Neda Maghsoodi
Seminar Information
EBU2, Room 478
Photomechanical materials that convert light directly into mechanical deformation are attractive candidates for soft actuators, capable of remote and multi-mode actuation. Photomechanical actuation is a multi-physics process coupling the photochemical reaction of light-sensitive molecules at the microscale to the large nonlinear deformation of structure at the macroscale. Understanding the fundamental mechanics of photomechanical materials (including photomechanical coupling, deformations, stability, and energetics) is essential for unlocking their capabilities. In this talk, I present a mathematical framework to investigate the dynamical response of photomechanical fibers subject to illumination. Particularly, the model goes beyond the common assumption of shallow optical penetration. Through a series of examples, I show that the optical penetration depth can quantitatively and qualitatively affect the photomechanical response of a strip or fiber. This opens the possibility of creating photomechanical actuators whose dynamic response can be controlled by optical penetration depth.
Neda Maghsoodi is an Assistant Professor at the University of Southern California. Neda received her Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering with a M.Sc. in Biomedical Engineering from the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor. After graduation, Neda pursued her postdoctoral research at Harvard University and then at the California Institute of Technology. Neda’s research lies at the interface of applied mechanics, materials science, and biology and develops theoretical models to elucidate nonlinear response of soft materials and structures in biology and engineering. In her academic career, Neda has received several honors and awards including: she was among 100 Early Career Engineers invited to the FOE 2024 Symposium by the National Academy of Engineering; she received Charles Lee Powell Faculty Research Award and WiSE Gabilan Assistant Professor Award from USC; she was named a Rising Star PhD student in Mechanical Engineering by UC-Berkeley; she received the Best Paper award in the conference ASME IDETC. Neda is currently serving as an Associate Editor of ASME Journal of Computational and Nonlinear Dynamics. She is also the Chair of 37th Conference on Mechanical Vibration and Sound as part of ASME IDETC 2025 in Anaheim, California.