Biological Systems and Materials

TD Focus:
Investigations, including experimental, of biological and biologically inspired materials and systems, with an emphasis on structure, property and process relationships.

Technical Division Bylaws

Biological Systems and Materials Division - Updated July 2009

TD Focus: Investigations, including experimental and modeling, of biological and biologically inspired materials and systems, with an emphasis on structure, property and process relationships.

The Biological Systems and Materials Division has been focusing on embracing and serving the duality of its membership, which consists of many established members of the society and the field of theoretical and applied mechanics who are developing research programs focusing on biological systems and materials, and simultaneously numerous researchers from the biological sciences who are adopting the experimental and analytical techniques of mechanics.  TD activities have included hosting numerous sessions in annual SEM Meetings; organizing the special issue of the journal Experimental Mechanics on "Mechanics of Organic, Implant and Bio-Inspired Materials" (June 2007); encouraging TD-related submissions to, and serving as manuscript reviewers for, the regular issues of Experimental Mechanics and Experimental Techniques; and developing joint sessions with other TDs.

The Technical Division was represented in 5 TD-organized sessions and 3 jointly organized sessions at the 2009 SEM Annual Meeting in Albuquerque, NM. 

• There were 26 papers in these 8 sessions and 20 related presentations throughout the conference for a total of 46 papers in the biological systems and materials area. These sessions covered a variety of research areas, including the mechanics of hard and soft natural and bio-inspired materials, nanomechanics and bioMEMs, biomedical and tissue engineering, modeling, inverse problems, time dependent materials, and acoustic materials. 
• These sessions also included 2 keynote presentations hosted by our TD, “Mechanical Performance of Dental Fillers Based on Alumina Nanoparticles” by Dr. Marwan Al-Haik and “Modeling to Understand Tissue Function” by Dr. Nigel Shrive. 
• The TD awarded two best papers following the meeting.  The award for Best Paper was given to C. Liang and B.C. Prorok, for “Mechanics of Magnetoelastic MEMS Sensors for Bio-detection.”  The award for Best Student Paper was given to D. Bajaj, A. Nazari, S. Park, G.D. Quinn, and D. Arola, for “On the Fracture Toughness and R-Curve Behavior of Human Enamel.”

In preparation for the 2010 SEM Annual Meeting in Indianapolis, the Biological Systems and Materials Division will be organizing 8 sessions either singly or jointly with other TDs. Topics will include mechanics of hard and soft biological and bio-inspired materials, bio-MEMS, small-scale testing of biological tissues and single molecules, bio-composites, imaging for biological systems and materials, time dependent biological materials, dynamic testing of biological materials, and fracture/fatigue.  Authors interested in submitting abstracts are encouraged to contact the TD officers to get more information about planned sessions, and are also encouraged to submit full length conference proceedings in order to be considered for a Best Paper award.

The strong attendance at previous TD meetings is expected to continue in 2010 at the annual conference. Many of our TD members are young faculty members who are enthusiastic about participating in the TD to develop leadership skills and work with a professional society, but are also eager to learn about issues related to career development and balancing multiple commitments.  With an eye towards providing career development opportunities in line with the Panel on Junior Faculty Career Development that was held at the 2009 conference, our TD has been discussing how to involve our members in federal funding grant review panels such as through NSF and NIH, and how to educate our members about their eligibility for SEM early/mid-career level awards.