Jan Zavodnik is a graduate student at the Faculty for Mechanical Engineering, at the University of Ljubljana. In the past, he worked on a project of modeling and predicting the response of thermally activated artificial muscles made from metamaterials. He developed a model describing the shrinking response of coiled twisted nylon beam, enabling a thorough understanding of the process. He received a “Prešeren” award for outstanding young researchers for his bachelor’s degree work.
He will spend this summer at Princeton collaborating with Professor Andrej Košmrlj working on a project on lung development from the mechanics standpoint. He will be trying to develop a model, which would help to better understand, how the lungs and other organs develop in a human or animal body. Besides his university and project work, Jan enjoys data science, flying model planes, hiking and swimming. He likes to spend his free time outside in nature and take romantic walks with his girlfriend.