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| Name |
Balazs, Anna C. |
| Location
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University of Pittsburgh |
| Primary Field
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Engineering Sciences |
| Secondary Field
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Applied Physical Sciences |
 Election Citation
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Anna C. Balazs' research focuses on the computational modeling of complex chemical systems to design and predict the behavior of polymer nanocomposites and biomaterials.
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Research Interests
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Anna Balazs's laboratory is interested in: 1) developing new computational methods that capture the behavior of complex, multi-component systems, 2) using these models to predict new behavior and, 3) designing systems that harness this behavior for technological applications. In carrying out this research, her group examined the properties of materials that involve cooperative interactions among multiple interacting components. For example, her lab uncovered fundamental mechanisms that control the behavior of: polymer/nanoparticle composites, self-healing materials, self-oscillating gels, materials that can "compute", and self-powered fluidic pumps. Through these studies, her group devised foundational methods to simulate three dimensional shape changes in a range of stimuli-responsive polymer networks, as well as the coupling between catalytic reactions, fluid flow, and deformable materials in confined geometries. These studies are facilitating the creation of self-sustained, chemically-driven microfluidic platforms, fluidic devices that autonomously sort cells, self-regulating polymeric systems, and self-focusing optical devices.
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