Topic of Invited talk

Geometry, Topology, and Embedded Intelligence from Liquid Crystals Elastomers

Biography

Shu Yang is a Professor in the Departments of Materials Science & Engineering, and Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering at University of Pennsylvania. Her group is interested in synthesis, fabrication, and assembly of polymers, liquid crystals, and colloids; investigation of the dynamic tuning of their sizes, shape and assembled structures, and use geometry to create highly flexible, stretchable, super-conformable, and foldable devices. Her lab explores the potential applications of the smart and bioinspired materials, including self-cleaning coatings, dry adhesives, smart windows, sensors, actuators for robotics, and biomedical devices. Yang received her B.S. degree from Fudan University in 1992, and Ph. D. degree from Cornell University in 1999. She worked at Bell Laboratories, Lucent Technologies as a Member of Technical Staff before joining Penn in 2004. She received George H. Heilmeier Faculty Award for Excellence in Research from Penn Engineering (2015-2016). She is Fellow of Division of Soft Matter (DSOFT) from American Physical Society (APS), Division of Polymeric Materials: Science and Engineering from American Chemical Society (ACS) (2018), Royal Chemical Society (2017), and National Academy of Inventors (2014). She was selected as one of the world’s top 100 young innovators under age of 35 by MIT's Technology Review (2004).