The shaping of bioinspired matter

a seminar by Kunal Masania

Date:  October 25^th, 11:00
Location: in the NPEC lecture room, Netherlands Plant Eco-phenotype Centre, Bornsesteeg 48, 6708 PE Wageningen
Contact: Julian Verdonk

Kunal Masania is an associate professor at the at the Faculty of Aerospace Engineering, TU Delft.
If you would like to meet Kunal, please contact Julian Verdonk.

The shaping of bioinspired matter

Materials in nature exhibit heterogeneous architectures that are tuned to fulfill the functional demands of the surrounding environment. Examples range from the cellulose-based organic structure of plants to highly mineralized skeletal parts like bone. Because they are often utilized to combine opposing properties such as strength and low-density, the heterogeneous architecture of natural materials can potentially address several of the technical limitations of artificial homogeneous composites. However, current man-made manufacturing technologies do not allow for the level of composition and fiber orientation control found in natural heterogeneous systems. In this talk, I will show top-down and bottom up routes that might offer an exciting new pathway for the fabrication of materials with unprecedented architectures. The talk will explain our recent work on wood based materials and printing of living organisms for the fabrication of biologically inspired materials with widely tunable properties and functionality.