(4mc) Activity-Driven Functional Liquid Crystalline Matter

My research interests comprise the study, tunability, activation, and application of synthetic anisotropic building blocks that self-assemble at different length scales. Examples in living organisms are self-assembled phospholipids in liquid crystalline phases that create cellular membranes or living organism striated muscle tissue. At another level of complexity, collective behavior benefits living organisms to defend themselves from environmental threats and other organisms. Their capacity to respond to these conditions relies on the level of organization more than the strength of the individual members of the community striving for a common goal¹. Examples at microscopic scales are the sulfur-oxidizing bacteria on a hexagonal crystal-like structure to increase the oxygen supply² or army ants that aggregate to protect the colony from floods and create a shell to protect the queen from wind gusts³.

The anisotropic morphologies bring structural support, allowing essential mechanical responses that give functionality and adaptability to external changes⁴. Inspired by nature, I try to understand these fundamental mechanisms for developing a new generation of synthetic/hybrid materials with applications that go from electronic devices to medicine. I propose two main routes to perform experimental research in the short term and two other routes in the long term. In brief, I entitled these routes as:

Short-term research proposal

1. Active inclusions within liquid crystals with directed motion driven by the inclusion geometry, and the medium and boundaries topology.
2. Activity-driven percolated states implementing high concentrated active colloids showing motility-induced phase separation (MIPS).

Long-term research proposal

1. Activity-driven percolated states in the presence of binary mixtures of active particles and passive polar particle.
2. Continuum active system of polymerized microtubules of tubulin protein driven by the extensional motion of kinesin micromotors fueled by ATP, mixed with carbon spherical particles and, for a later stage, with carbon nanotubes. It is expected to find coexistence of passive and active liquid crystalline phases tuned by the activity of the microtubules.

General goals

-The design and development of activity-driven functional materials.

-The control of directionality of colloids by the substrate’s topology.

-The emergence of electrical and mechanical percolation in active systems as a functional property.

-Tunability and adaptability of activity and percolation by external parameters to modify the collective actuation of the individual active elements at the microscale.

Teaching Interests

Throughout my life, I have learned that the concept of education is not constrained to imparting knowledge. It is also about shaping minds and curiosity, and it is a process of training individuals to become lifelong learners outside of the classroom. Personal and academic students' backgrounds are also important to address an effective approach to teaching and mentoring. My teaching philosophy is based on the belief that every student has unique talents and abilities, and I aim to create an inclusive learning environment where everyone can thrive. As an educator, I will provide the tools to the students to shape a better future for their careers and, even more, their lives as community members. In this teaching statement, I want to share my journey in academia and my passion for education, highlight my teaching style, and demonstrate my commitment to the students.

I began to reflect on different teaching approaches during my undergrad studies. My primary education took place in Mexican private schools. Then, I transitioned to public universities for my professional education as an undergraduate student and later as a graduate student. I gained more experience when I moved from my home state university to the National University of Mexico (UNAM), where I found more resources to learn and perform research. For undergraduates in Mexico, completing a social service is a requirement to graduate. As a former Physics and Chemistry Olympic Competitor, I focused my service on mentoring and training students for the State Physics Olympiad. Funded by the Physics and Mathematics program at the University of Michoacan (UMSNH), I traveled to low-income communities where I delivered educational tools to all interested High School students. I designed courses and workshops for teaching Physics and basic Mathematics to solve meaningful problems different from the ones in textbooks. Applying constant evaluations and allowing the students to share their thoughts permitted me to identify those students with abilities and desires to continue training for the Olympiads and potential future students in STEM. As a graduate student, I had the opportunity to assist teaching in three undergraduate courses and a graduate course. During the same period, I worked for the Tutor-Doctor company. My role was to mentor students at all levels of education in Mathematics, Physics, and Chemistry. The goal was to organize individual teaching sessions in which I focused on the student's requirements to succeed. This experience allowed me to identify other types of issues associated with low competence in school, such as attention deficit disorder leading to a motivation decrement and incorrect teaching practices from school teachers.

After earning a PhD, I started a postdoctoral research stay at the University of Chicago, and recently, as part of a fruitful collaboration, I completed a nine-month visiting postdoctoral research stay at the ESPCI-PSL in Paris. At UChicago, I have been mentoring two undergraduate students in Molecular Engineering during summer research programs. I currently co-advice one of these students in his thesis. As a member of the UChicago MRSEC, I also had the opportunity to participate in outreach workshops focused on elementary and high school students. Additionally, I have been an instructor of high school and early undergraduate students in the Sciences Clubs program (Clubes de Ciencia) in Mexico, in collaboration with partners located in the US. At the ESPCI, I mentored a master's student in Chemical Engineering for research experimental activities. Besides the impact on my academic career, all these experiences allowed me to practice other mentoring methods and communicate with colleagues to share valuable information that shaped my critical thinking in education. Finally, I am certified by UChicago for completing mentor, and diversity and inclusion trainings.

Teaching Goals

My teaching and mentoring philosophy is based on my experience from diverse fronts. My goal is to prepare students for solving problems in their careers and promote critical and reflective thinking for nurturing their personal and social growth and their communities' future. Interaction and effective communication with students are essential to promote the development of their skills. When teaching a course or mentoring members of my research group, the students will develop independence of ideas, always advised to boost their success. In my ideals, everyone is welcome, and no discrimination is made for gender, ethnic group, cultural background, socioeconomic situation, religion, sexual orientation, or even emotionally impacted by a personal situation. I firmly believe education is a right for everyone.

References

¹Vernerey, F. J. et al. Biological active matter aggregates: Inspiration for smart colloidal materials. Advances in Colloid and Interface Science vol. 263 38–51 Preprint at https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cis.2018.11.006 (2019).

²Fenchel, T. & Glud, R. N. Veil architecture in a sulphide-oxidizing bacterium enhances countercurrent flux. Nature 394, 367–369 (1998).

³Mlot, N. J., Tovey, C. A. & Hu, D. L. Fire ants self-assemble into waterproof rafts to survive floods. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 108, 7669–7673 (2011).

⁴Wang, B. & Lu, Y. Multi‐dimensional micro/nanorobots with collective behaviors. SmartMat (2024) doi:10.1002/smm2.1263.