Advancing the potential of manufacturing with 4D printing
13 September 2018
We are delighted to announce that Institute of Making postdoc Dr Anna Ploszajski, who recently completed her project on Nature Inspired 4D printing for biomedical applications, has been awarded a UCL EPSRC Doctoral Prize Fellowship, which will enable her to continue her work on 4D printing in a new two-year postdoc - The development of a 4D printing manufacturing platform. This project aims to produce a 4D printing manufacturing platform that will include polymer composite materials, bespoke hardware, and new modelling software to facilitate the design of complex actuating mechanical structures. 4D printing means using 3D printing techniques to produce materials with programmable functionality. This allows for innovative designs for simple actuating shapes which morph in response to stimuli like moisture, light or heat. The ability to print actuating devices has great potential in soft robotics, wearable technology and biomedical devices.
Anna is particularly interested in combining smart actuating materials with mechanical metamaterial designs to produce fabric-like materials with programmable properties. The group have recently acquired an extrusion 3D printer from Hyrel, which allows for rapid experimentation with new materials. Preliminary results arising from the Nature Inspired Engineering grant will be reported this November at the Materials Research Society fall meeting in Boston.