Lihua Jin, University of California, Los Angeles

Xin Yong, Binghamton University – State University of New York

Sung Hoon Kang,  Johns Hopkins University

The field of soft materials has recently attracted tremendous attention in the mechanics community. Many soft materials based on synthetic and biological polymers can respond to various stimuli, enabling them to have novel functions such as actuation and sensing. Because of their comparable mechanical properties to many biological tissues, soft materials allow safe interaction with humans and drive exciting applications in biomedical engineering, soft robotics, and stretchable/wearable electronics. One distinct feature of soft materials is their ability to undergo extremely large deformation with low energy inputs. As a result, numerous modes of mechanical instabilities have been newly observed in soft materials. To harness unique behavior of soft materials and uncover their potential in compelling applications, we need deeper understanding of constitutive behavior of a variety of soft materials and structures that can guide the design and synthesis of new soft materials and devices. We also need novel manufacturing and characterization approaches to fabricate the materials and study their properties and functionalities. Recent progress in the field has demonstrated exciting properties of soft materials such as extreme self-healing function and superior fracture toughness, but there are still many areas to be investigated. This symposium will bring together experts working on a broad topic of mechanics and physics of soft materials to discuss current understanding and progress of the field and to offer insights to advance the field by addressing the current scientific and technological challenges. Topics of particular interest include: Soft active materials and structures Mechanical characterization of soft materials Molecular and microstructural design of soft materials Mechanics of soft materials: instabilities, elastocapillary, adhesion, fracture, dynamics etc. Mechanics of biomaterials (tissues, cells, biomolecules etc.) Advanced manufacturing of soft materials Soft machines and stretchable electronics

Keywords: human-technology interaction, solids and structure