ODEI Spotlight: Penn Women's Center Open House
2021-01-21 11:00 - 12:00 (America/New_York)

BE Seminar: Deconstructing and Reconstructing Human Tissues (Kelly Stevens)
2021-01-21 15:00 - 16:00
This seminar will be held virtually on Zoom. Check email for details or contact ksas@seas.upenn.edu.
Although much progress has been made in building artificial human tissues over the past several decades, replicating complex tissue structure remains an enormous challenge. To overcome this challenge, our field first needs to create better three-dimensional spatial maps, or “blueprints” of human tissues and organs. We also need to then understand how these spatial blueprints encode positional processes in tissues. My group is developing new advanced biofabrication technologies to address both of these issues. Here, I will describe some of our work in both attaining transcriptomic maps as well as in controlling spatiogenetic wiring of human artificial tissues.

ODEI Spotlight: Power of Community: FGLI Program Learning Communities Info-Session
2021-01-21 17:30 - 18:30 | https://upenn.zoom.us/j/96715197752
Hosted by Greenfield Intercultural Center

GRASP On Robotics: "Biorobotics for Personal Assistance - Translational Research and Opportunities for Human-Centered Developments"
2021-01-22 11:00 - 12:30 | https://upenn.zoom.us/j/96715197752
Abstract: The seminar will focus on the opportunities and challenges offered by the digital transformation of healthcare which was accelerated in the COVID-19 Pandemia. In this framework rehabilitation and social robotics can play a fundamental role as enabling technologies for providing innovative therapies and services to patients even at home or in remote environments.
In order to achieve a complete transition of research results and products we need efforts to support translational research and evidence-based protocols based on clinical trials and appropriate methodologies.
Robotics and technologies can provide solutions for digital therapies and for assisting chronic patients in order to improve quality of life and their participation in activities, meanwhile decreasing the burden for the society, but biomedical engineers and roboticist should work towards the development of affordable and acceptable solution to reach the population at sustainable cost.
Critical issues and future perspective will be presented in order to open the discussion with students and attendees.
Zoom Webinar Link: https://upenn.zoom.us/j/92242249880

PICS Colloquium: "Machine learning for Fluid Mechanics"
2021-01-22 14:00 - 15:00
Abstract: Many tasks in fluid mechanics, such as design optimization and control, are challenging because fluids are nonlinear and exhibit a large range of scales in both space and time. This range of scales necessitates exceedingly high-dimensional measurements and computational discretization to resolve all relevant features, resulting in vast data sets and time-intensive computations. Indeed, fluid dynamics is one of the original big data fields, and many high-performance computing architectures, experimental measurement techniques, and advanced data processing and visualization algorithms were driven by decades of research in fluid mechanics. Machine learning constitutes a growing set of powerful techniques to extract patterns and build models from this data, complementing the existing theoretical, numerical, and experimental efforts in fluid mechanics. In this talk, we will explore current goals and opportunities for machine learning in fluid mechanics, and we will highlight a number of recent technical advances. Because fluid dynamics is central to transportation, health, and defense systems, we will emphasize the importance of machine learning solutions that are interpretable, explainable, generalizable, and that respect known physics.

PSOC Webinar: "Predicting Interactions Between Cell Collectives and Their Environment" (M. Lisa Manning)
2021-01-25 12:00 - 13:00
Physical Sciences in Oncology Center PSOC@Penn
Spring 2021 Webinar Series Mondays at 12:00 noon (EST)
For webinar links, please contact manu@seas.upenn.edu.

ODEI Spotlight: Natives at Penn Welcome Program
2021-01-25 18:00 - 19:00

MEAM Seminar: "Wave Engineering: From Geometry to Fragility"
2021-01-26 10:30 - 12:00 | Zoom – Email MEAM for Link, peterlit@seas.upenn.edu
The elastic properties of materials are determined by a few material constants such as the Young’s modulus. Using super-structures one can effectively change these “constants”. In this way we obtain functionalities such as wave-guiding, acoustic lensing or programmable failure. I will show how topological band theory, known from the description of electrons in solids, provides us with a powerful design-principle for such mechanical metamaterials. Moreover, mechanical metamaterials offer a powerful platform for the study of fundamentally new phenomena that are hard to observe in other arenas. Here, I will highlight the first measurement of a quadrupole topological insulator in a silicon based metamaterial, the implementation of an axial gauge field in an acoustic Weyl system and the measurements of fragile topology.

