The Xia group is pursuing cutting-edge research at three major frontiers: nanotechnology, materials chemistry, and tissue/neural engineering. Recently, the group started to move into biomedical research by harnessing the power of nanomaterials to develop novel toolset for studying complex biological systems. Students and postdoctoral fellows work collaboratively, develop fundamental skills of these areas, and emerge as generalists.

Nanostructured materials play an important role in many areas of modern science and technology. A myriad of new opportunities will come directly from the ability to produce nanomaterials with controllable properties, or to generate small structures in down-sized versions.