Mechanical Engineering · NC State University
Responsive materials.
Functional interfaces.
I study how polymer chemistry and surface design control liquid motion and adhesion—from slippery coatings to responsive soft materials.
01 / Research
Research areas, my contributions, and general skills.
Research in responsive polymer surfaces and their interfacial behavior.
My contributions include materials fabrication, experimental design, surface characterization, and data analysis.
Investigating functional polymer coatings and surface wetting behavior.
I contribute materials preparation, experimental design, surface characterization, and analysis of wetting behavior.
Investigating adhesion at soft polymer and hydrogel interfaces.
I design comparative experiments and contribute materials characterization and analysis.
Oct 2022–Jun 2024 · China University of Petroleum / Aalto
Investigated responsive shape-memory polymers for soft actuation, with contributions to fabrication, characterization, mechanical testing, and manuscript preparation.
Oct 2022–Jun 2023 · Aalto University
Compared solvent-exchange conditions for MXene processing toward printed and wearable electronics.
Dec 2020–Jan 2022 · China University of Petroleum
Developed gecko-inspired PDMS surfaces for reversible gripping; contributed sample fabrication, characterization, and manuscript drafting.
2019–2022 · China University of Petroleum
Investigated PNIPAM-based nanocomposite hydrogel actuation and oxygen-vacancy/heterojunction effects in BiOBr photocatalysts.
02 / Publications
Peer-reviewed articles · My name is highlighted.
Materials Horizons · 13(6), 2946–2957
Chemical Engineering Journal · 431, 134081
Carbon Neutrality · 1, 13
Materials Today Physics · 29, 100919
Additional manuscript and book contributions are listed in my CV.
03 / Beyond the lab
Technology entrepreneurship · 2026
Developing concepts for a sensor-integrated robotic platform for commercial applications.
My work connects customer discovery with system concepts, engineering trade-off analysis, and bill-of-materials planning.
NC State · Fall 2026
I teach two undergraduate engineering laboratory sections and guide students through experiments, data analysis, and technical reporting.
I grade assignments using departmental criteria and support students through office hours.
Communication & computation
My experience includes science communication with DeepTech and LLM-related training and evaluation projects.
I also work with Python, MATLAB, Linux, and engineering tools. I share code, projects, and ongoing learning on GitHub.
04 / Writing
Engineer by training, writer by curiosity.
Observing life through half-closed eyes — writing about memory, relationships, identity, and becoming across cultures.
Hermine Ni · @hermineni
Read my essays on Substack (opens in a new tab)05 / Photography
Light, color, and quiet corners around campus and its surroundings.
Photographs by Huiqin (Hermine) Ni. Select an image to view it in full.
06 / About
I am a Mechanical Engineering PhD researcher at North Carolina State University, advised by Prof. Arun Kumar Kota. My research centers on functional polymer surfaces, responsive materials, and adhesion.
My training spans materials science, chemical engineering, and applied physics, with research experience in China, Finland, and the United States.
Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering
Raleigh, United States
Visiting Student, Applied Physics
Helsinki, Finland
M.S. in Chemical Engineering and Technology
Beijing, China
B.Eng. in Materials Science and Engineering
Rank: 2/84 · Beijing, China