Vacuum Society in 2022. Following the completion of her Ph.D., she embarked on a postdoctoral research scientist position at Columbia University, working with Prof. Ozgur Sahin. Her undergraduate degree was from the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology.
Twitter: @SaimaASumaiya
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/saima-aktar-sumaiya-726292b6/
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