What MAAD Stands For

MAAD stands for Modular Anchoring & Adaptive Design.

It describes how we build—and why our work looks the way it does.

Modular Anchoring

We design technologies as modular systems, not monoliths.

Each component:

  • •does one job well,
  • •can stand on its own,
  • •and can be reused, recombined, or repurposed across applications.

This lets us:

  • • move faster at the proof-of-concept stage,
  • • reduce cost and waste,
  • • and build capabilities that compound instead of starting from scratch each time.

Anchoring means those modules are grounded in:

  • • real chemistry,
  • • real materials,
  • • and real-world constraints.

No speculative vapor. No "trust us, it'll scale later."

Adaptive Design

The world is messy. Systems change. Needs evolve.

Adaptive design means we build technologies that:

  • •work across conditions,
  • •tolerate failure and variability,
  • •and improve through iteration instead of becoming obsolete.

This is why our work:

  • • favors durability over replacement,
  • • repairability over disposability,
  • • and flexibility over lock-in.

Adaptive design is how science stays useful outside the lab.

Why This Matters

Modular Anchoring & Adaptive Design lets us work at multiple scales at once.

It's how:

  • • a binding chemistry developed for water cleanup can recover critical minerals,
  • • a material designed to capture air pollution becomes a washable window treatment,
  • • a fabrication method for affordable glasses informs other optical or materials systems,
  • • chemistry-based computing can emerge from waste streams instead of rare inputs.

Different applications. Same underlying logic.

How MAAD Works Across Our Research

🧬 Northeastern Binder Platform

Modular:

Different binder types (nanobodies, aptamers, porphyrins)

Anchored:

Real protein design, validated chemistry

Adaptive:

Works across targets (PFAS, glycans, metals)

🪟 Air-Purifying Windows

Modular:

Capture chemistry separable from substrate

Anchored:

Proven at UC Merced, real materials

Adaptive:

Washable, rechargeable, lasts years

♻️ Platform Patent

Modular:

Multiple click chemistry pairs independently

Anchored:

Bioorthogonal, catalyst-free reactions

Adaptive:

Works on keratinous, polymeric, fibrous materials

MAAD Is Both the Method and the Mindset

Some people hear our goals and say it's a mad idea.

Maybe it is.

But MAAD isn't chaos. It's a design philosophy:

Build in modules.

Anchor in reality.

Adapt to the world as it is.

We're a little MAAD—by design.

If you are too, welcome to the MAAD House.

See MAAD in Action

View our research projects organized by lab

Platform Technology

How modular design becomes a patent portfolio

Join the MAAD House

Become a member and support this work