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SUMMARY:MechE Colloquium: Cellular crowd control: engineering collective c
 ell mechanics for faster healing\, better adhesion\, and hydraulic ‘kidn
 eybots’.
DTSTART:20260421T120000
DTEND:20260421T130000
DTSTAMP:20260410T204247Z
UID:bac65d2358d8069d823128456c788b096c2331a04a2b5da68f0507ff
CATEGORIES:Conferences - Seminars
DESCRIPTION:Prof. Daniel Cohen\, Department of Mechanical and Aerospace E
 ngineering\, Princeton University\nAbstract: Living tissues are communiti
 es comprised of many thousands of cells\, and healing even a 1 mm skin wou
 nd is an exercise in massive crowd dynamics and swarm control. So\, how ca
 n we heal faster or grow tissues better given this complexity? Our work ap
 plies principles from crowd mechanics\, materials science\, and swarm robo
 tics to ‘herd’ cellular motion. Here\, we will explore three stories r
 elated to this. \n\nFirst\, we will discuss ‘outside-in’ tissue contr
 ol where we have developed new strategies to ‘herd’ cellular motion i
 nspired by sheepherding. Here\, we use local electrical stimuli to control
  cellular speed and direction\, enabling remote control of injury healing 
 and tissue growth. These approaches are fundamentally limited by the engin
 eering mechanics of crowds\, and we will discuss how to develop control st
 rategies here. \n\nNext\, we will examine ‘inside-out’ tissue control
  where we hack swarm mechanics by building synthetic materials that mimic 
 cells and integrate into living materials to control their function. In pa
 rticular\, we will look at our recent work using 3D nano printed ‘L’a
 rc de triomphe’ tunnels to regulate and improve cell-material adhesion.
  \n\nFinally\, we are developing a new type of living\, soft actuator ba
 sed on kidney tissue and collective control of water transport. Here\, we 
 use electrical cues to regulate ion transport and subsequent osmotic flux\
 , allowing us to electrically control the hydrostatic pressure in living t
 issues and hydrogels\, and we would especially appreciate feedback and adv
 ice here.  \n\n \n\nBiography: Prof. Cohen is a joint Associate Professo
 r of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering and the Bioengineering Institute
  at Princeton University where he also serves as the Director of Graduate 
 Studies for the Bioengineering Ph.D. Program. He did undergraduate trainin
 g in Mechanical Engineering at Princeton University\, followed by a Bioeng
 ineering Ph.D. at UC Berkeley/UCSF and a Cell Biology post-doctoral fellow
 ship at Stanford University. When he is not in the lab\, he is a professio
 nal storyteller\, running the LabTales Science Storytelling training works
 hop and performing many times each year in theaters\, nightclubs\, univers
 ities\, and museums around the world. 
LOCATION:MED 0 1418 https://plan.epfl.ch/?room==MED%200%201418 https://epf
 l.zoom.us/j/61360740951
STATUS:CONFIRMED
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