MAE Seminar: “Engineered Living Materials Capable of Self-Growing, Self-Healing, and Self-Cleaning”

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Engineered Living Materials Capable of Self-Growing, Self-Healing, and Self-Cleaning: From Grand Vision to Commercial Reality

Prof. Dr. Congrui Jin, Texas A&M University

Abstract
Recent advances in synthetic biology and materials science have given rise to a new form of materials, namely engineered living materials. Currently, developing engineered living materials that combine the structural properties of traditional construction materials with attributes of living systems, including the ability to self-grow, self-repair, self-clean, detect environmental threats, and capture carbon dioxide, has emerged as a new promising research area. In this talk, self-growing bricks, self-healing concrete, and self-cleaning surfaces are introduced as examples to discuss the general principles to be applied when designed living construction materials to perform specific functions in open environments, the main challenges to make them a commercial reality, and the future directions in this emerging interdisciplinary field.

Bio: Dr. Congrui Jin received a BS in Electrical Engineering from Nankai University, China. She earned her MS in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Alberta and received a Ph.D. with a major in Mechanical Engineering and a minor in Applied Mathematics from Cornell University. She is currently an assistant professor at the Department of Engineering Technology and Industrial Distribution at Texas A&M University. Her research interest lies in the broad area of mechanics and materials motivated by practical applications in sustainability and resilience.