Metamaterial Devices
Host
Stefanie Mueller
Abstract
Digital fabrication machines such as 3D printers excel at producing arbitrary shapes, such as for decorative objects. Recently, researchers started to engineer not only the outer shape of objects, but also their
internal microstructure. Such objects, typically based on 3D cell grids, are known as metamaterials. Metamaterials have been shown to
incorporate extreme properties such as change in volume, programmable shock-absorbing qualities or locally varying elasticity. Traditionally, metamaterials were understood as materials—I think of them as *devices*. I argue that viewing metamaterials as devices allows us to push the boundaries of metamaterials further. In my research, I propose unifying material and device and develop “metamaterial devices”. Such metamaterial devices can receive input, process the information to produce output.
Bio
Alexandra Ion is a postdoctoral researcher at ETH Zurich, working with Prof. Olga Sorkine-Hornung on computational design tools for complex geometry. She completed her PhD with Prof. Patrick Baudisch at the Hasso Plattner Institute in Germany. Her research and expertise lie at the intersection of human- computer interaction, digital fabrication, deformation mechanics, and material science. Her research focuses on new types of devices, the functionality of which are solely defined by the material's microstructure. Her ‘metamaterial devices’ unify material and device. She investigates interactive computational design tools that assist users in designing the geometry of such intricate cell-structures.
Alex’ work is published at top-tier HCI venues (ACM CHI & UIST). Her work received a Best paper honorable mention awards at ACM UIST and CHI, captured the interest of media such as Wired, Dezeen, Fast Company, Gizmodo, etc., and was viewed over 250.000 times on YouTube. Her work was invited for travelling & permanent exhibitions; currently her metamaterial devices are touring through South America, within Germany, and are exhibited at the Ars Electronica Center in Austria.
Digital fabrication machines such as 3D printers excel at producing arbitrary shapes, such as for decorative objects. Recently, researchers started to engineer not only the outer shape of objects, but also their
internal microstructure. Such objects, typically based on 3D cell grids, are known as metamaterials. Metamaterials have been shown to
incorporate extreme properties such as change in volume, programmable shock-absorbing qualities or locally varying elasticity. Traditionally, metamaterials were understood as materials—I think of them as *devices*. I argue that viewing metamaterials as devices allows us to push the boundaries of metamaterials further. In my research, I propose unifying material and device and develop “metamaterial devices”. Such metamaterial devices can receive input, process the information to produce output.
Bio
Alexandra Ion is a postdoctoral researcher at ETH Zurich, working with Prof. Olga Sorkine-Hornung on computational design tools for complex geometry. She completed her PhD with Prof. Patrick Baudisch at the Hasso Plattner Institute in Germany. Her research and expertise lie at the intersection of human- computer interaction, digital fabrication, deformation mechanics, and material science. Her research focuses on new types of devices, the functionality of which are solely defined by the material's microstructure. Her ‘metamaterial devices’ unify material and device. She investigates interactive computational design tools that assist users in designing the geometry of such intricate cell-structures.
Alex’ work is published at top-tier HCI venues (ACM CHI & UIST). Her work received a Best paper honorable mention awards at ACM UIST and CHI, captured the interest of media such as Wired, Dezeen, Fast Company, Gizmodo, etc., and was viewed over 250.000 times on YouTube. Her work was invited for travelling & permanent exhibitions; currently her metamaterial devices are touring through South America, within Germany, and are exhibited at the Ars Electronica Center in Austria.