UOW presents bionics at the Brewery

Oct 17, 2005

This month’s ‘Uni in the Brewery’ was all about bionics, body movements and beer.

Speakers from University of Wollongong’s Intelligent Polymer Research Institute (IPRI) broke down bionics and discussed the exciting new developments that are revolutionising the field when UOW presented the latest ‘Uni in the Brewery’ session on Wednesday 12 October.

Bionics is the interfacing of biology and electronics and requires the design and development of new materials that enable bio-functions to be monitored and controlled.

Speakers included Director of IPRI Professor Gordon Wallace, Dr Andrew Minett and Dr Simon Moulton.

Dr Minett, who has accepted a prestigious ARC QEII Fellowship at UOW, discussed how we seek materials capable of complex molecular recognition capabilities that possess and retain electronic properties. He spoke about recently discovered carbon nanotubes that provide a ‘beautiful’ platform for such adventures.

Dr Moulton presented exciting new developments in biocompatible materials capable of sustaining mammalian cell growth. He also looked at muscle fibres in an interactive session.

*Watch this space for information on upcoming 'Uni in the Brewery' sessions