Seminars

It is possible to affect a wide variety of gradients into additively manufactured components, including bulk structures and lattice structures. This talk will briefly describe how multiple gradients can be achieved, and some technical advances in the modeling associated with achieving sufficiently precise gradients. However, while demonstrating that it is possible to create precise gradients is a critical initial step towards a future where complex gradients are part of parts and components used in service, it is necessary to develop the predictive tools necessary for design engineers to incorporate spatially varying properties. In this work, we present an effort to predict the processing-materials state-properties-performance relationships in Ti-based gradient structures where both composition and aging temperatures are spatially controlled. Finally, recognizing that qualification (including post-manufacture nondestructive evaluation (NDE)) will be a challenging problem, we present a new concept where we extend the concepts of feasibility diagrams for processing to feasibility diagrams of inspectability.

Peter C. Collins joined the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at Iowa State University in July, 2015. Dr. Pete Collins received his undergraduate degree in Metallurgical Engineering from the University of Missouri-Rolla, and his MS and PhD from The Ohio State University in Materials Science and Engineering. Prior to joining ISU , Dr. Collins served as a faculty member and undergraduate coordinator in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at the University of North Texas. Dr. Collins has also spent time standing-up a not-for-profit 501-3© manufacturing laboratory, and regularly engages with both industry and the government. His experiences and interests involve the practical and theoretical treatments of microstructure-property relationship, with an extension into composition-microstructure-property relationships derived for complex multi-phase, multi-component engineering alloys. He has extensive experience in participating in large industrial programs, has conducted studies into novel metal matrix composites, and has significant research experience with additive manufacturing techniques, and combinatorial materials science. Dr. Collins is an active member of TMS , past chairman of the ICME committee, member of the Titanium committee, and a member of the Materials Processing and Manufacturing Division. In recent years, Collins and his group have been actively involved in developing and building new types of instrumentation and experiments. These include developing the first 3D SRAS (spatially resolved acoustic spectroscopy) microscope, bicombinatorial techniques, reduced-cost wire-fed metal AM systems, and other techniques aimed at characterizing defects in additive manufactured materials.

• Speaker: Dr Peter C. Collins, Iowa State University
• Friday 13 June 2025, 14:00-15:00
• Venue: Oatley 1 Meeting Room, Department of Engineering.
• Series: Engineering - Mechanics and Materials Seminar Series; organiser: div-c.

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Peter C. Collins joined the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at Iowa State University in July, 2015. Dr. Pete Collins received his undergraduate degree in Metallurgical Engineering from the University of Missouri-Rolla, and his MS and PhD from The Ohio State University in Materials Science and Engineering. Prior to joining ISU , Dr. Collins served as a faculty member and undergraduate coordinator in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at the University of North Texas. Dr. Collins has also spent time standing-up a not-for-profit 501-3© manufacturing laboratory, and regularly engages with both industry and the government. His experiences and interests involve the practical and theoretical treatments of microstructure-property relationship, with an extension into composition-microstructure-property relationships derived for complex multi-phase, multi-component engineering alloys. He has extensive experience in participating in large industrial programs, has conducted studies into novel metal matrix composites, and has significant research experience with additive manufacturing techniques, and combinatorial materials science. Dr. Collins is an active member of TMS , past chairman of the ICME committee, member of the Titanium committee, and a member of the Materials Processing and Manufacturing Division. In recent years, Collins and his group have been actively involved in developing and building new types of instrumentation and experiments. These include developing the first 3D SRAS (spatially resolved acoustic spectroscopy) microscope, bicombinatorial techniques, reduced-cost wire-fed metal AM systems, and other techniques aimed at characterizing defects in additive manufactured materials.

• Speaker: Dr Peter C. Collins, Iowa State University
• Friday 13 June 2025, 14:00-15:00
• Venue: Oatley 1 Meeting Room, Department of Engineering.
• Series: Engineering - Mechanics and Materials Seminar Series; organiser: div-c.

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Abstract not available

• Speaker: Dr Shelly Zhang, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
• Friday 31 October 2025, 14:00-15:00
• Venue: Oatley 1 Meeting Room, Department of Engineering.
• Series: Engineering - Mechanics and Materials Seminar Series; organiser: div-c.

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Abstract The solution space of Non-deterministic Polynomial (NP) complete problems grows exponentially with input size. Consequently, large NP complete problems cannot be solved in an acceptable time by fast, but sequential electronic computers, nor presently by alternative, parallel computing approaches. Here, we report that the bacterial exploration of microfluidic networks that encode instances of the Subset Sum Problem (SSP) is equivalent to solving this NP-complete problem. Significantly, the ability of bacteria to multiply in confined environments translates in the amplification of the computational parallelism, with computing resources growing naturally to match the size of a given combinatorial problem. A scaling analysis of the time needed by bacteria to solve SSP problems encoded in microfluidic networks identifies the point where they are theoretically expected to outperform fast solid-state computers. These results, namely massively parallel, design-driven low error operation, low energy requirement for computing, and exponentially growing computing resources, suggest that bacterial-driven biocomputation on networks holds the potential to scale up successfully.

