Emergent Functionality Through Multi-Material 3D Architected Electronics

ABSTRACT

Advanced fabrication and manufacturing are evolving to enable unprecedented design freedom, multi-scale features, and intricate three-dimensional topologies. However, directly printing multiple materials —including structural, dielectric, conductive, and functional components—remains a significant challenge, particularly in the development of complex devices that respond to diverse stimuli such as sound, electricity, and mechanical forces. Unlike biological systems, where sensing, actuation, and control are seamlessly integrated, few synthetic materials exhibit comparable system-level complexity.

In this talk, I will present a suite of novel multi-material additive manufacturing processes that enable the precise three-dimensional assembly of structural, conductive, and dielectric materials. By expanding our ability to integrate diverse material classes into complex architectures, we unlock new opportunities for materials that transcend conventional constitutive relationships. This includes novel electro-mechanical coupling behaviors, new toughening mechanisms, and symmetry-breaking effects, leading to emergent functionalities beyond their individual constituents. As our capability to assemble materials with intricate topologies advances, a new challenge emerges: developing rapid design strategies to uncover and harness unprecedented material properties for real-world applications. To address this, I will introduce data-driven inverse design approaches that leverage emergent material behaviors to enable new concepts in robotic sensing, energy storage, healthcare, and structural systems—opening pathways for new material and technology discovery.

More about Prof. Rayne Zheng:
https://vcresearch.berkeley.edu/faculty/xiaoyu-rayne-zheng