Gerald M. Masson Distinguished Lecture Series: The Internet of Materials: The Next Logical Step or a Paradigm Shift?

Description

Gregory Abowd, dean of the College of Engineering and professor of electrical and computer engineering at Northeastern University, will give a talk titled "The Internet of Materials: The Next Logical Step or a Paradigm Shift?" as the second Gerald M. Masson Distinguished Lecture Series. The series is hosted by the Department of Computer Science.

Please attend the event by using the Zoom link (meeting ID: 973 2068 5420). Learn more about the speaker online.

Abstract:

Revisiting Weiser's 30-year-old inspirational vision on ubiquitous computing, we see that there are three factors that today limit the kind of ubiquity that Weiser described: power, cost, and form factor. Using these factors to drive our efforts, we have created examples of computational materials that demonstrate self-sustaining computational devices that are manufactured with simple materials to perform interesting sensing and communication tasks. These computational materials can be more literally woven into the fabric of everyday life, inspiring many more applications of ubiquitous computing, as well as many avenues for research challenges. We will demonstrate some of these early examples, motivating an Internet of Materials vision. Is this a logical progression from the Internet of Things, or something fundamentally new? I will present examples of computational materials that have been created in collaboration with materials scientists, chemical engineers, and other disciplines. I will also discuss some of the exciting research challenges for this emerging field.