Elif Kurt is a doctoral candidate in dr. ir. Bas Overvelde’s Soft Robotic Matter group and dr. ir. Danqing Liu’s Human Interactive Materials (HIM) group. Her research focuses on combining the non-linear mechanics of the mechanical metamaterials with stimuli-responsive liquid crystal materials for developing new actuation strategies and design structures that can be used for metamaterials and in soft robotic applications. Her primary objectives are to fabricate hybrid compliant materials from active/inactive components and to design structures for desired actuation. With these, her main goal is to develop intelligent soft robotic/micro-robotic devices made from responsive soft materials that can adapt their shape and behavior to provide direct and embedded feedback to their environment.