His research group develops biologically inspired materials with applications in health, energy, and water sustainability. His group’s research innovations range from the development of Nepenthes pitcher plant-inspired slippery surfaces that repel almost everything, to the discovery of camouflage function of leafhopper-produced brochosomes, to the creation of self-healing reverse filter inspired by the biological process of phagocytosis. He was named one of the world’s top 35 Innovators Under 35 by MIT Technology Review for his contributions in biologically inspired engineering.