Join the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering for the Reilly Award Seminar Lecture, featuring Kathleen J. Stebe, the Richer & Elizabeth Goodwin Professor of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering and Mechanical Engineering and Applied Mechanics in the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences at the University of Pennsylvania. AbstractNematic liquid crystals (NLCs) are highly non-linear fluids that have elastic responses that resist nematogen rearrangement and high-energy defect sites at which nematogen order is lost. Generally, the field of nematic colloids seeks to develop control over these elastic responses and defect structures to tailor colloidal interactions. We have been studying ferromagnetic disk colloids rotated by an in-plane magnetic field in nematic liquid crystals. The disk diameter and rotation rate are sufficiently slow that colloid inertia is negligible. In Newtonian fluids, these colloids rotate without translation. However, in NLC, the colloids’ anisotropic defect structure and the NLC’s elastic response generate broken symmetries that propel colloid translation. For patchy, rough colloids, a defect loop which forms on the disk undergoes periodic defect pinning, release, and contraction.This periodic defect motion generates a swim stroke that powers colloidal swimming. Changes in defect configuration with rotation rate provide a steering mechanism. In addition to this swimming motion, colloid shape and surface chemistry generate long-ranged emergent interactions with neighboring passive colloids in quasi-static settings. Furthermore, the non-linear response of the nematic fluid host allows pair interactions among rotating disks that differ strikingly in range and form from their static counterparts. These interactions provide a rich toolkit for reconfigurable materials assembly and open important fundamental questions regarding swimming at low Reynolds number in NLC. Biography Kathleen J. Stebe is the Richer & Elizabeth Goodwin Professor of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering and Mechanical Engineering and Applied Mechanics in the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences at the University of Pennsylvania. Educated at the City College of New York, she received a B.A. in economics and a Ph.D. in chemical engineering at the Levich Institute advised by Charles Maldarelli. After a post-doctoral year in Compiegne, France under the guidance of Dominique Barthes-Biesel, she joined the Department of Chemical Engineering at Johns Hopkins University, where she became professor and served as the department chair. Thereafter, she joined the University of Pennsylvania, where she served in various administrative capacities including department chair and deputy dean. She has been recognized by the National Academy of Engineering, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the Johns Hopkins Society of Scholars, and as a Fellow of the American Physical Society and of the Radcliffe Institute. Kathleen is active in APS Division of Soft Matter Physics, and the ACS Division of Colloids and Surfaces, as well as the AIChE. Her research focuses on directed assembly in soft matter and at fluid interfaces, with an emphasis on confinement, geometry, and emergent structures in far from equilibrium settings for novel functional materials.   Originally published at energy.nd.edu.

Regístrese ahora El octavo informe comprensivo del Instituto Kroc, que cubre el período comprendido entre diciembre de 2022 y noviembre de 2023, ofrece un análisis cuantitativo y cualitativo del estado de la implementación del Acuerdo Final; presenta un análisis comparado internacional para enriquecer el diálogo alrededor de este proceso; y resalta los hitos alcanzados y los obstáculos encontrados durante el período de implementación. También identifica las oportunidades para avanzar en la implementación integral del Acuerdo Final. El Acuerdo Final le otorgó al Instituto Kroc la responsabilidad principal de dar apoyo técnico y hacer seguimiento a su implementación. En esa medida, a través de la Iniciativa Barómetro de la Matriz de Acuerdos de Paz (PAM), desde 2016 el Instituto Kroc ha monitoreado la implementación de 578 compromisos contenidos en el texto del Acuerdo Final, con una mirada especial a los enfoques transversales. Le extendemos una especial invitación para que nos acompañe en el lanzamiento del octavo informe comprensivo, cuyos hallazgos son el resultado del monitoreo a la implementación siguiendo los principios de independencia, imparcialidad y rigurosidad académica. Durante el webinar podrá conocer el estado de la implementación del Acuerdo Final, así como los avances, retos y oportunidades para fortalecer el proceso. Esperamos pueda acompañarnos y participar del lanzamiento. Regístrese ahora Originally published at kroc.nd.edu.

The Notre Dame Keeping the Republic Conference brings together a group of both prominent senior researchers and early-career scholars dedicated to a broad revitalization of American democracy—not just in the sense of self-government—but rather as a societal commitment to the equal dignity and inclusion of each person and social institutions that encourage broad and open participation. This conference creates an interdisciplinary community of scholars devoted to studying and advancing the democratization of American culture and institutions across political, legal, civic, commercial, social, religious, and educational life. This conference is not open to the public and is by invitation only. Originally published at rooneycenter.nd.edu.

Register to attend via Zoom The Kroc Institute’s eighth comprehensive report, covering the period from December 2022 through November 2023, provides a quantitative and qualitative overview of the status of peace accord implementation; presents an international comparative analysis to enrich dialogue around this process; highlights milestones achieved and obstacles faced during the seventh year of implementation; and identifies key opportunities for continuing to advance toward comprehensive peace accord implementation. The Colombian Peace Accord gives the Kroc Institute primary responsibility for technical support and monitoring of accord implementation through the Peace Accords Matrix’s (PAM) Barometer Initiative. Understanding the Accord as an integral and comprehensive text, the Kroc Institute has monitored the implementation of 578 stipulations since 2016, with special attention to the implementation of intersectional approaches. Get a first look at the latest report and its independent, impartial, and academically-rigorous information by joining us for an interactive launch event highlighting the findings from this latest report. Register to attend via Zoom Originally published at kroc.nd.edu.

Register here Greg Jones, president of Belmont University, and Clayton Spencer, former president of Bates College, will discuss the ways higher education can promote purpose. Jones and Spencer each wrote articles on purpose for the Spring 2024 issue of Virtues & Vocations: Higher Education for Human Flourishing. They will reflect on their own roles and articles as well as other pieces from this issue. There will be time for audience questions. Virtues & Vocations is a national forum housed at the Center for Social Concerns at Notre Dame for scholars and practitioners across disciplines to consider how best to cultivate character in pre-professional and professional education. Learn more: virtuesvocations.org

The Global Democracy Conference (GDC) is an integral component of the broader University of Notre Dame Global Democracy Initiative designed to connect academic research and non-academic audiences. It will be an annual forum that projects the University as a leader and convener on questions of democracy, while simultaneously facilitating positive, tangible impact on global democratic practices. With the theme "Understanding Today, Shaping Tomorrow," the inaugural GDC will see the Kellogg Institute convene leading defenders of global democracy at the University of Notre Dame for a series of profound, actionable conversations about the state of democracy around the world. Animated by our understanding of the multidimensional, complex nature of democratic erosion, this conference will i) identify emerging challenges to democracies and possible solutions; ii) highlight the research being undertaken by top universities in order to have meaningful impact in the world of policy; and iii) convene global actors that will help lay the foundation for partnerships with institutions and leaders who might utilize our research in protecting local democratic structures. To register and for more information, visit the event page here.  Sponsored by the Kellogg Institute for International Studies