"Integrating Knowledge and the Realities of Fake News"
2021-01-26 16:00 - 17:00 | https://upenn.zoom.us/j/96715197752

ODEI Spotlight: Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Interfaith Commemoration
2021-01-26 18:00 - 19:00

CBE Seminar: "Phase Behavior and Self-Assembly of Active Colloids"
2021-01-27 15:00 - 16:00 | Zoom – Email CBE for link
Abstract
In recent years, a new type of synthetic microparticle has captured the imagination of researchers across the physical and biological sciences. These so-called active colloids convert chemical or environmental free energy into irreversible directed motion. Impressively, the active force generated by the particles can lead to self-propelling speeds of tens of hundreds of microns per second. Active colloids challenge our theoretical understanding of nonequilibrium phenomena and simultaneously represent a potentially innovative approach to directed transport and material design at the microscale. In this talk, I will discuss one of the most striking features of active colloids, which is their rich and complex nonequilibrium phase behavior. Special emphasis will be given to motility-induced phase separation where purely repulsive active colloids undergo a liquid-gas phase transition. This talk will provide a quantitative understanding of this phenomenon by generalizing concepts in classical statistical mechanics and liquid state theory to active systems. This newfound understanding can be leveraged to improve the self-assembly of many complex colloidal structures using active colloids.

ODEI Spotlight: The 20th Annual Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Lecture in Social Justice
2021-01-27 17:30 - 18:30 | https://upenn.zoom.us/j/96715197752
Dr. Cornel West is Professor of the Practice of Public Philosophy at Harvard University and Professor Emeritus at Princeton University. Cornel West graduated Magna Cum Laude from Harvard in three years and obtained his M.A. and Ph.D. in Philosophy at Princeton.
He has written 20 books and has edited 13. He is best known for his classics, Race Matters and Democracy Matters, and for his memoir, Brother West: Living and Loving Out Loud. His most recent book, Black Prophetic Fire, offers an unflinching look at nineteenth and twentieth-century African American leaders and their visionary legacies.
Dr. West is the co-host along with Dr. Tricia Rose of The Tight Rope which is a weekly podcast where they take time to welcome listeners and guests as thought collaborators with revered hosts and public intellectuals.
Dr. West is a frequent guest on the Bill Maher Show, CNN, C-Span and Democracy Now. He has a passion to communicate to a vast variety of publics in order to keep alive the legacy of Martin Luther King, Jr. – a legacy of telling the truth and bearing witness to love and justice.

BE Seminar: "Designing Biology for Detection and Control" (Pamela A. Silver)
2021-01-28 15:00 - 16:00
This seminar will be held virtually – Zoom link coming soon.
The engineering of Biology presents infinite opportunities for therapeutic design, diagnosis, and prevention of disease. We use what we know from Nature to engineer systems with predictable behaviors. We also seek to discover new natural strategies to then re-engineer. I will present concepts and experiments that address how we approach these problems in a systematic way. Conceptually, we seek to both design cells and proteins to control disease states and to detect and predict the severity of emerging pathogens. For example, we have engineered components of the gut microbiome to act therapeutics for infectious disease, proteins to prolong cell states, living pathogen sensors and high throughput analysis to predict immune response of emerging viruses.

