“The Geometry of Mechanics”, Assoc. Prof. Jayson Paulose, Physics
Advances such as 3D printing and self-assembly have revolutionized our ability to build complex structures. This ability enables us to create artificial structures, called metamaterials, which owe their physical properties not to their chemical composition but to the geometry and interactions among their building blocks. Through careful design of the building blocks, we can build metamaterials which behave unlike naturally occurring substances, opening up vast possibilities for materials with superior properties to solve today’s global challenges. The Paulose group uses theoretical physics approaches to design metamaterials with unusual mechanical properties.
Our REU student will focus on computational explorations of structures with dynamic elements, whose properties change over time. The REU student will adapt standard simulation packages in Python, C/C++, or COMSOL to study the response of these structures to external forces and pressures, and use the insights obtained to propose and investigate new metamaterials. Investigations may also use 3D printing to build prototypes of promising designs.