Speakers

Abstract:  This presentation will provide a glimpse into the speaker’s research activities in the field of adaptive matter and structures, which have evolved throughout the years, from responsive materials-based structures to nature-inspired metamaterials and metastructures, and to em-bodying physical computing and mechano-intelligence in structural dynamics. For example, by harnessing bistable circuitry networks in and between unit cells, one can achieve non-reciprocal wave propagation in nonlinear piezoelectric metamaterials. It is shown that such features can be effectively designed and programmed via supratransmission analysis on a re-duced-order model. Inspired by the plant nastic movements and the rich origami folding, a class of adaptive modular metastructures is created building on the innovation of fluidic-origami elements. The modules are designed to be reconfigurable in their shape, mechanical properties, and stability features, so to achieve programmable phononic matter for bandgap control, acoustic beamforming, and wave steering. More recently, with the rapid advances in autonomous systems, an emerging direction is to pioneer and harness the metastructures’ high dimensionality, nonlinearity, and multiple stability for mechano-intelligence via physical computing. That is, we aim to concurrently embody computing power and functional intelli-gence, such as perception, learning, memorizing, decision-making and execution, directly in the mechanical domain, transforming from conventional systems that rely mainly on add-on digital computers to achieve intelligence. The new mechano-intelligent metastructures are thus more energy-efficient, have more direct interaction with the surroundings, and are much more resilient against harsh environments and cyberattacks. This idea has been harnessed to create mechanically intelligent functions for wave and vibration controls, and wave-based classification and communication. This talk will highlight some of these advancements in em-bodying programmability and intelligence in adaptive matter and structures, and discuss fu-ture directions of the field.  

Bio:  Dr. Kon-Well Wang is the A. Galip Ulsoy Distinguished University Professor of Engineering and Stephen P. Timoshenko Professor of Mechanical Engineering (ME) at the University of Michigan (U-M).  He has been the U-M ME Department Chair (2008-18), and has served as a Division Director at the U.S. National Science Foundation. Wang received his Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley. He started his academic career at the Pennsylvania State University in 1988, and joined the U-M in 2008. He is a recipient of many top awards in the field, such as the ASME Rayleigh Lecture Award, the Pi Tau Sigma-ASME Charles Russ Richards Memorial Award, the ASME J.P. Den Hartog Award, the SPIE Smart Structures and Materials Lifetime Achievement Award, and the ASME Adaptive Structures and Mate-rials Systems Prize. He has been the Editor-in-Chief (EIC) for the ASME Journal of Vibra-tion and Acoustics, and is the current EIC for the Journal of Intelligent Material Systems & Structures. Wang is a Fellow of the AAAS, AIAA, ASME, IOP, and RAeS, and an Honora-ble Member of the ASME.