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SUMMARY:IMX Colloquium - Smart by Nature: Bio-Inspired sensors and actuato
 rs
DTSTART:20251013T131500
DTEND:20251013T141500
DTSTAMP:20260922T014126Z
UID:396f40932804479f480bdba93d148d5c1c6a3edd414447935b1c542d
CATEGORIES:Conferences - Seminars
DESCRIPTION:Prof. Ingrid Graz\, Linz School of Education\, Austria\nNature
  is the ultimate engineer. From squid beaks to citrus peels\, living syste
 ms have evolved materials and structures perfectly adapted to their enviro
 nment and requirements—lightweight yet tough\, soft yet strong\, protect
 ive yet flexible. Inspired by these designs\, our research explores how we
  can translate nature’s strategies into soft\, functional materials for 
 stretchable electronics and soft robotics.\nInspired by the squid beak\, w
 e developed polyimide-polydimethylsiloxane (PI-PDMS) composites\, that ena
 bles a single material with a seamless transition from hard to soft. These
  gradient materials offer great potential for stretchable electronics with
  built-in strain relief and anisotropic dielectric elastomer actuators. Co
 mplementary work on dynamic covalent silicone networks and super-soft inor
 ganic elastomers enables even more precise control of stiffness and mechan
 ical performance\, providing versatile platforms for next-generation ultra
 -conformable soft devices. Foundational studies using a simple ball drop t
 est provide an easy and cheap means for quantitative extraction of mechani
 cal properties of soft materials such as dissipated energy\, storage and l
 oss modulus and Young’s modulus.\nTaking cues from the damping propertie
 s of citrus peels\, we created open-cell soft elastomer foams filled with 
 carbon black. These are capable of absorbing impacts\, sensing collisions\
 , and\, in combination with a pneumatic radial compression actuator\, enab
 le tailored energy dissipation. Further\, we developed soft actuator conce
 pts based on plant motions. A high-speed soft actuator with a response tim
 e of 4ms using mechanical instabilities triggered by temperature was inspi
 red by the closing mechanism of the venus flytrap. The mimosa plant and it
 s water-driven movements motivated phase transition actuators that enable 
 untethered soft actuators for grippers\, hinges and pumps. They can also e
 asily be implemented in wearables.\nBy learning from nature\, we can desig
 n soft machines that are smarter\, more resilient\, and more adaptable—c
 apable of sensing\, moving\, and interacting with the world in ways previo
 usly only found in living organisms.\n\nBio: Ingrid Graz received her PhD 
 in Physics from Johannes Kepler University Linz\, Austria\, where she focu
 sed on flexible ferroelectret pressure sensors for thin-film transistors. 
 After a postdoctoral stay in Jena\, Germany\, she worked for three years o
 n stretchable electronics in collaboration with Nokia at the Nanoscience C
 enter\, Department of Engineering\, University of Cambridge. She then retu
 rned to Johannes Kepler University Linz\, where she completed her habilita
 tion on skin-inspired electronics and soft robotic and became an Associate
  Professor in Soft Matter Physics. From 2020 to 2024\, she served as Head 
 of the Christian Doppler Laboratory for Soft Structures for Vibration Damp
 ing and Impact Protection and currently leads a research group focused on 
 Bioinspired soft Systems\, affiliated with both the School of Education an
 d the Institute for Biophysics. Recently she was elected Vice-Head of the 
 BioMediCry Core Facility at Johannes Kepler University and serves as Presi
 dent of the EuroEAP Society.\n\n\n 
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