Mechanical engineering assistant professor Ramanan Sritharan and student Dominic Ristaino, both members of Cal Poly’s Multifunctional Materials Laboratory, presented two technical papers and two posters at the Composites and Advanced Materials Expo (CAMX) 2026, held September 21-24 in Atlanta, Georgia.

The two technical papers, “Effects of CNT Geometry, Functionalization, and Loading on the Thermal Conductivity of CNT-Reinforced Epoxy Nanocomposites” and “Influence of Carbon Nanotube Geometry and Functionalization on the Filled-Hole Tensile Performance of CNT-Reinforced Epoxy Nanocomposites,” highlighted the group’s research on carbon nanotube-reinforced epoxy nanocomposites.

Ristaino presented a poster based on the latter research, which earned second place in the CAMX 2026 Poster Awards and a $300 prize. Ristaino and Cal Poly were also recognized during the conference keynote session.

The presentations provided an opportunity to share their work with industry and academic attendees from across the advanced materials community.