Mechanical and materials engineering expert to deliver distinguished lecture on shape programmable 3D mesostructures and functional devices

PAIR cordially invites you to join our Distinguished Lecture on 8 August 2024 (Thursday) at 2:30pm–4:00pm (Hong Kong time) on PolyU campus. The lecture titled “Shape Programmable Three-Dimensional Mesostructures and Functional Devices” will be delivered by Prof. HUANG Yonggang, Jan and Marcia Achenbach Professor of Mechanical Engineering, Civil and Environmental Engineering, and Materials Science and Engineering, Northwestern University, United States.

A rapidly expanding research area involves the development of routes to shape programmable three-dimensional (3D) structures with feature sizes in the mesoscopic range (that is, between tens of nanometres and hundreds of micrometres). A goal is to establish methods to control the properties of materials systems and the function of devices, though not only static architectures, but also morphable structures and shape-shifting processes. Soft matter equipped with responsive components can switch between designed shapes, but cannot support the types of dynamic morphing capabilities needed to reproduce continuous shape-shifting processes of interest for many applications. Challenges lie in the establishment of 3D assembly/fabrication techniques compatible with wide classes of materials and 3D geometries, and schemes to program target shapes after fabrication.

In this talk, Prof. Huang will introduce a mechanics-guided assembly approach that exploits controlled buckling for constructing complex 3D micro/nanostructures from patterned two-dimensional (2D) micro/nanoscale precursors that can be easily formed using established semiconductor technologies. This approach applies to a very broad set of materials (e.g., semiconductors, polymers, metals, and ceramics) and even their heterogeneous integration, over a wide range of length scales (e.g., from 100 nm to 10 cm). To allow realisation of 3D mesostructures that are capable of qualitative shape reconfiguration, Prof. Huang and his team devise a loading-path controlled strategy that relies on elastomer platforms deformed in different time sequences to elastically alter the 3D geometries of supported mesostructures via nonlinear buckling. He will also introduce a recent work on shape programmable soft surface, constructed from a matrix of filamentary metal traces, driven by programmable, distributed electromagnetic forces that follow from the passage of electrical currents in the presence of a static magnetic field. Under the guidance of a mechanics model-based strategy to solve the inverse problem, the surface can morph into a wide range of 3D target shapes and shape-shifting processes. The compatibility of such approaches with the state-of-the-art fabrication/processing techniques, along with the versatile capabilities, allow transformation of diverse existing 2D microsystems into complex configurations, providing unusual design options in the development of novel functional devices.

Prof. Huang is the Achenbach Professor of Mechanical Engineering, Civil and Environmental Engineering, and Materials Science and Engineering at Northwestern University. He is interested in mechanics of stretchable and flexible electronics, and mechanically guided deterministic 3D assembly. He has published 2 books and more than 700 journal papers and book chapters, including 15 in Science and 7 in Nature. He is a Highly Cited Researcher in Engineering (2009), in Materials Science (since 2014), in Physics (2018), and is ranked #4 worldwide in the 2024 Ranking of Best Scientists in the field of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering by Research.com. Prof. Huang is a member of the US National Academy of Engineering (NAE), US National Academy of Sciences, a fellow of American Academy of Arts and Sciences, a foreign member of the Royal Society (London), Chinese Academy of Sciences, and 5 other academies in Europe and Canada. He has received research awards from the American Society of Civil Engineers, American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME), International Union of Theoretical and Applied Mechanics, John Simon Guggenheim Foundation, and Society of Engineering Sciences (SES). He has received teaching or undergraduate advising awards from all universities he has taught. He is (was) the Editor-in-Chief of 4 international journals, including Applied Mechanics Reviews since 2022, and its impact factor increased from ~7 in 2021 to 14.3 in 2023. He was the SES President (2014), Chairman of the ASME Applied Mechanics Division (2019-2020), was the chair of the election committee and is the incoming chair of the mechanical engineering section of NAE. In 2024, SES renamed its Engineering Science Medal to Yonggang Huang Engineering Science Medal.

Don’t miss the chance to learn from Prof. Huang!

Find out more and register at: https://polyu.hk/XzYpk