Mechanical engineering Ph.D. candidate, Jim Carrico and M.S. candidate, Nick Traeden were the winners of 2015 ASME Smart Materials, Adaptive Structures, and Intelligent Systems Conference Student Best Paper Award, held September 21-23, in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Their paper was peer reviewed and their presentation was also judged at the conference.

The peer-reviewed paper is titled, “Fused Filament Additive Manufacturing of Ionic Polymer-Metal Composite Soft Active 3D Structures,” written by James D. Carrico, Nick Traeden, Matteo Aureli and Kam K. Leang. The work describes a new 3D printing technique for fabricating ionic polymer-metal composite actuators for applications such as soft robotics.

Pictured above: Jim Carrico, Ph.D. student working in the DARC Lab, receives the 2015 ASME SMASIS (Smart Materials, Adaptive Structures, and Intelligent Systems) Conference Student Best Paper Award, held September 21-23, in Colorado Springs, Colorado. The peer-reviewed paper is titled, “Fused Filament Additive Manufacturing of Ionic Polymer-Metal Composite Soft Active 3D Structures”, written by James D. Carrico, Nick Traeden, Matteo Aureli and Kam K. Leang.

Learn more about their research on the Design, Automation, Robotics & Controls (DARC) Lab site.


The Department of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Utah is committed to providing students with broad-based, rigorous and progressive education. By combining state-of-the-art facilities with renowned faculty, the department provides an education that gives students the necessary skills to become the next generation of innovators.