MAE Seminar – Adaptive Metastructures with Embodied Programmability and Mechano-Intelligence

Details

Dear Undergraduate and Graduate Students, Faculty, and Staff,
You are invited! UF Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering’s Seminar Series
This is a perfect opportunity to enjoy some coffee, cookies, and captivating talks! These sessions feature amazing guest speakers, from academic trailblazers and industry movers to our very own faculty candidates showing off their expertise and fresh perspectives.
Come for the treats, stay for the engaging discussions, and connect with fellow MAE enthusiasts. Everyone is welcome!

Adaptive Metastructures with Embodied Programmability and Mechano-Intelligence”

October 14, 2025, at 12:50pm
Location: MAE-A 303

Dr. Kon-Well Wang
Professor, Mechanical Engineering
A. Galip Ulsoy Distinguished University Professor of Engineering
Stephen P. Timoshenko Collegiate Professor of Mechanical Engineering
University of Michigan

Abstract
This presentation will provide a glimpse into the speaker’s research activities in the field of adaptive structures and material systems, which have evolved throughout the years, from functional materials-based structures to nature-inspired modular metastructures, and to embodying mechano-intelligence in structural dynamics. For example, inspired by the physics behind the plant nastic movements and the rich designs of origami folding, a class of adaptive metastructures is created building on the innovation of fluidic-origami modular elements. Overall, the modules are designed to be reconfigurable in their shape, mechanical properties, and stability features, so to produce synergistic and intriguing dynamic functionalities at the system level, such as programmable phononic bandgap control, beamforming, and wave steering. More recently, with the rapid advances in high-performance autonomous systems, we are witnessing a prominent demand for the next generation of mechanical matter to be even more intelligent. An emerging direction is to pioneer and harness the metastructures’ high dimensionality, multiple stability, and nonlinearity for mechano-intelligence via physical computing. That is, we aim to concurrently embody computing power and functional intelligence, such as perception, learning, memorizing, decision-making and execution, directly in the mechanical domain, transforming from conventional systems that rely solely on add-on digital computers to achieve intelligence. Such adaptive structures would be more energy-efficient and sustainable, have more direct interaction with the surroundings, and are much more resilient against harsh environments and cyberattacks. This presentation will highlight some of these advancements of reconfigurable adaptive metastructures with embodied programmability and mechano-intelligence.

Biography
Kon-Well Wang is the A. Galip Ulsoy Distinguished University Professor of Engineering and Stephen P. Timoshenko Professor of Mechanical Engineering (ME) at the University of Michigan (U-M). He has been the U-M ME Department Chair (2008-18), and has served as the Division Director of Engineering Education & Centers at the U.S. National Science Foundation. Wang received his Ph.D. degree from the University of California, Berkeley, started his academic career at the Pennsylvania State University in 1988, and joined the U-M in 2008. Wang has received numerous top recognitions in the field, such as the Pi Tau Sigma-ASME Charles Russ Richards Memorial Award, the ASME J.P. Den Hartog Award, the SPIE Smart Structures and Materials Lifetime Achievement Award, and the ASME Adaptive Structures and Materials Systems Prize. He has been the Editor in Chief (EiC) for the ASME Journal of Vibration & Acoustics. He is the current EiC for the Journal of Intelligent Material Systems & Structures, and an Associate Editor or Editorial Board Member for various other journals. Wang is an Honorary Member of the ASME, and a Fellow of the ASME, AAAS, IOP, and RAeS.

MAE Faculty Host: Dr. Patrick Musgrave