SUNMONTUEWEDTHUFRISAT
Events for March 27, 2025
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AME Special Seminar
Thu, Mar 27, 2025 @ 10:00 AM - 11:00 PM
Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Vickie Webster-Wood, Carnegie Mellon University
Talk Title: Biomimetic, Biohybrid, and Biodegradable: Robots for a sustainable future
Abstract: In the last century it was common to envision robots of the future as shining metal structures with rigid and halting motion. This imagery is in sharp contrast to the fluid and organic motion of living organisms that inhabit our natural world. As robotics has advanced, animals are often turned to for inspiration. However, the adaptability, complex control, and advanced learning capabilities observed in animals are not yet fully understood, and therefore have not been fully captured by current robotic systems. Furthermore, many of the mechanical properties and physical capabilities seen in animals have yet to be achieved in robotic platforms. In this talk, I will share efforts from my group in Biomimetic, Biohybrid, and Biodegradable robotics. By using neuromechanical models and bioinspired robots as tools for basic research we are developing new models of how animals achieve multifunctional, adaptable behaviors. Building on our understanding of animal systems and living tissues, our research in biohybrid robotics is enabling new approaches toward the creation of autonomous biodegradable living robots. Finally, by using farmable plant-based materials, we can now create robotic components that are fully degradable in natural environments. These robotic systems have future applications as sustainable platforms for medicine, search and rescue, and environmental monitoring of sensitive environments.
Biography: Vickie Webster-Wood is an Associate Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Carnegie Mellon University with courtesy appointments in the Department of Biomedical Engineering, the McGowan Institute of Regenerative Medicine, and the Robotics Institute. She is the director of the C.M.U. Biohybrid and Organic Robotics Group and has a long-term research goal to develop completely organic, biodegradable, autonomous robots. Research in the C.M.U. B.O.R.G. brings together bio-inspired robotics, tissue engineering, and computational neuroscience to study and model neuromuscular control and translate findings to the creation of renewable robotic devices. Dr. Webster-Wood completed her postdoc at Case Western Reserve University in the Tissue Fabrication and Mechanobiology Lab under the direction of Dr. Ozan Akkus. During her postdoc, Dr. Webster-Wood was supported by the T32 Training Grant in Musculoskeletal Research. She received her Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from the same institution as an N.S.F. Graduate Research Fellow in the Biologically Inspired Robotics Lab, during which time she was co-advised by Drs. Roger Quinn, Ozan Akkus, and Hillel Chiel. She received the NSF CAREER Award in 2021 and leads the SSymBioTIC MURI on Integrated Biohybrid Actuators team. She is also a co-PI of the N.S.F. NeuroNex Network on Communication, Coordination, and Control in Neuromechanical Systems (C3NS), and has received additional funding from the NSF Foundational Research in Robotics Program, a PITA grant from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Department of Community and Economic Development, as well as funding from the PA Manufacturing Initiative, and the Manufacturing Futures Initiative.
Host: AME Department
More Info: https://ame.usc.edu/seminars/
Webcast: https://usc.zoom.us/j/96060458816?pwd=8LmoG2q6vBCQubqqWpcizd2F1bxqsH.1Location: Olin Hall of Engineering (OHE) - 406
WebCast Link: https://usc.zoom.us/j/96060458816?pwd=8LmoG2q6vBCQubqqWpcizd2F1bxqsH.1
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Tessa Yao
Event Link: https://ame.usc.edu/seminars/
This event is open to all eligible individuals. USC Viterbi operates all of its activities consistent with the University's Notice of Non-Discrimination. Eligibility is not determined based on race, sex, ethnicity, sexual orientation, or any other prohibited factor.
