UNSW Engineering Distinguished Seminar Series

UNSW Engineering proudly presents the UNSW Engineering Distinguished Seminar Series; a series aimed to exchange knowledge, foster collaboration across different disciplines, and inspire and promote research excellence in ethics, technology, climate and humanity in engineering. 

Join distinguished researchers and academics from leading universities and industry as they deliver their vision and achievements, as well as the future trends in research, teaching, engagement, and leadership.

The fourth event of the series will feature prolific physical chemist and materials scientist Professor John Rogers - the Simpson Querrey Institute for BioNanotechnology Professor of Materials Science and Engineering, Biomedical Engineering, and Neurological Surgery at Northwestern University.

We look forward to seeing you there. 

Date: Wednesday 21 June, 2023

Time: 3:00pm - 5:00pm

Location: Matthews Theatre A, UNSW Sydney, Kensington NSW 2025

Soft, Skin-Interfaced Devices for Health Monitoring and Haptic Interactions

Over the last decade, a convergence of new concepts in materials science, mechanical engineering, electrical engineering and advanced manufacturing has led to the emergence of diverse, novel classes of 'biocompatible' electronic, microfluidic and microelectromechanical systems with skin-like physical properties. The results create vast opportunities in diagnostic, therapeutic and/or sensory devices with important, unique capabilities that range from fitness/wellness, to sports performance, clinical healthcare and virtual reality environments. This talk describes the key ideas and presents some of the most recent examples in (1) wireless, battery-free electronic 'tattoos' for continuous monitoring of vital signs in neonatal and pediatric intensive care, including active deployments in the most advanced hospitals in the US and in remote health clinics in Africa, (2) microfluidic platforms that can capture, manipulate and perform biomarker analysis on microliter volumes of sweat, with applications in precise hydration management in sports and fitness, including commercial devices featured on celebrity sports figures with Gatorade and (3) programmable vibro-haptic interfaces that support real-time patient feedback and enhanced experiences in virtual reality environments.