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151-0638-00L 1 Credits DR , MSC D-HEST , D-MAVT , D-ARCH , D-PHYS , D-INFK , D-ITET , D-MATL
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MaP Distinguished Lecture Series on Engineering with Living Materials

Lecturers & Examiners: Dr. Zhidong Zhang, Prof. Dr. Robert Katzschmann, Prof. Dr. Xiao-Hua Qin
This course is primarily designed for MSc and doctoral students. Guests are welcome. Former title: MaP Distinguished Lecture Series on Soft Robotics
VVZ CR n/a

Last Updated: 2026-06-01 11:33:03

Abstract

This course is an interdisciplinary colloquium on the engineering of living materials and biosystems. Internationally renowned speakers from academia and industry give lectures about their cutting-edge research, which highlights the state-of-the-art and frontiers in the field of engineering with living materials.

Objective

Participants become acquainted with the state-of-the-art and frontiers in materials science and bioengineering, which is a topic of global and future relevance from the field of materials and process engineering. The self-study of relevant literature and active participation in discussions following presentations by internationally renowned speakers stimulate critical thinking and allow participants to deliberately discuss challenges and opportunities with leading academics and industrial experts and to exchange ideas within an interdisciplinary community.

Content

This course is a colloquium involving a selected mix of internationally renowned speakers from academia and industry who present their cutting-edge research in the field of engineered systems using living materials. In particular, the course will cover fundamentals of bioengineering at a multicellular level (biofabrication), as well as examples of manufacturing and application of living cells to engineered systems for medical applications and beyond. Speakers will show how to combine living cells with non-living, synthetic materials to realize bio-hybrid systems to be applied to many fields of human life, ranging from biomedicine to robotics, biosensing, ecology, and architecture. It will be shown how bio-hybrid technologies and cutting-edge engineering techniques can support cell proliferation and even enhance their cell functions. The course will cover materials and approaches for the biofabrication of living tissue, seen as a biomedical model for pathophysiological discovery research, or as transplantable grafts for tissue regeneration. Speakers will illustrate how living species can contribute to ecological approaches in town planning (such as CO2 sequestration), sensing and processor technologies enabled by connective and signaling abilities of cells, and motile systems actuated by contractile cells (bio-hybrid robots). The main learning objective is to learn about: materials and techniques to build intelligent biological systems for future, sustainable societies; mechanisms of cell and tissue programmability; and applications in bio-robotics, communication, sensing technologies, and medical engineering. The self-study of relevant pre-read literature provided in advance of each lecture serves as a basis for active participation in the critical discussions following each presentation.

Resources

Lecture Notes

Selected scientific pre-read literature (around two articles per lecture) relevant for and discussed during the lectures is posted in advance on the course web page.

General Information

Language
English
Levels
DR , MSC
Frequency
Yearly recurring

Examination

Type
ungraded semester performance
To obtain 1 ECTS, students must attend min. 80% of the lectures on the program and participate actively in the discussions.

Course Components

Type Title Time & Place Hours
seminar MaP Distinguished Lecture Series on Engineering with Living Materials
  • Mon 16:15-18:00 (GLC E 29.2)
  • 14.04 Date 12:15-14:00 (ETZ E 7)
  • 28.04 Date 11:15-12:00 (GLC E 24)
  • 23.05 Date 14:15-16:00 (GLC E 24)
2 h weekly

Offered In