PAIR Seminar: Prof. HUANG Yonggang of Northwestern University delivers 'Bioelastic state recovery for haptic sensory substitution‘
PAIR Seminar Series
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Date
10 Sep 2025
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Organiser
PolyU Academy for Interdisciplinary Research
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Time
10:30 - 12:00
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Venue
Lecture Theatre HJ303, 3/F., Stanley Ho Building, PolyU (Limited seats are available on a first-come, first-served basis)
Speaker
Prof. HUANG Yonggang
Enquiry
PolyU Academy for Interdisciplinary Research info.pair@polyu.edu.hk
Summary
Abstract
The rich set of mechanoreceptors found in human skin offers a versatile engineering interface for transmitting information and eliciting perceptions, potentially serving a broad range of applications in patient care and other important industries. Targeted multisensory engagement of these afferent units, however, faces persistent challenges, especially for wearable, programmable systems that need to operate adaptively across the body.
Here we present a miniaturized electromechanical structure that, when combined with skin as an elastic, energy-storing element, supports bistable, self-sensing modes of deformation. Targeting specific classes of mechanoreceptors as the basis for distinct, programmed sensory responses, this haptic unit can deliver both dynamic and static stimuli, directed as either normal or shear forces. Systematic experimental and theoretical studies establish foundational principles and practical criteria for low-energy operation across natural anatomical variations in the mechanical properties of human skin. A wireless, skin-conformable haptic interface, integrating an array of these bistable transducers, serves as a high-density channel capable of rendering input from smartphone-based 3D scanning and inertial sensors. Demonstrations of this system include sensory substitution designed to improve the quality of life for patients with visual and proprioceptive impairments.
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Prof. HUANG Yonggang
Jan and Marcia Achenbach Professor of Mechanical Engineering, Civil and Environmental Engineering, and Materials Science and Engineering
Northwestern University, United States
Prof. HUANG Yonggang is the Achenbach Professor of Mechanical Engineering, Civil and Environmental Engineering, and Materials Science and Engineering at Northwestern University. He is interested in mechanics of stretchable and flexible electronics, and mechanically guided deterministic 3D assembly. He has published 2 books and more than 700 journal papers and book chapters, including 15 in Science and 7 in Nature. He is a Highly Cited Researcher in Engineering (2009), in Materials Science (since 2014), in Physics (2018), and is ranked #4 worldwide in the 2024 Ranking of Best Scientists in the field of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering by Research.com. Prof. Huang is a member of the US National Academy of Engineering (NAE), US National Academy of Sciences, a fellow of American Academy of Arts and Sciences, a foreign member of the Royal Society (London), Chinese Academy of Sciences, and 5 other academies in Europe and Canada. He has received research awards from the American Society of Civil Engineers, American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME), International Union of Theoretical and Applied Mechanics, John Simon Guggenheim Foundation, and Society of Engineering Sciences (SES). He has received teaching or undergraduate advising awards from all universities he has taught. He is (was) the Editor-in-Chief of 4 international journals, including Applied Mechanics Reviews since 2022, and its impact factor increased from ~7 in 2021 to 14.3 in 2023. He was the SES President (2014), Chairman of the ASME Applied Mechanics Division (2019-2020), was the chair of the election committee and is the incoming chair of the mechanical engineering section of NAE. In 2024 SES renamed its Engineering Science Medal to Yonggang Huang Engineering Science Medal.
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