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James Pikul

James Pikul

Leon and Elizabeth Janssen Associate Professor
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The Pikul Research Group seeks to make transformative advances in energy storage, energy conversion, multifunctional materials, and robotics by understanding and exploiting nanoscale to macroscopic characteristics of electrochemistry and soft matter. His work intersects the schools’s efforts in energy storage, robotics, multifunctional materials, and manufacturing.

Department

Mechanical Engineering

Contact

Mechanical Engineering Bldg
1513 University Ave
Madison, WI
p: (608) 265-0613

Featured news

Borrowing from biology, new liquid batteries store oxygen like blood to power robots

September 10, 2024

A new electroadhesive clutch to improve haptics in virtual reality gloves and beyond

January 4, 2024

Focus on new faculty: James Pikul is redefining what we use to generate and store energy

September 18, 2023
View more articles with James Pikul

Professor James Pikul, Mechanical Engineering, University of Wisconsin-Madison

  • PhD 2015, University of Illinois at Urbana – Champaign
  • MS 2011, University of Illinois at Urbana – Champaign
  • MS 2009, University of Illinois at Urbana – Champaign

  • 2023 MRS, 2023 MRS Early Career Distinguished Presenter
  • 2023 University of Wisconsin-Madison, Leon and Elizabeth Janssen Professorship
  • 2022 DARPA, DARPA Microsystems Exploratory Council
  • 2022 IEEE International Conference on Soft Robotics, 2022 Best Paper Award
  • 2021 µTAS conference, The Society for Chemistry and Micro-Nano Systems (CHEMINAS), 2021 Young Researcher Poster Award at
  • 2021 3M, 3M Non-tenured Faculty Award
  • 2020 TMS, TMS Early Career Faculty Fellow Award
  • 2020 ASME , ASME Applied Mechanics Division Haythornthwaite Foundation Research Initiation Grant
  • 2020 Moore, Moore Inventor Fellow
  • 2020 Toyota, Toyota Programmable System Innovation Fellowship
  • 2019 19th International Conference on Micro and Nanotechnology for Power Generation and Energy Conversion Applications (IEEE PowerMEMS), Best Paper Award
  • 2019 NSF, NSF CAREER award in ECCS - CCSS
  • 2019 Research Corporation for Science Advancement – Advanced Energy Storage, Scialog Fellowship
  • 2019 Office of Naval Research, Young Investigator Award
  • 2013 Materials Research Society, Gold Award
  • 2013 Materials Research Society, Science as Art Award
  • 2011 Department of Energy Office, Graduate Fellowship
  • 2009 College of Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Carver Fellowship
  • 2009 University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Highest Honors and Bronze Tablet
  • 2009 University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Lisle Abbot Rose Memorial Award
  • 2007 IPENG, IPENG International Engineering Fellowship

  • Karuppiah, D., Komissarenko, D., Thakur, T., Y"uzbasi, Nur Sena,, Clemens, F., Reisacher, E., Kaya, P., Pikul, J., & Blugan, G. (2025). Vat photopolymerization of tantalum-doped Li 7 La 3 Zr 2 O 12 electrolytes: a new Frontier in solid-state battery design. Journal of Materials Chemistry A, 13(1), 387--398.
  • Gao, Y., Chen, S., Han, C., Wu, G., Wang, S., Wang, G., Wang, M., Johnson, A. C., Zhu, M., Ye, L., & others, (2024). An Electrochemically Rechargeable Fuel for Continuous Operation of Electric Aircraft and Vehicles. In Electrochemical Society Meeting Abstracts prime2024 (pp. 179–179).
  • Campbell, G. M., Roosa, R. D., Turner, K., Pikul, J., & Yim, M. (2024). Control of Silicone-Sheathed Electrostatic Clutches for Soft Pneumatic Actuator Position Control. In 2024 IEEE 7th International Conference on Soft Robotics (RoboSoft) (pp. 299–304).
  • Gao, Y., Chen, S., Jolly, J., Wang, S., Wu, G., Zhu, M., Chen, T., Han, C., Wang, M., Ye, L., & others, (2024). Resilient and Confined Polymer Microlattices for Low-Swelling, Pressure-Free Lithium Metal Pouch Cells. In Electrochemical Society Meeting Abstracts prime2024 (pp. 776–776).
  • Ren, M., Shi, Y., Xiao, L., Sun, A., Johnston, E., Mallouk, T. E., Allen, M., & Pikul, J. (2024). Biodegradable hydrogels with tunable cross-linking structures regulate Al oxidation in Al--air batteries. MRS Communications, 14(5), 1045--1053.
  • Levine, D. J., Turner, K. T., & Pikul, J. (2024). Electroadhesive Clutches with Enhanced Force Capacity Using Soft Dielectric Interfaces. Advanced Engineering Materials, 2402244.
  • Johnson, A. C., Fontaine, A. S., Beeman, E. A., Townsend, W. J., & Pikul, J. (2024). Emulsions that store oxygen for fast ORR kinetics and multifunctional robotic and mobility systems. Matter, 7(11), 4059--4075.
  • Yin, J., Qi, H., Malik, J., Pikul, J., Yim, M., & Hellebrekers, T. (2024). Learning in-hand translation using tactile skin with shear and normal force sensing. arXiv preprint arXiv:2407.07885.
  • Wang, L., Ng, A., Family, R., Detsi, E., & Pikul, J. (2024). Liquid eutectic gallium--indium as a magnesium-ion battery anode with ultralong cycle life enabled by liquid--solid phase transformation during (de) magnesiation at room temperature. Journal of Materials Chemistry A, 12(40), 27435--27442.
  • Tawfick, S., & Pikul, J. (2024). Materials challenges for powering miniature bioinspired robots. MRS Bulletin, 49(2), 100--106.

  • M E 352 - Interdisciplinary Experiential Design Projects II (Spring 2025)
  • M E 601 - Special Topics in Mechanical Engineering (Spring 2025)
  • M E 890 - PhD Research and Thesis (Spring 2025)
  • M S & E 790 - Master's Research or Thesis (Spring 2025)
  • M E 351 - Interdisciplinary Experiential Design Projects I (Fall 2024)
  • M E 890 - PhD Research and Thesis (Fall 2024)
  • M S & E 790 - Master's Research or Thesis (Fall 2024)
  • M E 890 - PhD Research and Thesis (Summer 2024)
  • M E 601 - Special Topics in Mechanical Engineering (Spring 2024)
  • M E 890 - PhD Research and Thesis (Spring 2024)
  • M E 890 - PhD Research and Thesis (Fall 2023)