Early Career Award for Soft Matter Research Winner: Pierre-Thomas BrunBuilding with fluids: a lazy approach to fabricating programable soft matter

We will discuss the possibility of harnessing interfacial flows as templates for the design of soft functional materials. Our idea relies on "freezing" specific fluid flows, e.g., coiling, droplets, and bubbles, using polymeric solutions that are initially liquid and then cure into soft elastic solids. The shapes and patterns we obtain are universal and transcend the traditional divisions between scientific fields or even between living and inert matter. We will show that these similarities result from mathematical analogies in the rules that govern pattern formation and offer a pathway for their directed control. In particular, we will demonstrate how to leverage these robust processes to augment our manufacturing capabilities, e.g., for the assembly and programming of soft robots.