Title/Position Associate Professor

Degree Ph.D., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2011

Contact

andrej@princeton.edu
(609) 258-8613
D412D Engineering Quadrangle
Ko?mrlj Group

Faculty Assistant

Melissa Nini
609-258-2034
melissa.nini@princeton.edu

Research Areas

Biomechanics and Biomaterials
Materials Science

Short Bio

In 2006, Ko?mrlj obtained Diploma (B. Sc.) in Mathematical Physics from the University of Ljubljana, Slovenia. He then moved to the Massachusetts Institute?of Technology for his graduate studies in physics, where he was co-advised by Arup Chakraborty and Mehran Kardar. For his Ph.D. thesis, Ko?mrlj studied the?development of an adaptive immune system and its response to infecting microorganisms. After receiving Ph.D. in 2011, Ko?mrlj became a postdoc with David?Nelson at Harvard University, where he worked on the mechanics of thin membranes and metamaterials.
In 2015 Ko?mrlj became an assistant professor at Princeton University, where he continues theoretical and computational research of complex systems?ranging from materials science to the physics of living systems. Current research includes the design and mechanics of metamaterials, where the geometrical?shape of structures gives rise to unusual material properties. This includes the role of geometry and topology on the mechanics of structures both at the?macro-scale and at the micro-scale, where effects of thermal fluctuations and disorder could be important if one wants to design flexible electronics, sensitive?force sensors, or micro-actuators. Current research also investigates the role of mechanics in biological systems, such as mechanics in morphogenesis during?embryo development. Based on this work, we are currently designing an optogenetic system to make artificial organs. Current research also includes phase?separation in multicomponent systems, which has implications for materials science as well as cellular biology.

Selected Publications

S. Mao, M. Chakraverti-Wuerthwein, H. Gaudio, and A. Ko?mrlj, Designing the Morphology of Separated Phases in Multicomponent Liquid Mixtures, PRL 125, 218003 (2020) https://journals.aps.org/prl/abstract/10.1103/PhysRevLett.125.218003
S. Mao, D. Kuldinow, M. P. Haataja, and A. Ko?mrlj, Phase behavior and morphology of multicomponent liquid mixtures, Soft Matter 15, 1297-1311 (2019) https://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlelanding/2019/SM/C8SM02045K
C. Fei, S. Mao, J. Yan, R. Alert, H.A. Stone, B.L. Bassler, N.S. Wingreen, and A. Ko?mrlj, Nonuniform growth and surface friction determine bacterial biofilm morphology on soft substrates, PNAS 117 (14), 7622-7632 (2020) https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1919607117
K. Goodwin, S. Mao, T. Guyomar, E. Miller, D. C. Radisky, A. Ko?mrlj, and C. M. Nelson, Smooth muscle differentiation shapes domain branches during mouse lung development, Development 146, dev181172 (2019) https://journals.biologists.com/dev/article/146/22/dev181172/223143/Smo…
A. Ko?mrlj, and D. R. Nelson, "Statistical Mechanics of Thin Spherical Shells", Physical Review X 7, 011002 (2017) https://journals.aps.org/prx/abstract/10.1103/PhysRevX.7.011002
A. Singh, A. Ko?mrlj, and R. Bruinsma, Finite Temperature Phase Behavior of Viral Capsids as Oriented Particle Shells, PRL 124, 158101 (2020) https://journals.aps.org/prl/abstract/10.1103/PhysRevLett.124.158101
S. Sarkar, M. ?ebron, M. Brojan, and A. Ko?mrlj, Elastic multipole method for describing deformation of infinite two-dimensional solids with circular inclusions, PRE 103, 053003 (2021) https://journals.aps.org/pre/abstract/10.1103/PhysRevE.103.053003
S. Nagashima, H.D. Ha, D.H. Kim, A. Ko?mrlj, H.A. Stone, and M.-W. Moon, "Spontaneous formation of aligned DNA nanowires by capillarity-induced skin folding", Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 114, 6233-6237 (2017) https://www.pnas.org/content/114/24/6233

Publications
CV