The
Waterloo
Institute
for
Nanotechnology
(WIN)
is
happy
to
welcome
Professor
Hamed
Shahsavan
to
the
WIN
family!
Professor
Shahsavan
will
deliver
a
seminar
in
order
to
introduce
himself
and
his
research
to
our
community.
Please
join
us
in
giving
him
a
warm
welcome.
Seminar
title:
Liquid
Crystal
Networks
for
Small-Scale
Bioinspired
Soft
Robots
and
Devices
Abstract:
The
development
of
microscale
devices
and
robots
is
a
multidisciplinary
theme
that
links
different
fields
of
research,
such
as
biology,
materials
science,
instrumentation
and
control,
and
artificial
intelligence.
During
the
last
decade,
this
theme
of
research
has
played
a
significant
role
in
the
understanding,
development,
and
application
of
microscale
devices
and
robots.
In
this
regard,
the
structural
materials
that
can
be
scaled
down
by
various
microfabrication
techniques
and
integrate
sensing,
actuating,
and
powering
tasks
in
constructs
with
less
number
of
components
are
highly
desired.
In
this
seminar,
I
will
show
the
importance
of
liquid
crystal
networks
(LCNs)
in
the
design
and
fabrication
of
microscale
robots
and
devices.
I
will
present
our
recent
progress
in
the
development
of
artificial
muscles
and
robotic
constructs
from
LCNs
that
can
be
remotely
stimulated
by
a
variety
of
cues,
such
as
heat,
light,
and
the
electrical
field
at
different
scales,
and
media.
I
will
also
present
opportunities
to
create
novel
solutions
or
augment
the
existing
capabilities
of
microscale
robotic
systems
with
an
emphasis
on
their
future
biomedical
applications.
Biography
for
Professor
Shahsavan:
Hamed
Shahsavan
is
an
assistant
professor
in
the
Department
of
Chemical
Engineering,
and
Waterloo
Institute
for
Nanotechnology,
at
the
University
of
Waterloo.
He
obtained
his
PhD
in
Chemical
Engineering
-
Nanotechnology
from
the
University
of
Waterloo
in
2017.
Before
his
appointment
in
2020,
he
was
an
NSERC
postdoctoral
fellow
at
Max
Planck
Institute
for
Intelligent
Systems.
During
his
PhD
studies,
he
was
a
visiting
scholar
in
the
Advanced
Materials
and
Liquid
Crystal
Institute
at
Kent
State
University,
Ohio,
USA.
During
his
post-doctoral
fellowship,
he
was
a
visiting
scientist
in
the
Smart
Photonic
Materials
(SPM)
research
group
at
the
University
of
Tampere
in
Finland.
His
current
research
interests
revolve
around
the
development
of
a
variety
of
soft,
stimuli-responsive,
and
programmable
materials.
In
addition,
he
is
interested
in
emerging
fabrication
strategies
for
the
manufacturing
of
small-scale
mobile
robots
and
devices,
such
as
direct
laser
writing,
and
micro-scale
4D
printing.
Thursday, February 4, 2021 1:00 pm
-
2:00 pm
EST (GMT -05:00)