Saad Bhamla, associate professor in Georgia Tech’s School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering (ChBE), has been awarded two major fellowships in 2024: an $825,000 Moore Inventor Fellowship from the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation and a $500,000 Young Faculty Award from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA).

“These two recognitions speak to the creativity and breadth of Saad Bhamla’s research program,” said Professor Christopher W. Jones, the John F. Brock III School Chair of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering.  “They are the latest in an array of external recognitions that honor the work of the Bhamla Lab.”

Moore Fellowship

The Moore Fellowship champions scientist-inventors who design groundbreaking tools and technologies — creative people poised to make substantial strides in scientific discovery, environmental conservation, and patient care.

Bhamla's work, funded by the fellowship, focuses on creating ultra-low-cost point-of-care diagnostics tools for under-served regions. His past inventions include affordable microscopes, hearing aids, and vaccine delivery systems for low-resource areas. With the Moore Foundation’s support, he plans to engineer new diagnostic platforms targeting deadly, often neglected diseases in low- and middle-income countries.

“Our goal is to develop technologies that cost pennies but can positively impact billions,” said Bhamla, who is collaborating with ChBE PhD student Rajas Poorna and Marcus Cicerone, professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry at Georgia Tech.

Bhamla is one of only five recipients of the 2024 Moore Fellowship, selected from nearly 200 applications. The $825,000 received by each winner over three years includes $50,000 per year from their home institutions as a commitment to these innovators.

“The Moore Inventor Fellowship celebrates the ingenuity and creativity needed to meet today's challenges and shape a better future,” said Harvey V. Fineberg, MD, PhD, president of the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation. “We are proud to support these visionaries early in their careers as they develop technologies that can make a significant and positive impact on critical issues facing the world and its occupants.”

DARPA Grant

Bhama’s DARPA Young Faculty Award is for “Squid-Inspired Nozzles for Enhanced Efficiency and Thrust in Rotary Propulsors,” which seeks to develop bio-inspired solutions for naval and maritime vehicles. The grant provides $500,000 over two years.

“We’re deriving inspiration from squid locomotion to enhance the efficiency and stealth capabilities of underwater vehicles,” Bhamla explained. Collaborating with Daehyun Choi, a postdoctoral fellow in the Bhamla Lab, and Spencer Bryngelson, assistant professor of Computational Science & Engineering at Georgia Tech, the team aims to apply fluid dynamics and robotics to improve designs for boats, ships, and autonomous underwater systems.

Bhamla has previously received early career awards from the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and now adds prestigious support from the Department of Defense (DoD) and the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation.