Ming Dao

Principal Investigator & Director, Nanomechanics Lab
Principal Research Scientist, DMSE

Ph.D. Materials Science, 1994, University of California - San Diego
M.S. Materials Science, 1991, University of California - San Diego
B.Eng. Engineering Mechanics, 1989, Shanghai Jiao Tong University

Room 4-045
mingdao@mit.edu

Biomaterials; Computational Materials Science; Fracture, Fatigue, and Failure of Materials; Mechanical Behavior of Materials; Metallurgy; Nanotechnology; Surfaces, Interfaces, and Thin Films

Recent News

Deep learning for mechanical property evaluation

March 18, 2020

Using artificial intelligence to engineer materials’ properties

February 13, 2019

New system of “strain engineering” can change a material’s optical, electrical, and thermal properties.

Ming Dao Research on Sickle Cells

September 7, 2018

One of the most common complications of sickle-cell disease occurs when deformed red blood cells clump together, blocking tiny blood vessels and causing severe pain and swelling in the affected body parts. A new study from MIT sheds light on how these events, known as vaso-occlusive pain…

How to bend and stretch a diamond

April 20, 2018

Diamond is well-known as the strongest of all natural materials, and with that strength comes another tightly linked property: brittleness. But now, an international team of researchers from MIT, Hong Kong, Singapore, and Korea has found that when grown in extremely tiny, needle-like shapes,…

New property found in unusual crystalline materials

October 30, 2017

Most metals and semiconductors, from the steel in a knife blade to the silicon in a solar panel, are made up of many tiny crystalline grains. The way these grains meet at their edges can have a major impact on the solid’s properties, including mechanical strength, electrical conductivity,…

Blood testing via sound waves may replace some tissue biopsies

October 4, 2017

Cells secrete nanoscale packets called exosomes that carry important messages from one part of the body to another. Scientists from MIT and other institutions have now devised a way to intercept these messages, which could be used to diagnose problems such as cancer or fetal abnormalities.…

Discovery could help treatments for sickle cell disease

August 16, 2016

DMSE's Ming Dao, along with Postdoc Peter T.C. So, co-authored a study regarding sickle cell disease and the hydroxyurea action. "Our findings shine a light on the mechanism behind hydroxyurea action, which has long been debated in the scientific…

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Publications

2015

Z. -J. Wang et al., “Cyclic deformation leads to defect healing and strengthening of small-volume metal crystals”, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, vol. 112. pp. 13502-13507, 2015.

2012

Y. Zhang, Yao, H., Ortiz, C., Xu, J., and Dao, M., “Bio-inspired interfacial strengthening strategy through geometrically interlocking designs”, Journal of the Mechanical Behavior of Biomedical Materials, vol. 15. pp. 70-77, 2012.

2010

H. Yao et al., “Protection mechanisms of the iron-plated armor of a deep-sea hydrothermal vent gastropod”, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, vol. 107. pp. 987-992, 2010.

2008

I. S. Choi, Detor, A. J., Schwaiger, R., Dao, M., Schuh, C. A., and Suresh, S., “Mechanics of indentation of plastically graded materials - II: Experiments on nanocrystalline alloys with grain size gradients”, Journal of the Mechanics and Physics of Solids, vol. 56. pp. 172-183, 2008.

2007

K. Tai, Dao, M., Suresh, S., Palazoglu, A., and Ortiz, C., “Nanoscale heterogeneity promotes energy dissipation in bone”, Nature Materials, vol. 6. pp. 454-462, 2007.

2001

M. Dao, Chollacoop, N., Van Vliet, K. J., Venkatesh, T. A., and Suresh, S., “Computational modeling of the forward and reverse problems in instrumented sharp indentation”, Acta Materialia, vol. 49. pp. 3899-3918, 2001.