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.

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.

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In the Mobile Medical Unit parked at Gate D of Notre Dame Stadium Wednesday, May 8; 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.Wednesday, May 22; 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. ND faculty and staff, call for an appointment, 574-335-4500 or 800-455-4450.Limited appointments available. Originally published at hr.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.

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