Michael Norton

I study soft, active matter and living systems using continuum models, and tools from dynamical systems and control theory. My mixed background in Mechanical Engineering (BS, MS, PhD) and Physics (postdocs at Brandeis and Rochester Institute of Technology) gives me a unique perspective on biology and materials design. I am particularly interested in the inverse problems associated with rationally engineering far-from-equilibrium chemo-mechanical materials in order to imbue them with pattern-forming abilities often associated with biology.