Having graduated with a BSc in Mechanical Engineering, Jad wants to use his engineering background to advance the discovery of new smart materials from the lab into real-world applications. His research focuses on discovering materials that offer new prospects for solving issues faced in different fields of science and technology. Most recently, he worked on utilizing the light-responsive properties of crystalline materials to manipulate tiny objects as a cheaper alternative for optical tweezers. He is a strong advocate for entrepreneurial research and interdisciplinary collaborations. He believes that academic labs should work harder to commercialize their science in an attempt to speed up scientific innovations, from concepts and experiments to products and technologies. After finishing his PhD, Jad plans to progress his research into scalable technologies and put innovation directly in the hands of those who need it. When he is not in the lab, or championing educational reform, Jad is cooking Lebanese food for friends, rush-reading a book between meetings, or traveling somewhere in search of new experiences that keep him on his toes.