John Harrold

John Harrold is a Digital Learning Lab Fellow in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering. He earned his PhD in Biophysical Chemistry from Rutgers University. His research focused on photosynthesis and developing bioinspired energy applications. He moved to Cambridge for his postdoctoral appointment at Harvard University in Physics where he continued to study photosynthesis and working with biointerfaces. He serves as course coordinator for 3.012x Thermodynamics of Materials and is developing courses for MITx including Biomaterials.

His research focuses on finding lower cost alternatives to current commodities. To do this he is developing tools do metabolic engineering as well as novel synthetic techniques and applications. In his spare time John enjoys fencing both as a competitor and as a coach. He also likes to bicycle and hike as frequently as the Massachusetts weather will permit.