At Caltech, Julia's group synthesize materials with unique properties through nano-architecture. These structural meta-materials are lightweight, strong, and resilient. Her research group focuses on interplay between internal critical microstructural material length scale, nanometer-sized external dimensions, and structural design in revealing beneficial properties through material - and structure-induced size effects. The group has invented a method to create arbitrary 3-dimensional topologies with features spanning from nanometers to microns and centimeters that can mimic natural structures, like shells and bone, and offer superior energy absorption, amenability to chemical functionality, and damage tolerance. This technology may enable many currently non-existent technologies, from ultra-lightweight batteries to chemically functionalized nano-porous membranes, damage-tolerant ultra-lightweight personnel protection, tiny battery powered implantable biomedical devices, and artificial cell scaffolds.