Abstract

Abstract: Nature offers spontaneous assembly methods to construct functional 3D compounds through molecular synthesis. Replication of this marvelous capability at alternative scales opens possibilities for a universal and rapid manufacturing method of functional and miniature electromechanical devices. Scales smaller than a cm, where it is believed that top-down engineering approach meets bottom-up biology approach, is however the world where neither of the approaches offers a sufficient set of exploratory tools. The engineering challenges here are how to recreate the conditions that biomolecules experience at non-molecular scales, and how to coordinate the large degrees of freedom in a distributed manner. In this talk, aiming at rapid, efficient, and versatile miniature units composition methods, we will introduce two bio-inspired synthetic approaches, self-assembly and self-folding. We will first outline the fundamental bottlenecks in self-assembly and propose methods to address them. We will then introduce self-folding techniques, such as layered planar fabrication technique, and show a spontaneous fabrication of an actuatable robot. During this presentation, I will highlight the potential applications in rapid manufacturing, advanced materials, and biomedical engineering.

Bio: Shuhei Miyashita is appointed as Lecturer at University of York. Prior to the position, he was a Postdoctoral Research Associate at MIT and Carnegie Mellon University. He received his PhD from University of Zurich, and Master’s degree from Tokyo Institute of Technology. His research pursuit has been focused on a formal understanding of artificial compounds synthesis in non-molecular domains, seeking novel manufacturing methods for elecromechanical devices.