Achievement

An IGERT trainee found that receptor-ligand bonds can mediate adhesion between engineered surfaces. This is inherently a multidisciplinary project requiring knowledge of fields from biophysics, microbiology, mechanics, materials science, to computational engineering. He used atomic force microscopy as well as larger scale measurements to show that receptor-ligand bonds can mediate adhesion between micron scale surfaces when a flexible non-linear elastic linker is used to tether the receptor. This has led to a collaboration between bioengineering and mechanical engineering to see if the combination of our adhesive proteins and non-linear elastic linkers with "gecko-inspired" microposts can mediate adhesion over large surfaces in wet environments.