WIN Member Seminar Series: Hamed Shahsavan

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. 

Registration is required. If you have any questions or issues registering, please contact win-office@uwaterloo.ca 

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

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.