GRASP On Robotics: "Wearable Haptic Devices for Ubiquitous Communication"
2021-01-29 11:00 - 12:00 | Zoom
Abstract: Haptic devices allow touch-based information transfer between humans and intelligent systems, enabling communication in a salient but private manner that frees other sensory channels. For such devices to become ubiquitous, their physical and computational aspects must be intuitive and unobtrusive. The amount of information that can be transmitted through touch is limited in large part by the location, distribution, and sensitivity of human mechanoreceptors. Not surprisingly, many haptic devices are designed to be held or worn at the highly sensitive fingertips, yet stimulation using a device attached to the fingertips precludes natural use of the hands. Thus, we explore the design of a wide array of haptic feedback mechanisms, ranging from devices that can be actively touched by the fingertips to multi-modal haptic actuation mounted on the arm. We demonstrate how these devices are effective in virtual reality, human-machine communication, and human-human communication.
Zoom Webinar Link: https://upenn.zoom.us/j/94052429739

Faculty panel for Black students in STEM at Penn
2021-01-29 16:00 - 17:00 | https://upenn.zoom.us/j/96715197752
Find out how you can get more involved with STEM faculty and students.
Learn more about STEM majors at Penn.
Hosted by the Makuu Center and the SEAS Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion.
For more information, contact Rita Powell, rpowell@cis.upenn.edu
This panel discussion was recorded and is available here for viewing.

ODEI Spotlight: Strategies and Tools for Remote Research
2021-02-02 08:00 - 09:00 | https://upenn.zoom.us/j/96715197752

MEAM Seminar: "Modeling the Behavior of Shape Memory Alloy Structures"
2021-02-02 10:30 - 12:00 | Zoom – Email MEAM for Link, peterlit@seas.upenn.edu
I will present recent work on the modeling of the structural response of shape memory alloy tubes, bars, and beams. We have developed a new constitutive model that captures pseudoelastic transformation induced recoverable deformation in SMAs including the strong asymmetries in the tensile and compressive responses. Instead of introducing multiple conditions for forward phase transformation, reverse phase transformation, and martensite reorientation, the model is based on a J2-type nonlinear kinematic hardening framework with a single transformation surface and the back stress represented through a weighted mix of two potential functions that are calibrated to the tensile and compressive stress-strain responses of the material. The constitutive model has been used to simulate numerically the interaction of these complex material behaviors with structural nonlinear behavior observed in experiments. Problems analyzed include the buckling and recovery of NiTi tubes under axial compression, the propagation of a well defined deformation front in uniaxial tension, and the reversible propagation of curvature localization in NiTi tubes under bending. The numerical simulations reproduce the structural behavior both qualitatively and quantitatively demonstrating the fidelity of the constitutive modeling framework developed. After illustrating the success of the isothermal model, I will present some recent work on modeling non-isothermal behavior within the same constitutive framework.

ODEI Spotlight: "Dissecting Chaos: An Interdisciplinary Look at the Attack on the U.S. Capitol"
2021-02-02 16:00 - 17:30
Esteemed faculty from five disciplines at Penn will come together to unpack the myriad policies, messages, and conditions that led to the events at the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, as well as explore how we move forward as a country. This 90-minute panel discussion — moderated by Dean Erika James of the Wharton School with a Q&A session facilitated by Dean Ted Ruger of the University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School — is a unique opportunity to hear the diverse perspectives of scholars across our University.

Register here to receive the link to join this virtual event.

CBE PhD Dissertation Defense | Exploring the Molecular Origins of Icephilicity Using Specialized Molecular Simulations
2021-02-03 10:00 - 12:00 | Zoom – Email CBE for link
Abstract:

Exercising control over the formation of ice and similar crystalline structures is important in a variety of contexts, from preserving organs for transplant to preventing clathrate hydrate plugs in natural gas pipelines. To achieve this control, it is crucial to understand nucleation phenomena at the molecular level. Studies have shown that heterogeneous nucleation proceeds orders of magnitude faster than homogeneous nucleation. Hence an understanding of ice nucleation phenomena in most real-world contexts hinges upon identifying the molecular-scale features of surfaces that inhibit (or even promote) heterogeneous ice nucleation. Yet the combination of molecular-scale characteristics that determines the ice nucleation propensity of a given material remain poorly understood.

