Smart Technology Design in a Transformative World

Thomas Lord Department of Mechanical Engineering & Materials Science welcomes Professor Diann Brei (Northwestern), to present the MEMS Seminar, "Smart Technology Design in a Transformative World."

ABSTRACT: All around us our world is undergoing rapid transformative technological change, from energy to mobility to health sectors. To meet volatile needs, there is a growing demand for integrative thinking. Integrative thinking is systematically integrating disparate disciplines to effectively tackle complex engineering problems. For decades, the field of Smart Materials and Structures has fostered an integrative mindset - it is in our DNA. While emerging technologies based upon smart materials hold many benefits for industry, it has been a long journey to transition research advancements into real products. The field of smart materials and structures is viewed as "enabling" or "emerging" spanning either a) new markets where the products are first generation without a clear application and there is an absence of design models present so empirical developmental methods must be employed, or b) developing markets where there are a few guiding models/methods but the products are not optimized and not reaching their full commercial potential. ... There needs to be a clearer path to transition all the progress made during the past twenty-five years of research into fruitful commercial products, especially within high-volume, low-cost markets. This talk will discuss these efforts from a technological design and development perspective with application examples from several industries such as 1) Medical industry with Liftware spoon to counteract hand tremor and FDA fast track MENDD treatment for bowel growth, and 2) Automotive industry with Soft Adaptive Structures for deployable interior and exterior features in autonomous vehicles. The importance of collaborative, synergistic mission-driven relationships spanning from basic research to device design into system integration will be highlighted as crucial for successful transition from emerging smart material research of today to competitive commercial products of tomorrow.