Marianne Alleyne, an assistant professor of entomology, will present "Insects did it first: multifunctionality of surfaces and structures" at the Beckman Institute Director's Seminar at noon on Thursday, Oct. 13 in 1005 Beckman and on Zoom. Lunch will be provided to in-person attendees.
Registration is required to attend.
Insects did it first: multifunctionality of surfaces and structure
Marianne Alleyne.This talk will introduce a bioinspired design framework developed and used in the Alleyne Bioinspiration Collaborative, or ABCLab. This
framework relies on interdisciplinary teams, where members from different
scientific fields study a functionality observed in nature and design the best nature-inspired
technology for the application required. The framework aims to uncover the
fundamental physics or chemistry behind the biological inspiration, and then to
use analogical reasoning to design the most appropriate technology. The
framework also aims to study different versions of the application prototypes
to help explain what we observe in nature. Professor Alleyne will provide an example of the framework, and demonstrate how the
ABCLab researches the multi-functionality of insect-related materials; designs
super-hydrophobic and anti-bacterial materials for various applications; and uses the fabricated novel bioinspired surfaces to study why and how the
different wettability mechanisms seen in nature may have evolved.
Marianne Alleyne is an assistant professor of entomology with an affiliation in the Department of Mechanical Science and Engineering. She also holds an appointment at the Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology. Her research group, the Alleyne Bioinspiration Collaborative, or ABCLab, uses a variety of insects as inspiration for the novel design of materials and mechanical systems. To close the knowledge loop, her research then uses those materials and systems to study biology.
She is currently the President-Elect for the Entomological Society of America, the largest organization in the world serving the professional and scientific needs of entomologists and those in related disciplines. She will serve as president in 2023, focusing on insect science policy and advocacy. She received her B.A. in integrative biology in 1991 from the University of California, Berkeley; her M.S. in entomology from the University of California, Riverside in 1995; and her Ph.D. in entomology from the University of Illinois in 2000.
Read more about insect-inspired design at insectsdiditfirst.com and about the many projects in the ABCLab at go.illinois.edu/abclab.
