Computational Colloids: Engineered bacteria as computational agents in the design and manufacture of new materials and structures.

This project investigates how Civil Engineering may be integrated with the emerging field of Synthetic Biology. Combining these fields has potentially transformative implications for both and may generate a new field of Engineering Design.

Imagine a column of sand saturated with billions of engineered bacteria cells. As a force is applied to the top of the column, bacteria in the sand detect an increase in pressure. The bacteria respond by synthesising a new biological material to bind the grains together and resisting the load. The resulting structure would consist of a material where sand grains are only cemented where the forces through the material require.

We propose a proof of concept to show how we might design a manufacturing process where the material itself acts as manufacturer and designer, modelling and responding to its environment. Such a technology would push well beyond the current state of the art and challenge a new generation of engineering designers to think at multiple scales from molecular to the built environment and to anticipate civil engineering with living organisms.

This project will a significant impact across both academia and industry with the potential to develop a new field of engineering design. Where digital technologies were transformative in the 20th century, the 21st century is likely to be transformed through biotechnologies and fields such as synthetic biology. This project proposes bridging the gap between the design of biological systems at the molecular scale and the design of material structures at the scale of the human built environment. It is likely to generate significant interest and potential controversy. In addition to academic publications and a dissemination strategy which includes media coverage, therefore, the project proposes to:

*Generate Data to add to open access repositories including the MIT run Registry of Standard Biological Parts and the Newcastle University run Registry of Standard Virtual parts. In addition the project will create a new web based resource to bring the work together.

*Disseminate the research through a high profile public exhibition to take place at the 'Centre for Life' in Newcastle. The exhibition will act as a catalyst to initiate public debate on the project and form the basis of our media dissemination strategy.

*Develop an international network of interested academic and industry partners including Henk Jonkers at Delft University (who specialises in Self Healing concrete using bacteria biomineralisation), Neri Oxman at MIT (pioneer of material based computation), the AutoDesks Bio, Nano, Programmable Matter group.