Designing soft engines and active solids

Soft materials surround us and compose us. In the modern economy, soft solids underpin several industries from gels used in food science and cosmetics to rubber crucial to transportation. One exotic type of soft material recently developed in research labs is called active matter and is created from constituents that move themselves. Most of the research in active matter focuses on active fluids and how movement on the smallest scales can induce large-scale flow. In this proposal, I focus on active solids and their elasticity in order to design new types of active soft materials.

The broad question that this research aims to answer is: ``What materials properties are disallowed in equilibrium, but can be created using active matter?'' The design of synthetic soft machines presents a set of challenges at the intersection of materials science and robotics. One challenge is to integrate sensors and actuators with elastic components that deform, move, and perform useful work. In order to create soft machines that are efficient, it is necessary to understand the fundamental laws governing such active materials. This exciting area of fundamental science has seen a lot of recent progress by combining the tools of materials science and non-equilibrium physics.

This proposal aims to address a challenge encountered on the way to designing soft machines: how can one make an active material do something useful? In order to address this challenge, the proposal aims to formulate the fundamental physical laws about how useful work can be extracted from a material with active components. Once these laws have been formulated, they can be used to construct a set of design principles for functional, efficient soft machines.

Active materials are inherently modular, because they are composed of many interchangeable moving parts. Broadly speaking, the long-term aim of the proposal's research area is to improve on the current design of soft devices such as artificial organs and limbs as well as wearable electronics, for example by creating active components that are more efficient, more damage resistant, or self-healing.

The long-term impact stemming from the research in this proposal will be in soft matter technology and in the use of active materials for everyday applications. The activities undertaken during the research project will maximise this impact in industry, training of experts, and outreach to the general public.


I seek to impact the development of materials and devices across several industries, including soft robotics, wearable electronics, and artificial organs and limbs. This industrial impact will be achieved in two steps: the first step is to benefit the communities of academic engineers through direct contact during academic visits, conferences, and workshops; the second step is via the impact of the academic engineering community on their industrial partners. My continued contact with the engineering communities (locally in Bath and Bristol as well as using my international collaborations) can translate the fundamental scientific work into the design of materials and devices. The engineering communities, in turn, have the capabilities and contacts to drive industry innovation.

One industry which has been developed using advances in mechanical and biological engineering is the creation of artificial limbs and organs. The challenges for these artificial bio-devices include having an interface between electronics and soft biological materials as well as designing soft components composed of modular, interchangeable parts that are resistant to wear and tear. In order to achieve this desired impact, I propose an impact activity workshop to create interactions with communities including mechanical, materials, and biological engineers. I aim to incorporate feedback from these engineering and industry communities in project implementation. In addition, I plan to explore resources at the University of Bath (including the Research Impact team and the Industrial Partnership Managers) to acquire training in achieving research impact and to implement this training in my research.


An important aspect of this proposal's impact is through the training of junior scientists at the interface of fundamental and applied research, including the PDRA, PI, undergraduate summer interns, and the PhD student within the same research group. The formation of a creative research environment will develop all of these stakeholders. The University of Bath provides training for the PI and PDRA through the Academic Staff Development office and for summer interns through workshops specifically aimed at their development. In the long term, this training will impact industry through the exchange of experts and expertise.


A significant aspect of this research is the fact that it can be made approachable and engaging to the general public. As an example, the superhero Black Panther from the 2018 film by Marvel Studios wears a suit composed of an active material much like those considered in this proposal. In the film, the suit absorbs and stores mechanical energy, which can be released at a later time. This combination of cutting-edge scientific results and science-fiction concepts lends itself well to outreach activities.

This proposal includes outreach activities at the "Bath Taps into Science" festival, University of Bath support for the PI by the Communications Team to help prepare press releases, and help by Staff Development with training related to public engagement. The outreach activities will benefit the public by informing them about publicly funded cutting-edge research. The scientific community will benefit from being informed by the public about the perceived benefits and concerns about the future use of technology impacted by this proposal.