2025 SES A.C. Eringen Medal Plenary Lecture

Molecules in Extreme Confinement – From Foundational Mechanics to Ionic Computing

Molecules in extreme confinement are pervasive in engineering and biology. When in confinement, molecules experience forces which are different from classical predictions. For example, when molecules move through confined spaces, their motion cannot be described using classical theories. Similarly, molecules at interfaces exhibit properties that can be vastly different from classical predictions. This talk will focus on basic mechanics governing molecular arrangement (e.g., packing, structure), their motion (e.g., diffusion and transport) and their interaction with solid surfaces. The talk will use examples from nanopores, interfaces, confined catalysis, and dynamic surfaces. The final part of the talk will focus on how basic molecular understanding can be exploited for brain-inspired ionic computing.

Bio of the speaker: Aluru received the B.E. degree with honors and distinction from the Birla Institute of Technology and Science (BITS), Pilani, India, the M.S. degree from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY, and the Ph.D. degree from Stanford University, Stanford, CA. He was a Postdoctoral Associate at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, from 1995 to 1997. He joined the Walker Department of Mechanical Engineering and the Oden Institute for Computational Engineering and Sciences at the University of Texas (UT) at Austin in August 2021. Prior to joining UT Austin, he was on the faculty at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) from 1998 to 2021.