Steven Naleway, Ph.D.
Adjunct Professor, Department of Materials Science and Engineering
University of Utah
Seminar Information
The interconnected fields of biological materials science and bioinspired design offer the potential to provide ingenious solutions to modern scientific problems by harnessing the hundreds of millions of years of design experience offered by evolution. Biological materials science employs the tools and techniques of chemistry and physics to investigate biological organisms and understand how they thrive in their natural environments. Bioinspired design employs these lessons learned from nature to modern materials and fabrication methods with the goal of developing designs and materials that can bring benefits to society.
This presentation will provide an in-depth exploration of my research, organized around a system of Structural Design Elements that I pioneered along with UCSD faculty during my time there as a graduate student. These Structural Design Elements are common structural designs found in nature that provide biological materials with their impressive physical properties. With this system as a guide, I will present on advanced material manufacturing techniques from my lab that employ energized fields (e.g., magnetic and ultrasound) to direct the fabrication of bioinspired materials using the freeze-casting process. In addition, I will present on examples of biological tissues that I’ve studied, focusing primarily on the hyphae of fungi while also touching on topics such as human facial hair and the endocarp of coconuts, all of which employ Structural Design Elements to provide exceptional properties.
Steven Naleway is an Associate Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering and Adjunct Professor in the Department of Materials Science & Engineering at the University of Utah. He received his Ph.D. in Materials Science & Engineering from the University of California, San Diego, and M.S. and B.S. degrees from Oregon State University. His research focuses on structure-property relationships in materials science with a specific focus on biological materials and advanced manufacturing of bioinspired materials with a particular focus on the structure property relationships in filamentous fungi and fabrication of biomaterials with the freeze casting technique. He spent a sabbatical for the 2022-2023 school year splitting time at Oregon State University and the University of Oregon Knight Campus.