His research focuses on fundamental ﻿understanding of the synthesis-processing-structure-property relationships in polymers, biopolymers, polymer derived ceramics, multifunctional composites, nanocomposites, thermoelectric materials, microcellular foams and LCA modeling and analysis. The title of his EUREKA! research project “Sustainable Composites for Lightweighting Automotive Structures” allows students to explore unique fiber architectures, novel renewable matrices and synthesis/manufacturing techniques for use in automotive interiors, exteriors and load-bearing structural applications. For the past two summers Dr. Pilla has worked with EUREKA! students who share his research interests and common desire to make notable contributions to the automotive industry.