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    • MEAM Ph.D. Thesis Defense: “Mechanical Robust Biocompatible Polymeric Networks for Repetitive Loading”

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    Towne 319 220 S. 33rd Street, Philadelphia, United States

    Crosslinked biocompatible polymer networks offer unique potential for biomedical applications that demand high resilience under repetitive load-bearing conditions. However, conventional hydrogels often exhibit poor mechanical strength and irreversible damage under cyclic deformation. To address these challenges, this work presents a class of engineered polymer network designed for enhanced mechanical robustness: cryogel-based double-network (DN) hydrogels. In […]

    CBE Doctoral Dissertation Defense: “Computational Strategies for Efficiently Sampling Conformational Changes in Solvated Macromolecules” (Akash Pallath)

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    Amy Gutmann Hall, Room 414 3333 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia, United States

    Abstract: Solvated macromolecules such as proteins and polymers undergo conformational changes in response to stimuli such as pressure, temperature, pH, ligand binding, and post-translational modification. These transitions are fundamental to biological function, from cellular signaling to misfolding and aggregation, and are increasingly harnessed in applications such as drug delivery, biosensing, and biomaterials design. Understanding how […]

    CBE Doctoral Dissertation Defense: “Computational Analysis of Colloidal Self-Assembly with Interaction Heterogeneity” (Po-Ting Wu)

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    PICS Conference Room 534 - A Wing , 5th Floor 3401 Walnut Street, Philadelphia, PA, United States

    Abstract: Micron-scale colloidal particles with short-ranged attractions, e.g., colloids functionalized with single-stranded DNA oligomers, have emerged as a powerful platform for studying colloidal self-assembly phenomena with the long-term goal of identifying routes for metamaterial fabrication. Although these systems have been investigated extensively both experimentally and computationally, the role of ‘real world’ features that may impact […]

    ESE Ph.D. Thesis Defense: “Towards General Microscopic Robots”

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    Towne 337

    This defense presents my contributions towards general robotics at the microscopic scale. Namely, through the introduction of fully programmable, autonomous microscopic robots free to explore the microscopic world. The robots complete simple, but essential milestones for microscopic robots. The machines we build are small enough to experience the same physics as their biological counterparts, allowing […]

    ESE Ph.D. Thesis Defense: “Energy-efficient Wavelength-Division-Multiplexing Systems for the Next Generation of Optical Transceivers”

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    Towne 337

    The rapid growth of data traffic in data centers and AI applications demands faster, more energy-efficient communication solutions to scale up parallel computing capabilities. This dissertation explores integrated photonic-electronic systems designed to significantly enhance data transfer rates and reduce energy consumption. By simultaneously using multiple wavelengths of light, these systems achieve data rates reaching terabit-per-second […]

    MEAM Seminar: “Modularity Strategies for Pneumatic Control in Soft Robotic Systems”

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    Room 337, Towne Building 220 South 33rd Street, Philadelphia, PA, United States

    Soft robotic systems, defined as both compliant robotic platforms and mechanically adaptive structures, offer unique advantages such as safe human-machine interaction, structural flexibility, and environment-driven reconfigurability. By relying on deformable materials and embedded physical intelligence, these systems can achieve complex motions and responsive behaviors that are difficult for conventional rigid robots. Pneumatic control, including actuation, […]

    MEAM Ph.D. Thesis: “Geometric Methods for Efficient and Explainable Control of Underactuated Robotic Systems”

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    Raisler Lounge (Room 225), Towne Building 220 South 33rd Street, Philadelphia, PA, United States

    Robots are complex, high-dimensional systems, governed by nonlinear, underactuated dynamics and evolving on non-Euclidean manifolds, posing numerous challenges for control synthesis and analysis. While optimization-based methods of control can flexibly accommodate diverse dynamics, costs, and constraints, they often demand coarse approximations or powerful onboard processors (infeasible for many aerial and space systems) due to their […]

    MEAM Seminar: “Exploring Jet-Propelled Soft Robots: Design, Experiments, and Theory”

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    Room 337, Towne Building 220 South 33rd Street, Philadelphia, PA, United States

    Understanding how marine animals migrate is critical for assessing the impacts of climate change on ocean ecosystems—and yet current Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUVs), with their noisy propellers and rigid hulls, are ill-suited to operate alongside sensitive species. Bio-inspired robots offer a promising alternative by emulating the natural locomotion strategies of fish, cephalopods, and other marine […]

    ESE Guest Seminar: “On-Device Probabilistic AI: From Gaussian Transistors to Light-Driven Spike Encoding”

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    Room 221, Singh Center for Nanotechnology 3205 Walnut Street, Philadelphia, PA, United States

    Emerging edge AI systems call for device-level approaches that are inherently low-power, secure, and capable of managing uncertainty. In this talk, I will share our recent exploratory efforts toward realizing on-device probabilistic intelligence using custom-designed semiconductor devices. I will introduce Gaussian transistors that support analog Gaussian activation and probabilistic inference by harnessing device-level variability. These […]

    ESE Ph.D. Thesis Defense: “Novel van der Waals Chalcogenides for Sustainable Light Harvesting”

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    Raisler Lounge (Room 225), Towne Building 220 South 33rd Street, Philadelphia, PA, United States

    The global climate crisis demands a shift to renewable energy sources. Solar photovoltaics (PVs) are widely considered the most feasible renewable technology to meet global energy demands, and solar photo-electrocatalysis is a promising approach to decarbonize industrial chemical production. However, scaling solar energy harvesting technologies to meet energy demands must be done economically and sustainably, […]

    • MEAM Seminar: “Leveraging Robot-Based Haptic Dyads to Improve Community-Based Stroke Rehabilitation”

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    Room 337, Towne Building 220 South 33rd Street, Philadelphia, PA, United States

    Disabilities related to aging and stroke impact functional independence and quality of life for millions of older adults, creating a growing need for scalable, accessible rehabilitation solutions. Community-based robotic therapy that leverages social interaction and haptic feedback offers a promising approach, particularly for individuals with motor and cognitive impairments. This seminar presents work exploring how […]

    [VIRTUAL SPEAKER]: Summer 2025 GRASP Seminar: Michal Gregor, Kempelen Institute of Intelligent Technologies, “Low-Resource NLP: Not Just Throwing Data at a Model and Hoping for the Best”

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    Virtual via Zoom

    This is a virtual event ONLY with attendance via Zoom.  ABSTRACT The talk will introduce several topics in low-resource and multilingual NLP – in the domain of disinformation combatting, through works done at the Kempelen Institute of Intelligent Technologies in Bratislava – and also in the more general context of efficiently adapting large language models […]