We approach this challenge from a thermodynamic perspective, with the goal of understanding emph{icephilicity}: the preference of a heterogeneous solid surface (or macromolecule) for ice over liquid water. Recent work has shown that there is a complex interplay between a surface’s morphology and its icephilicity: small variations in properties (such as surface flexibility and lattice mismatch) can significantly impact a material’s ability to interact favorably with ice. We have developed novel approaches for characterizing surface icephilicity, and applied them to study a wide range of materials using molecular simulations and enhanced sampling techniques. Our results shed new light on the molecular-scale features that govern a material’s propensity to nucleate (or inhibit) ice and related crystalline structures.

CBE Seminar: "Integrating Machine Learning and Multiscale Modeling in Biomedicine"
2021-02-03 15:00 - 16:00 | Zoom – Email CBE for link
Abstract
Machine learning and multiscale modeling complement each other in a unique way, enabling us to seamlessly integrate big data and biophysical pathways and interpret the results while formulating truly predictive and generalizable models, based on both data and physics. In multiscale modeling, I have developed adaptive methods and kinetic models to simulate intracellular polymerization of sickle hemoglobin (HbS) and subsequent interaction with the membrane of a red blood cell (RBC) in sickle cell anemia, which occurs at multispatial scales, ranging from nanometers to micrometers. Machine learning, especially deep learning, usually requires a large amount of data of high accuracy, which is often difficult to obtain in biological and biomedical sciences. I have developed multi-fidelity neural networks, physics-informed neural networks (PINNs), and deep operator network (DeepONets), so that we can learn deep learning models accurately and robustly from even “small” datasets. I will present several examples and discuss further the interaction of both that will lead to a paradigm shift in modeling biomedical systems in the future.

Spring 2021 GRASP SFI: “Commercializing people-scale vision-based autonomy in agriculture”
2021-02-03 15:00 - 16:00 | Zoom
Abstract: The Burro team, including Terry Scott (CTO) and Charlie Andersen (CEO) will provide an overview of their people-scale vision-based autonomous platform and their experiences selling Burros and building an autonomy business, within agriculture.
Join the Zoom Meeting here

ODEI Spotlight: Penn Global Opportunities Fair
2021-02-04 14:00 - 20:00
Thursday, February 4 | 2:00pm–8:00pm ET | Online
Register Here: https://pennabroad.vfairs.com/
At the Penn Global Opportunities Fair, Penn undergraduate and graduate students from across all schools and programs are invited to explore the many exciting international initiatives, student support services, and global opportunities that make up life at Penn. You will have the opportunity to explore interactive booths, chat live with Penn staff, and attend exclusive live events sponsored by ISSS, Penn Abroad, Perry World House, and other globally-focused offices.

BE/MEAM Seminar: "Microbes in Biomechanics" (Christopher J. Hernandez)
2021-02-04 15:00 - 16:00
This event will be held virtually on Zoom – check email for link or contact ksas@seas.upenn.edu.
The idea that mechanical stresses influence the growth and form of organs and organisms originated in the 1800s and is the basis for the modern study of biomechanics and mechanobiology. Biomechanics and mechanobiology are well studied in eukaryotic systems, yet eukaryotes represent only a small portion of the diversity and abundance of life on Earth. Bacteria exhibit broad influences on human health (as both pathogens and as beneficial components of the gut microbiome) and processes used in biotechnology and synthetic biology. Over the past eight years my group has explored mechanobiology within individual bacteria and the effects of changes in the composition of commensal bacterial communities on the biomechanics in the musculoskeletal system.
The ability of the bacteria to not only resist mechanical loads (biomechanics) but also to respond to changes in the mechanical environment (mechanobiology) is necessary for survival. Here I describe a novel microfluidic platform used to explore the biomechanics and mechanobiology of individual, live bacteria. I discuss work from my group demonstrating that mechanical stress within the bacterial cell envelope can influence the assembly and function of multicomponent efflux pumps used by bacteria to resist toxins and antibiotics. Additionally, I share some of our more recent work showing that mechanical stress and strain within the bacterial cell envelope can stimulate a bacterial two-component system controlling gene expression. Our findings demonstrate that bacteria, like mammalian cells, have mechanosensitive systems that are key to survival.
In musculoskeletal disease, bacteria are commonly viewed as sources of infection. However, in the past decade the studies by my group and others have suggested that commensal bacteria – the microbiome – can modulate the pathogenesis of musculoskeletal disorders. My group is among the first to study the effects of the gut microbiome on orthopaedic disorders. Here I provide an introduction to the microbiome and current concepts of how modifications to the gut microbiome could influence the musculoskeletal system. Specifically, I discuss studies from my group which are the first to demonstrate that the gut microbiome influences bone biomechanics and the development of infection of orthopaedic implants.