• Speaker: Professor Dan V Nicolau, McGill University
• Friday 16 May 2025, 14:00-15:00
• Venue: Oatley 1 Meeting Room, Department of Engineering.
• Series: Engineering - Mechanics and Materials Seminar Series; organiser: div-c.

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Abstract not available

• Speaker: Professor Dan V Nicolau, McGill University
• Friday 16 May 2025, 14:00-15:00
• Venue: Oatley 1 Meeting Room, Department of Engineering.
• Series: Engineering - Mechanics and Materials Seminar Series; organiser: div-c.

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From an engineering point of view, it is convenient to describe composite materials using homo- geneous effective properties. When the microstructure is periodic, asymptotic homogenizationis particularly well suited for this aim. Classical homogenization corresponds to the dominant order model and yields an effective standard Cauchy medium. At next orders, we can derive addi- tional corrections that depend on the successive strain gradients. These corrections are typically of interest to capture size-effects appearing for microstructures with contrasted stiffness properties. However, these higher-order models present two major limitations. First, the corrections producedby homogenization can handle size-effects that occur in the bulk region, but are not suited to the analysis of the boundaries. In fact, they miss significant boundary effects which can degrade significantly the quality of the predictions. Secondly, these higher-order models present several mathematical inconsistencies, including non-positive strain-gradient stiffnesses. As a result, the effective energy is not necessarily positive and any equilibrium solution is unstable with respect to short-scale oscillations. To handle these two limitations simultaneously, we elaborate a newhomogenization procedure that includes boundary effects. By contrast with usual approaches, inour procedure the homogenization is carried at the energy level, rather than on the strong formof the equilibrium. Besides, the positivity of the resulting energy is guaranteed by an original truncation method [1]. As an example, we consider a 1D spring network. The resulting effective energy contains a bulk term that is positive, plus a boundary term that accounts for the energy generated by the boundary effects. We show that, by contrast with usual asymptotic homogenization, this higher-order model is able to capture size-effects occurring in the interior domain, as well as near the boundaries.

• Speaker: Manon Thbaut, Ecole Polytechnique
• Friday 09 May 2025, 14:00-15:00
• Venue: Oatley 1 Meeting Room, Department of Engineering.
• Series: Engineering - Mechanics and Materials Seminar Series; organiser: div-c.

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Abstract not available

• Speaker: Professor Yang Hao, Queen Mary University of London
• Friday 10 October 2025, 14:00-15:00
• Venue: Department of Engineering - tbc.
• Series: Engineering - Mechanics Colloquia Research Seminars; organiser: div-c.

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From an engineering point of view, it is convenient to describe composite materials using homo- geneous effective properties. When the microstructure is periodic, asymptotic homogenizationis particularly well suited for this aim. Classical homogenization corresponds to the dominant order model and yields an effective standard Cauchy medium. At next orders, we can derive addi- tional corrections that depend on the successive strain gradients. These corrections are typically of interest to capture size-effects appearing for microstructures with contrasted stiffness properties. However, these higher-order models present two major limitations. First, the corrections producedby homogenization can handle size-effects that occur in the bulk region, but are not suited to the analysis of the boundaries. In fact, they miss significant boundary effects which can degrade significantly the quality of the predictions. Secondly, these higher-order models present several mathematical inconsistencies, including non-positive strain-gradient stiffnesses. As a result, the effective energy is not necessarily positive and any equilibrium solution is unstable with respect to short-scale oscillations. To handle these two limitations simultaneously, we elaborate a newhomogenization procedure that includes boundary effects. By contrast with usual approaches, inour procedure the homogenization is carried at the energy level, rather than on the strong formof the equilibrium. Besides, the positivity of the resulting energy is guaranteed by an original truncation method [1]. As an example, we consider a 1D spring network. The resulting effective energy contains a bulk term that is positive, plus a boundary term that accounts for the energy generated by the boundary effects. We show that, by contrast with usual asymptotic homogenization, this higher-order model is able to capture size-effects occurring in the interior domain, as well as near the boundaries.

• Speaker: Manon Thbaut, Ecole polytechnique
• Friday 09 May 2025, 14:00-15:00
• Venue: Oatley 1 Meeting Room, Department of Engineering.
• Series: Engineering - Mechanics and Materials Seminar Series; organiser: div-c.

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Abstract not available

• Speaker: Professor Dan V Nicolau, McGill University
• Friday 16 May 2025, 14:00-15:00
• Venue: Oatley 1 Meeting Room, Department of Engineering.
• Series: Engineering - Mechanics and Materials Seminar Series; organiser: div-c.

