Biological Metamaterials

Future generations of mechanical devices will rely on a well-engineered combination of soft materials actuated by smart, distributed motors. Living matter serves as inspiration for the engineering of materials from such active components, and synthetic mechanical metamaterials provide a way to design elastic properties based on structure. This workshop aims to bring together researchers working with the three areas of active matter, metamaterials, and biological matter in order to inspire a cross-disciplinary exchange of ideas. The outcome will be the potential to design new forms of structured active materials and to better understand biological function through the lens of these design principles.