GRASP On Robotics: "Designing Human Interaction with Agents and Robots"
2021-02-05 11:00 - 12:30 | Zoom
Abstract: Over the last decade, the idea that robots and agents might participate meaningfully in complex group and organizational contexts has developed from a promising vision into a reality. Robots now assist humans in simple tasks such as delivery through complex, high-stakes tasks such as disaster response and surgery. In this talk, I will introduce the discipline of design and describe, with examples from our work, how it is a critical research practice in designing complex agent and robot systems that fit in a number of social and organizational contexts and support all aspects of interaction.
Click here to join the Zoom Webinar

ODEI Spotlight: Women in Data Science Philadelphia @ Penn
2021-02-08 - 2021-02-12
Support gender diversity in data science and join us (virtually, of course) for the second annual Women in Data Science Philadelphia @ Penn on February 8-12, 2021.
Co-hosted by Analytics at Wharton, Wharton Customer Analytics, Penn Engineering, and the Wharton Statistics Department, this interdisciplinary event will discuss the latest advances and applications in data science and aims to inspire data scientists, regardless of gender, to support and empower women in the field.
WiDS registration fees will support need-based scholarships for high school students to attend Wharton Data Science Academy.

PSOC Webinar: "Abnormal Mechanics in Brain Tumors" (Meenal Datta)
2021-02-08 12:00 - 13:00

MEAM Seminar: "Target: COVID-19"
2021-02-09 10:30 - 12:00 | Zoom – Email MEAM for Link, peterlit@seas.upenn.edu
Until such a time when the world’s population has achieved herd immunity either through vaccination against or exposure to the SARS-Cov-2 virus, the most effective means for controlling the COVID-19 (and any other) pandemic is frequent testing and resulting preventive measures that reduce the rate of viral transmission. This talk provides a bird’s-eye view of the diagnostic landscape for COVID-19 and focuses on our lab’s off-hours efforts to develop an in-home molecular test for SARS-Cov-2 that requires minimal manufacturing and meets WHO’s ASSURED criteria of being Affordable; Sensitive; Specific; User-friendly; Rapid and robust; Equipment-free; and Deliverable to end-users. The talk concludes by pointing out future needs and research directions.

MSE Seminar: "Spirals and skyrmions in magnets and their emergent electromagnetism"
2021-02-09 17:00 - 18:00

PICS Alumni Spotlight: "Peter J. Huwe"
2021-02-10 12:00 - 13:00

CBE Seminar: "Engineering Bacteria to Expand the Chemistry of Life"
2021-02-10 15:00 - 16:00 | Zoom – Email CBE for link
Abstract
In living organisms, translation of genetic information by the ribosome transforms the information embedded in DNA into actuating components, namely proteins. Though life itself is incredibly diverse at the macroscopic level, at the molecular level, all of life uses the same set of machinery for translation – 20 standard amino acid building blocks (with minor exceptions), transfer RNAs (tRNA), and ribosomes. The convergence and association of these interdependent biomolecules is neatly captured in a table known as The Standard Genetic Code. Even after billions of years of genetic drift, The Standard Genetic Code has been largely refractory to change. In this talk, I will be discussing strategies and methods for building organisms that can make and use non-standard amino acids to make proteins with enhanced or expanded function.