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Cardiovascular diseases remain the leading cause of death globally, with thrombosis playing a central role in their pathogenesis. Current antithrombotic therapies, while effective, often carry significant bleeding risks due to their inability to differentiate between pathological and physiological blood clotting. This presentation introduces our integrated approach that combines fundamental mechanobiology with translational engineering to address critical clinical needs in cardiovascular medicine, potentially transforming how we diagnose, monitor, and treat thrombotic disorders.

First, using our single-cell biomechanical nanotools such as Biomembrane Force Probe (BFP), we present insights into thrombosis mechanobiology, particularly focusing on the role of von Willebrand Factor (VWF) and other mechanoreceptors (GPIbα, integrin αIIbβ3 and PIEZO1 ion channels) in distinguishing between “good” and “bad” mechanical forces in thrombosis. These helped uncover new therapeutic targets for force-sensitive antithrombotic strategies. Second, we demonstrate a personalized vessel-on-chip platform that recreates patient-specific blood vessel geometries and flow conditions, enabling precise evaluation of thrombotic risk and drug responses. Finally, we introduce novel point-of-care microtechnologies for rapid blood coagulation testing, including an AI-powered platform called SmartClot, which promises to revolutionize home-based coagulation monitoring. These innovations represent a significant advancement toward more effective and safer antithrombotic treatments, with potential applications ranging from preventive care to personalized medicine.

Professor Lining Arnold Ju PhD GAICD FHEA

Snow Fellow, Australian Heart Foundation Future Leader Fellow and Australian Academy of Science John Booker Medal, The University of Sydney, School of Biomedical Engineering.

Dr. Ju received his PhD in Biomedical Engineering at Georgia Institute of Technology and Emory University, USA in 2013. From 2014 to 2019, he joined the Australian Centre for Blood Diseases, Monash University, Melbourne, then Heart Research Institute, Sydney as an Australian Heart Foundation Postdoc Fellow. In early 2020, Dr. Ju became an independent PI at the University of Sydney (USYD)’s new School of Biomedical Engineering and started up the Mechanobiology and Biomechanics Laboratory (MBL).

Dr. Ju works at the biomedical engineering and mechanobiology. His team has pioneered multiple biomechanical nanotools, including multi-parametric thrombus profiling microfluidics (Nature Materials 2019; Nature Communications 2024), patient-specific vessel-on-a-chip platform (Advanced Materials 2025; Science Advances 2025), single-cell biomembrane force probes (Nature Communications 2018), 4D hemodynamic modeling (Nature 2021; Blood 2025) and fluorescent micropipette aspiration assays (Nature Communications 2024). His novel understanding of the mechanics behind blood clot formation has profound implications for diagnosing and preventing thrombosis in heart attacks and strokes. His vision is to build novel platforms that integrate advanced biomanufacturing, high-throughput biomechanical phenotyping, and generative AI towards rapid and intelligent biosensing technologies for aging, diabetes, obesity, hypertension, vaccine and autoimmune related thrombotic risks.

• Speaker: Professor Arnold Lining Ju, University of Sydney
• Friday 06 June 2025, 14:00-15:00
• Venue: Oatley 1 Meeting Room, Department of Engineering.
• Series: Engineering - Mechanics and Materials Seminar Series; organiser: div-c.

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Abstract not available

• Speaker: Professor Arnold Lining Ju, University of Sydney
• Friday 06 June 2025, 14:00-15:00
• Venue: Oatley 1 Meeting Room, Department of Engineering.
• Series: Engineering - Mechanics and Materials Seminar Series; organiser: div-c.

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Peter C. Collins joined the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at Iowa State University in July, 2015. Dr. Pete Collins received his undergraduate degree in Metallurgical Engineering from the University of Missouri-Rolla, and his MS and PhD from The Ohio State University in Materials Science and Engineering. Prior to joining ISU , Dr. Collins served as a faculty member and undergraduate coordinator in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at the University of North Texas. Dr. Collins has also spent time standing-up a not-for-profit 501-3© manufacturing laboratory, and regularly engages with both industry and the government. His experiences and interests involve the practical and theoretical treatments of microstructure-property relationship, with an extension into composition-microstructure-property relationships derived for complex multi-phase, multi-component engineering alloys. He has extensive experience in participating in large industrial programs, has conducted studies into novel metal matrix composites, and has significant research experience with additive manufacturing techniques, and combinatorial materials science. Dr. Collins is an active member of TMS , past chairman of the ICME committee, member of the Titanium committee, and a member of the Materials Processing and Manufacturing Division. In recent years, Collins and his group have been actively involved in developing and building new types of instrumentation and experiments. These include developing the first 3D SRAS (spatially resolved acoustic spectroscopy) microscope, bicombinatorial techniques, reduced-cost wire-fed metal AM systems, and other techniques aimed at characterizing defects in additive manufactured materials.

• Speaker: Dr Peter C. Collins, Iowa State University
• Friday 13 June 2025, 14:00-15:00
• Venue: Oatley 1 Meeting Room, Department of Engineering.
• Series: Engineering - Mechanics and Materials Seminar Series; organiser: div-c.

Add to your calendar or Include in your list