Bioinspired Functional Materials for Adaptation to Marine Environments. Abdon Pena-Francesch

Abdon Pena-Francesch is an assistant professor in the Department of Materials Science & Engineering and Robotics Institute at the University of Michigan. He leads the BioInspired Materials Lab, an interdisciplinary research group working on functional materials science, polymer chemistry, and soft matter engineering to develop solutions for healthcare, robotics, and the environment. He obtained his PhD from Penn State University, and was a Humboldt Postdoctoral Fellow at the Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems. His work has been recognized by multiple awards including the AFOSR Young Investigator Program Award, the American Chemical Society PRF New Investigator Award, MRS Sustainability in Action Award, and the Alexander von Humboldt Fellowship for Postdoctoral Researchers.