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SUMMARY:MechE Colloquium: Biomechanics and fluid dynamics of freshwater in
 sects across walking\, swimming\, and flight
DTSTART:20261103T120000
DTEND:20261103T130000
DTSTAMP:20261002T115200Z
UID:21ff27a5955f9e97452764acc0ec84717005cbb6a663c9553ed00d4f
CATEGORIES:Conferences - Seminars
DESCRIPTION:Prof. Margaret Byron\, Institute of Energy and the Environme
 nt\, The Pennsylvania State University\nAbstract: Many animals\, includin
 g humans\, can transition between multiple modes of locomotion between div
 erse environments (e.g.\, the transition from walking to swimming). Bimoda
 lity is common\, but trimodality—that is\, the ability to successfully n
 avigate between aerial\, aquatic\, and terrestrial environments—is relat
 ively rare.  Multimodality is also challenging to achieve in engineered d
 evices\, vehicles\, and robots\; however\, several animals are capable of 
 regularly (and easily) traversing environmental boundaries.  In this talk
 \, we will outline several of the general adaptations that living organism
 s use to locomote between land\, air\, and water. We will then present rec
 ent work on the biomechanics and fluid dynamics of trimodal aquatic insect
 s.  These insects exhibit hybrid walking-swimming gaits when transitionin
 g from land to shallow water\; they also leverage surface tension\, buoyan
 cy\, fluid drag\, and aerodynamic forces to take off into flight directly 
 from the water surface. They also display underwater agility\, using their
  legs as paddles to propel themselves rapidly as they seek prey and/or esc
 ape from predators. They also have interesting morphological features to e
 nable these transitions\, including superhydrophobic wings and hemelytra\,
  as well as dense setae lining the metathoracic legs. These bristle-like f
 eatures create shape-morphing appendages for efficient swimming\, and are 
 also used to lever the insect’s body off the deforming water surface dur
 ing takeoff. In this talk\, we will present data from all three locomotor 
 modes and discuss their implications for both fundamental biology and ecol
 ogy as well as bioinspired engineering and technology development.\n\n\nBi
 ography: Dr. Margaret L. Byron is currently the Martin W. Trethewey Early
  Career Professor in Mechanical Engineering at Penn State University\, and
  is a recipient of the NSF CAREER Award\, the Beckman Young Investigator A
 ward\, and the American Chemical Society Doctoral New Investigator Award. 
 She earned her B.S. in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering from Princeton
  University in 2010 and her MS/PhD in Civil and Environmental Engineering 
 from the University of California Berkeley in 2012/2015. She works at the 
 interface of biology\, physics\, and engineering\, with interests includin
 g the fluid dynamics of animal locomotion and the transport of irregularly
  shaped inertial particles in turbulent flows (including sediment\, aggreg
 ates\, and microplastics). She is currently on sabbatical at EPFL as a Vis
 iting Professor in the UNFoLD lab.
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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