Bioinspired Science and Engineering
Mechanical Engineering | University of Utah

Filamentous fungi (which include mushroom-forming fungi) are ubiquitous throughout nature, thriving in every biome. They are able to achieve this by meticulously crafting a small number of constituents (most taking the form of their cellular building blocks: hyphae) into a wide range of distinctive and beautiful structures. Beyond their appearance, these structures offer a wide range of material properties, all formed with environmentally-friendly processes, thus providing a model for high-performance green-engineered materials. These intriguing properties include a wide range of mechanical properties (e.g., structures ranging from the consistency of a dish sponge to hard wood), tribology (e.g., tailored hydrophilicity), and optical properties (e.g., biofluorescence), to name a few. Despite this, there is essentially no current knowledge on the fundamental mechanisms and physics that these fungi harness to form their structures. Therefore, the goal of this project is to provide a knowledge foundation of the structure-property relationships and materials science of filamentous fungi with a specific focus on identifying the structural design elements that they employ.

Funding

NSF grant CMMI #2233973

Selected Publications

(1) A. Agrawal, S. E. Naleway, “Melanin’s role in balancing mechanical strength and reproductive output in environmentally stressed fungal spores” Advanced Functional Materials (2026) e78083.

(2) I. S. Elnunu, J. N. Redmond, B. T. M. Dentinger, S. E. Naleway, “Material and mechanical behavior of bracket fungi context as a mechanically versatile structural layer” Journal of the Mechanical Behavior of Biomedical Materials (2025) 163, 106841.

(3) J. A. L. Gallagher, J. N. Redmond, M. Asgari, A. J. Bradshaw, B. T. M. Dentinger, S. E. Naleway, “Generative hyphal stiffness and cell wall thickening in fungi” Journal of Materials Research and Technology (2025) 37, 3105-3114.

(4) D. L. Porter, S. E. Naleway, “Hyphal systems and their effect on the mechanical properties of fungal sporocarps” Acta Biomaterialia (2022) 145, 272-282.

With the broader goal of addressing sustainability and environmental health in engineering and materials science, our lab has ongoing research into the advanced manufacturing of green alternatives to current synthetic materials. Using both bioinspired and bioenabled routes for manufacturing, these novel materials aim to provide similar physical properties at reduced environmental costs when compared to existing materials solutions.

Funding

American Chemical Society PRF 65985-ND10

Selected Publications

(1) A. Agrawal, T. Ipsen, B. T. M. Dentinger, S. E. Naleway, “Multilayer, functionally graded organic living hydrogels built by pure mycelium” JOM (2025) 77, 9241-9252.

(2) D. L. Porter, H. Malik, K. Carlson, S. E. Naleway, “Bioinspired hydrophilic and oleophilic absorption media from biotemplated fungi” Advanced Engineering Materials (2023) 25, 2200945.

Research into complex control of the bioinspired freeze casting process for structural and biomedical materials is ongoing in the Laboratory for Bioinspired Science and Engineering. This research focuses upon control through both intrinsic (enacted through internal chemical processes) and extrinsic (enacted through external forces) means to imitate the complex structures and impressive mechanical properties of biological materials.

Funding

NSF grant CMMI #2420692

NSF grant CMMI #1660979

ARO grant W911NF-21-1-0062

Selected Publications

(1) M. A. Schmitz, I. Nelson, S. E. Naleway, “Control over the mechanical properties of surface-magnetized alumina magnetically freeze-cast scaffolds” Journal of Materials Science (2023) 58, 171540-17174.

(2) J. R. Fernquist, H. C. Fu, S. E. Naleway, “Improved structural and mechanical performance of iron oxide scaffolds freeze cast under oscillating magnetic fields” Ceramics International (2022) 48, 15034-15042.

(3) T. A. Ogden, M. Prisbrey, I. Nelson, B. Raeymaekers, S. E. Naleway, “Ultrasound freeze casting: Fabricating bioinspired porous scaffolds through combining freeze casting and ultrasound directed self-assembly” Materials & Design (2019) 164, 107561.