Call for Papers

Please contact the symposium organizers with questions.

Intelligent systems are characterized by their ability to sense their environments, analyze surrounding signals, and provide logical responses. Intelligence is exhibited in many complex biological systems (e.g., human beings and animals). However, materials (e.g., brick or polymer) are generally regarded as static, passive, and far from being considered as “intelligent”. For many decades, researchers have synthesized stimuli-responsive materials that are capable of sensing their environments and producing only a basic change in their material properties. In recent years, however, many highly advanced types of functions have been created based on creatively designing these stimuli-responsive materials, combining different types of materials together, and coupling physical-chemical phenomena with the materials. This symposium involves the research of these advanced stimuli-responsive functions for the construction of smart, autonomous, and self-powered devices. Stimuli-responsive functions may be classified into three categories: analytical, regulatory, and practical functions. Stimuli-responsive analytical functions may include memory, information storage, logic gates, and computing. Stimuli-responsive regulatory functions may include self-oscillation, rectification, amplification, and self-organization. Stimuli-responsive practical functions may include motion, controlled release, shape change, targeting, pattern formation, and communication. These functions have been constructed from many different types of materials, including stimuli-responsive hydrogels, polymers, inorganic materials, crystals, nanomaterials, 2D materials, and biomaterials. Combining these different types of stimuli-responsive functions together may give rise to truly “intelligent” systems and materials that are capable of sensing, analyzing, and providing logical practical responses. These smart autonomous systems with advanced operations are potentially useful in a diverse range of applications.

Topics will include:

• Responsive soft actuators and soft robotics
• Responsive shape changes, folding, and origami
• Responsive programmable matter
• Stimuli-responsive memory and storage systems
• Stimuli-responsive logical and mathematical functions
• Functions of stimuli-responsive polymers and hydrogels
• Functions of stimuli-responsive nano- or 2D materials
• Functions of 3D printed stimuli-responsive materials
• Responsive and adaptive living or bionic materials
• Biocomputing (e.g., DNA)

Invited Speakers (tentative):

• Mary Caldorera-Moore (Louisiana Tech University, USA)
• Cole DeForest (University of Washington, USA)
• Marie-Josée Dumont (McGill University, Canada)
• Oleg Gang (Columbia University, USA)
• Nicholas Giussepone (University of Strasbourg, France)
• Shaoqin Sarah Gong (University of Wisconsin–Madison, USA)
• David Gracias (Johns Hopkins University, USA)
• Bartosz Grzybowski (Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology, Republic of Korea)
• Zhen Gu (University of California, Los Angeles, USA)
• Ximin He (University of California, Los Angeles, USA)
• Julia Kalow (Northwestern University, USA)
• Nazila Kamaly (Imperial College London, United Kingdom)
• Jinsang Kim (University of Michigan, USA)
• Rafal Klajn (Weizmann Institute of Science, Israel)
• Eugenia Kumacheva (University of Toronto, Canada)
• Jennifer Lewis (Harvard University, USA)
• Zhiqun Lin (Georgia Institute of Technology, USA)
• Chad Mirkin (Northwestern University, USA)
• Alshakim Nelson (University of Washington, USA)
• Ayusman Sen (The Pennsylvania State University, USA)
• Shyni Varghese (Duke University, USA)
• Brigitte Voit (Leibniz Institute of Polymer Research Dresden, Germany)
• Erik Winfree (California Institute of Technology, USA)
• Ting Xu (University of California, Berkeley, USA)
• Ryo Yoshida (The University of Tokyo, Japan)
• Xuanhe Zhao (Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA)

Symposium Organizers