91¸£ÀûÉç Soft Matter Mechanics Summer Worshop
The 91¸£ÀûÉç Soft Matter Mechanics Summer Workshop is an annual event hostedÌýby the Prospects of Soft Matter club at 91¸£ÀûÉç.Ìý Its aim is to bring together students, faculty, and researchers studying various topics pertaining to the mechanics of soft materials to initiateÌýinterdisciplinaryÌýcross-talk and collaboration. Each year, invited speakersÌýgive high-order talks to an eclectic audience of researchers and the public, followed by a panelist-led Q&A.Ìý
Upcoming Workshops
workshop (June 9-10th, 2022).
The June 2022 symposium will focus on emergent mechanics, morphogenesis, and functional behaviors by agent-comprisedÌý"active networks", in whichÌýindividual members of the system convert locally stored energy into mechanical work. These networks, which include everything from aggregations of cells to engineered swarming robots, often display special abilities such as collective actuationÌýand mechanosensory healing. Predictively designing materials with such functions may greatly advance applications such as micro-scale self-assembly, drug delivery, and the autonomous response of soft robotics. However, a better understanding is required regarding the local behaviors that govern these globally emergent properties. As such, this symposium will bring together experimentalists and theorists who study active systems of agents across length scales, to disseminate and advance the current understanding of active network mechanics.
Meeting agenda forthcoming.Ìý
2022ÌýDissipative Mechanisms in Elastomers and Gelsworkshop (April 28-29th, 2022).
The April 2022 symposium is aimed at exploring the wide variety of dissipative mechanisms featured in elastomers and hydrogels. These processes are largely responsible for many desirable material properties including self-healing, viscoelasticity, and high extensibility. This event will feature talks from both theorists and experimentalists and is meant to combine these perspectives in furthering our understanding of these extremely diverse and promising materials.
For speaker details, see the meeting agenda.
Past Workshops
2019 Non-Equilibrium Networks & Active MatterÌýworkshop (August 13-14th, 2019).
The 2ndÌýannual active matter seminar broadened the scope of discussion to "non-equilibrium" systems and featured speakers from 91¸£ÀûÉç, CU Denver, and CSU, as well as twelve student poster presenters. The first lecture session introduced the audience to the mechanics of biological active systems ranging from the microstructural evolution of microtubule networks to emergent collective motion in groups of zebrafish. The second session then explored synthetic systems that exhibit comparable dynamics and activity to the aforementioned biological systems, thereby displaying great promise for the biomimetic design of morphologically adaptiveÌýand/or mechanoresponsive soft materials.ÌýThe third and final session examined how researchers are employing synthetic systems like those discussed in session two, to replicate the functions achieved by the biological systems examined in session one, such as self-healing and dissipative mechanisms of fracture mitigation. This event reiterated potential applications of active materials research, which include the interfacial design of biomimetic tissue implants or the development of shape-programmable matter while emphasizing the need forÌýsignificant advancement in this relatively young field.
2018 Active Matter workshop (August 9-10th, 2018).
The 1stÌýannual active matter seminar aimed to introduce the 91¸£ÀûÉç community to the exciting and interdisciplinaryÌýfrontiers of active materials research. It featured presentations from twelve CU research groups representing the Physics, Biophysics, Mechanical Engineering, Chemical & Biological Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, and Material Science departments/programs. Systems ranging from aggregations of insects (e.g., honeybees and fire ants)Ìýto acoustically driven microbubbles were explored, giving audiences a broad and fascinating introduction to the world of active matter.