This CAREER award by the Biomaterials program in the Division of Materials Research to University of Florida is to investigate biological systems from a perspective of condensed matter physics by employing the modern materials and tools of engineering and materials science. This award is cofunded by Biomechanics and Mechanobiology program in the Division of Civil, Mechanical, and Manufacturing Innovation(ENG/CMMI). To recruit and retain a diverse student population, the educational objectives of this proposal are to diminish stereotypical views of Mechanical Engineering discipline by systematically integrating soft matter topics into undergraduate curriculum and extra-curricular activities. Persistent exposure to interdisciplinary topics will be provided to all Mechanical Engineering majors throughout their undergraduate careers in the form of lectures, labs, career advising, and an extramural field courses in collaboration with a marine research laboratory. The proposed education and research activities are integrated; the materials in the proposed research will be used in teaching, and the education strategy is expected to grow the pool of potential students for research activities. The proposed education plan is to shift the demographic makeup of a large, traditionally homogeneous field. Education activities target underrepresented groups in STEM fields and proposes to increase their participation in STEM related research in academia and industry. The proposed research creates a new platform for 3D cell culture with potential social benefits; the development of a new effective cellular biomaterial may advance biomaterials research, biomedical research, biomedical technology, and medicine. The most likely potential impacts would occur in wound healing and tissue engineering technologies. In the treatment of acute wounds, for example, biocompatible yield stress materials could be ideal wound healing scaffolds. Analogous to 'bone putty', these materials can be extruded as a fluid to completely fill a topographically complex wound, and solidifying very quickly.
This CAREER award by the Biomaterials program in the Division of Materials Research to University of Florida is to investigate biological systems from a perspective of condensed matter physics by employing the modern materials and tools of engineering and materials science. This award is cofunded by Biomechanics and Mechanobiology program in the Division of Civil, Mechanical, and Manufacturing Innovation(ENG/CMMI). The proposed research objective is to leverage the basic physics of instability, topology and symmetry to study tissue cell dynamics. Cell assemblies will be 3D printed by the direct extrusion of structures into volumes of yield stress material. Yield stress materials are solids when applied stress is low; and they are fluids when stress is high. The combination of cells and yield-stress materials provides unprecedented control of variables like size, shape, symmetry, and topology in multicellular structures. The main focus of this proposal is to study: (1) mechanical instabilities in simple structures to classify and measure collective cell forces; and 2) the role of symmetry and topology of complex multicellular structures in collective cell dynamics. The proposed investigation of the yield-stress cellular biomaterial is significant because it: (1) creates a superior platform for carrying out fundamental investigations of 3D cell dynamics; (2) creates a new class of biomaterial never before investigated; and (3) explores fundamental aspects of collective cell dynamics that previously could not be done due to limitations of available support materials. The proposed activities are founded on a new concept that breaks away from the established paradigm in cellular biomaterials, potentially advancing knowledge in the areas of basic tissue mechanics and physiology, tissue culture methodology, and cellular biomaterial science and engineering. The proposed educational efforts incorporate extensive data collection of the students' perspective of Mechanical Engineering, demographic attrition rates, and job placement. This data would provide new knowledge about the causes and remedies of the historical lack of diversity in student population enrolled in mechanical engineering courses.
