Soft materials represent a large portion of biomedical and bioengineering research. Until recently, the mechanical properties of soft tissues and hydrogels have not truly been studied. However, given recent developments of new scaffolds and more localized medical treatments, understanding the mechanical properties of soft biomaterials is becoming critical.

This webinar will elucidate the nanoindentation approach for the measurement of soft materials that will be demonstrated via several topics and pertinent real-world examples including:

• Why indent soft materials
• Cartilage: stiffness gradient of human knee cartilage
• Cornea: how stiff is human cornea and how can indentation help in treatment of corneal conditions
• Contact lenses: effect of loading rate on elastic modulus—tunable comfort
• Hydrogels: solid, liquid, or gel
• Hyaluronic acid foils: properties of thin hydrogel sheets

An interactive Q&A session follows the presentation.

Presented by Anton Paar USA

Science and society are eager for innovative solutions to increasingly complex technical problems. This webinar will highlight how perovskites and graphene are contributing to those solutions.

Perovskites: With special properties like superconductivity, magnetoresistance, piezoelectricity and dielectric and pyroelectric behavior, perovskites are excellent candidates for optimizing multilayer capacitors like fuel cells as well as solar cells, sensors and electric batteries, or even next-generation display screens, LEDs, memory devices (RAM) and high-temperature superconductors.

Graphene: Alongside revelations of the seemingly endless applications of graphene has been development of a rapid and highly scalable “green” process for mass-producing graphene to meet the needs of science and industry. We discuss the latest and most promising advances resulting from this synergy and their implications for society.

An interactive Q&A session will follow the presentation.

Presented by Goodfellow

The overall aim of this workshop is to bring together experts from the field of bioceramics from academia, industry and clinical backgrounds fostering discussions and scientific exchange among these different perspectives. Presentations by international experts will therefore cover the entire life cycle of bioceramics from their synthesis to clinical translation. By highlighting and critically discussing current challenges in an interactive panel discussion, the future perspective of bioceramics in medicinal applications will be evaluated.

Students attending the bioceramics workshop will learn on fundamental aspects in bioceramics synthesis to application-oriented requirements given by clinicians. This broad and interactive view will broaden their scientific horizon and will support them in developing nextgeneration materials that overcome current medicinal hurdles. Interactive coffee breaks will allow students to get in direct contact with experts and ask their personal research and even career related questions.

The overall aim of this workshop is to bring together experts from the field of bioceramics from academia, industry and clinical backgrounds fostering discussions and scientific exchange among these different perspectives. Presentations by international experts will therefore cover the entire life cycle of bioceramics from their synthesis to clinical translation. By highlighting and critically discussing current challenges in an interactive panel discussion, the future perspective of bioceramics in medicinal applications will be evaluated.

Students attending the bioceramics workshop will learn on fundamental aspects in bioceramics synthesis to application-oriented requirements given by clinicians. This broad and interactive view will broaden their scientific horizon and will support them in developing nextgeneration materials that overcome current medicinal hurdles. Interactive coffee breaks will allow students to get in direct contact with experts and ask their personal research and even career related questions.

A subcommittee of the DOE Basic Energy Science Advisory Committee (BESAC) is conducting an international benchmark study with the goals: i) to identify key areas of its mission-relevant research and facility capabilities in which U.S. leadership is most threatened; ii) to advise on modifications to existing trade-offs or new ways to leverage scarce resources; iii) to identify incentives that will retain and attract scientific talent. The purpose of this town hall meeting is to share the preliminary findings, and to seek community input.

With the latest developments in materials science, a new technological trend that uses using soft materials for creating advanced mechanical and electronic systems with sophisticated features is gaining momentum. This emerging field has pioneering novel applications especially in robotics and electronics. The April 2021 issue of MRS Bulletin focuses on soft robotics, exploring the challenges and opportunities for revolutionizing robotics and for exploring new materials and fabrication schemes.

This webinar will present two talks by authors and a guest editor of the MRS Bulletin issue. An interactive Q&A will be held with each of the speakers following their talks.

Talk Presentations:

• Bioinspired approaches and materials for soft robotics
  Cecilia Laschi, National University of Singapore
  Talk begins at 8:23
    
  
• Surface molding of multi-stimuli-responsive microgel actuators
  Stephen Morin, University of Nebraska-Lincoln
  Talk begins at 49:15
    

This session includes a presentation from Dr. Vanessa Chan, head of the DOE Office of Technology Transitions. The Office is responsible for all commercialization activities across DOE, the 17 National Laboratories, and the Department’s other research and production facilities across the country.

This session, led by Dr. Linda Sapochak, describes the funding opportunities available from the National Science Foundation Division of Materials Research.

The presentation, led by Dr. Andrew Schwartz, will provide an overview of the fundamental materials research activities, including national user facilities for materials sciences research, that are supported by DOE’s Office of Basic Energy Sciences (BES).

Dr. Luisa Russell gives an overview of funding opportunities available at the National Institutes of Health, National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering.