UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — The Center for Mathematics of Living and Mimetic Matter is the Department of Biomedical Engineering’s newest cross-disciplinary center, established in January 2017. The center brings together leading Penn State scientists from many departments, including mathematicians, chemists, biologists, materials scientists and engineers.
The mission of the center is to develop a much better understanding of the dynamic processes occurring in living and mimetic matter under out-of-equilibrium conditions. The systems under study are exemplified by suspensions of motile microorganisms, cell tissues, synthetic swimmers and nanomotors.
This research is aimed toward the design of new synthetic materials that exhibit life-like behavior, such as adapting to changes in the environment, harvesting energy from their surroundings, and undergoing self-repair. The center’s work aims to provide a transformative change in our understanding of the non-equilibrium processes and emergent behavior at the interface of engineering, life and mathematical sciences.
Along with conducting research, the center has held two international "Mathematics of Living Matter" conferences, with a third to be held Oct. 15-18 at Penn State. The conference is supported by the center; the European Research Council; and the Penn State Center of Interdisciplinary Mathematics.
“As the result of our center’s work, we have submitted several interdisciplinary papers and fostered interdepartmental collaboration,” said Igor Aronson, Huck Chair Professor of Biomedical Engineering, Chemistry and Mathematics, and co-director of the Center for Mathematics of Living and Mimetic. “Our Center will impact society by training a new generation of researchers who are bilingual, or multi-lingual, in math, engineering, biology and/or chemistry.”