Graduate Student Seminar
March 28, 2025
10:00 a.m. ET
McConomy Auditorium, First Floor Cohon University Center
Deciphering microscopic mechanisms driving assembly and flow of soft materials
Soft materials such as colloidal dispersions, polymers, emulsions, and biological macromolecules are ubiquitous in the natural world. Recent experimental advances have led to the fabrication of soft-matter-based nanostructures that can switch shape, assembly, and flow behavior in response to changes in their chemical or mechanical environment, opening pathways for novel medical, energy, catalysis, and automotive applications. This talk describes our work employing molecular dynamics simulations to understand the microscopic mechanisms that drive structure and property control in soft materials. We will explore: a shape-design mechanism in flexible polymeric nanoparticles based on tuning their surface charge patterns, a cooperative encapsulation process that drives ligand- and peptide-functionalized cargo in protein nanocages, and a salt dialysis approach to self-assemble multilayered and ordered core-shell arrays starting from a one-pot mixture of virus-like nanoparticles. Finally, we will discuss the shear thinning of alkane-based machine lubricants at high strain rates and pressures, demonstrating its origins lie in thermally activated molecular rearrangements rather than evolution in molecular order.
Vikram Jadhao
Associate Chair, Intelligent Systems Engineering
Associate Professor of Intelligent Systems Engineering
Indiana University, Bloomington
Vikram Jadhao is an associate professor of Intelligent Systems Engineering at Indiana University in Bloomington. He received his B.S. in Physics from the Indian Institute of Technology at Kharagpur, and his Ph.D. in Physics from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He conducted postdoctoral research in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at Northwestern University as well as the Department of Physics and Astronomy at Johns Hopkins University. His research explores the underlying microscopic mechanisms that give rise to the macroscopic properties of soft materials.
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February 20 2026
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February 20 2026
5:30 PM - 9:30 PM ET
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February 24 2026
12:00 PM ET
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"Modeling the Nonequilibrium Dynamics and Rheology of Associative Polymer Networks," presented by Songyue Liu
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February 25 2026
2:00 PM ET
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Please join us for CMU Engineering's virtual program, “Faculty Insights: A 20 Minute Briefing.” In this series, faculty will share insights into their research, its impact, and provide perspective for the future of the field.
Virtual, link provided to registrants
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February 27 2026
10:00 AM ET
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March 13 2026
10:00 AM ET
Materials Science and Engineering
presented by Rachel Goldman, University of Michigan
CUC McConomy Auditorium