Amrinder Nain named ASME fellow for pioneering contributions to mechanobiology
Amrinder Nain, professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering, has been named a fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME), a prestigious honor recognizing his exceptional achievements and contributions to the mechanical engineering profession.
Since joining the department in 2009, Nain has emerged as a leading innovator in mechanobiology, the science of the movement of cells.
He developed a patented technology that simulates fibrous cellular environments using non-electrospun fibers, a breakthrough invention that provides biomedical researchers with a more physiologically relevant platform for studying living tissue. His continued work in micro- and nanofiber systems led to the development of nanonet force microscopy, a patented platform for measuring cellular forces.
Nain’s research has significantly advanced the understanding of cellular behavior, including how the cytoskeleton influences nuclear shape and chromatin biology and how cells migrate, divide, and form 3D spheroids. His lab discovered a phenomenon called “coiling,” where cells wrap around fibers — an effect more pronounced in metastatic cancer cells.
Internationally recognized for his expertise, Nain has collaborated with researchers across the globe, including teams in Japan, Israel, the Netherlands, Sweden, Finland, Ireland, India, and the United Kingdom. In 2025, he received a Fulbright Global Scholar Award to collaborate with cancer cell biologists at the University of Oulu in Finland to study prostate cancer.
As an educator, Nain has enriched Virginia Tech’s academic environment by integrating his research into the undergraduate thermodynamics course, which he has taught consistently for 16 years. At the graduate level, he developed a course in mechanobiology that in recent years has been taught in conjunction with Washington University in St. Louis and the University of Pennsylvania. He has mentored 11 doctoral and 10 master’s students, many of whom began their research journeys in his classroom.
ASME, founded in 1880, is a global organization with over 85,000 members in 140 countries. The fellow designation is reserved for individuals who have made outstanding engineering contributions. Nain joins 18 other active faculty members in the Department of Mechanical Engineering who hold this distinguished title.
