The Center for the Science of Heterogeneous Additive Printing of 3D Materials (SHAP3D) is focused on additive manufacturing research to print heterogeneous products with diverse functionality via integration of novel materials, complex structures, and cutting-edge processes. The SHAP3D Center's research is enabling the rational design, creation, and use of new material feedstocks, geometries, processes, and performance associated with additively manufactured products, with a focus on polymer based materials in collaboration with industry. Research activities encompass: design, modeling and validation, novel and enhanced materials, and printing method advancement - process enhancements that promise increased throughput, improved accuracy, and finer feature fidelity.

She received her S.B. in chemistry from MIT (1981) and her Ph.D. in Polymers from the Department of Materials Science and Engineering from MIT (1986). She worked for over 10 years as a Materials Engineer for the Army Research Laboratory in Watertown, MA. She is currently the David and Frances Pernick Nanotechnology Professor in the Department of Plastics Engineering at the University of Massachusetts Lowell, Director of the Nanomanufacturing Center at UMass Lowell, and was the Deputy Director of the NSF Center for High-rate Nanomanufacturing. Her research interests include nanomanufacturing of polymeric materials, structure-properties of polymers, elastomers, and thermoplastic elastomers. She has over 200 publications and 10 book chapters.

The NSF I/UCRC Science of Heterogeneous Additive Printing of 3D Materials (SHAP3D) serves the diverse interests of industry, government, and academia to address fundamental research challenges to meet the commercial needs of industry for heterogeneous 3D printing of materials. SHAP3D will accelerate expansion and competitiveness of the domestic AM industry and its customers by addressing two critical market needs: (1) the growth of AM into more complex topologies, heterogeneous, and multi-functional applications that command high margins commensurate with their increased performance, and (2) the expansion of AM into lower margin industries via order-of-magnitude improvements in throughput, material-per-performance cost reductions, and ease-of-use design rules that enable industry to rapidly adopt advanced techniques.