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There is now a CONTENT FREEZE for Mercury while we switch to a new platform. It began on Friday, March 10 at 6pm and will end on Wednesday, March 15 at noon. No new content can be created during this time, but all material in the system as of the beginning of the freeze will be migrated to the new platform, including users and groups. Functionally the new site is identical to the old one. webteam@gatech.edu
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About Dr. Suo's Gebhardt Lecture:
Machines in engineering use mostly hard materials, whereas machines in nature are often soft. This difference has been an inspiration for the nascent field of soft machines. What does softness impart to the life of animals and plants? Softness enables deformation, and deformation provides functions. Familiar examples include the beating of the heart, the sound shaped by the vocal folds, and the flapping of the wing. In soft machines, the large deformation enable soft materials to behave as transducers, connecting multiple stimuli to multiple functions. How do molecular processes enable new classes of actuators and sensors? How efficiently can materials convert information from one form to another? These questions are stimulating new and exciting developments at the interface between science and engineering. This talk highlights the behavior of soft materials that enables the creation of soft machines. Examples include highly stretchable and transparent devices that mimic the functions of muscles, skins and axons.
