IMX Talks - The Geography of Biological Matter: From Cells to Sustainable Material Systems

The availability, diversity, and function of biological matter are inherently shaped by geography. Climate, ecosystems, agriculture, and food systems determine not only which biomass resources emerge across regions, but also the biological architectures and material opportunities they embody. In this presentation, biological matter is explored as a materials platform spanning plant tissues, fungal networks, marine organisms, and biomass-derived colloidal systems, with emphasis placed on how the organization and composition of such natural precursors can guide their engineering into sustainable material systems.
Themes of (i) biofabrication, using microbial precursors to generate guided assemblies across scales, (ii) natural fiber and bio-colloidal systems, considering their isolation and assembly into functional materials, and (iii) ecosystem integration, considering opportunities to address climatic and other environmental challenges, will be covered. Regarding the latter, examples including arid soil restoration, marine infrastructure remediation, and hybrid living materials are presented as case studies toward deployable systems. For bio-colloidal systems, their inherent advantages and limitations relative to synthetic colloidal systems will also be discussed.
Ultimately, introducing sustainability into the material sector extends beyond precursor selection alone, as ecosystem integration and supply-chain considerations become increasingly critical – particularly as the regionalization of biomass circularization gains importance. The seminar concludes with a brief perspective on technology transfer and innovation as extensions of scientific research toward broader societal impact.

Dr. Blaise Tardy joined Khalifa University in January 2022 as an Assistant Professor. After graduating from École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne in 2009, he obtained his Ph.D. in Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering from The University of Melbourne in 2015 and was subsequently a research fellow at Aalto University from 2016 to 2022. His research bridges colloidal and interfacial sciences, bioengineering, and sustainable materials, with an emphasis on biological matter as a platform for engineering multiscale material systems. His work spans biofabrication, biomass-derived colloids, natural fibers, and sustainable materials obtained from biotechnology, agriculture, aquaculture, and food-system side streams, with applications linked to the growing circular bioeconomy. This interdisciplinary combination of expertise has led to highly recognized publications featured in international press releases and published in leading journals in materials and nanoscience. His broader objective is to connect fundamental science, innovation, and technology transfer toward deployable material systems with impact beyond the laboratory.