FOCUSED SESSION 1: Bio-inspired Processing of Advanced Materials

A bio-inspired material is any material that exhibits a structure or function that imitates some aspect of a material or process found in nature. The study of bio-inspired materials is a technical means for people to learn from nature, in order to develop new materials and structures with novel functionalities. The symposium is aimed at providing a forum for researchers, students, and entrepreneurs to present and discuss their recent scientific results on a wide variety of topics related to science and engineering issues associated with bio-inspired processing of advanced materials. A particular emphasis will be placed on the fundamental issues related to advancing our understanding and utilization of processes inspired by nature to develop materials with new functionalities and structures.

Proposed session topics

• Bio-inspired processing of ceramics
• Bottom-up assembly and complex colloids
• Biomimetic optical and photonic materials
• Bio-inspired materials for medical applications
• Advances in bio-inspired materials
• Mechanical properties of bio-inspired materials
• Environmental applications of bio-inspired materials
• Characterizations of bio-inspired materials
• Nature-inspired materials for energy storage, conversion, and production

 Symposium organizers

• Francois Barthelat, McGill University, Canada
• Florian Bouville, Imperial College London, UK
• Esther Garcia-Tuñon, University of Liverpool, UK
• Denis Gebauer, Leibniz University of Hannover, Germany
• Steven Naleway, University of Utah, USA
• Joaquin Ramirez-Rico, University of Seville, Spain
• Eduardo Saiz, Imperial College London, UK
• Simone Sprio, Institute of Science and Technology for Ceramics-ISTEC, Italy
• Pablo Zavattieri, Purdue University, USA

Points of Contact

• Joaquin Ramirez-Rico: jrr@us.es
• Florian Bouville: f.bouville@imperial.ac.uk