Adapt insect adhesion to the technological world

Sophie Gernay will publicly defend her doctoral thesis entitled "Modular capillary adhesion inspired by biomimetics"

Insects natural ability to walk upside-down and on any kind of substrate is the result of more than 300 million years of evolution. This highly efficient mechanism combines strong reliable adhesion, fast detachment, self-cleaning and wear resistance. It is based on the presence of micron-size slender structures coupled to a liquid secretion. The field of microtechnology struggles on the other hand to grasp and release components under the micron scale. The goal of this work is to draw inspiration from biological adhesion and to adapt those findings to artificial structures able to generate some similarly controlled adhesion.

Promotor : Tristan Gilet

Practical information

The defence (in english) is open to all and will take place on July 8, 2019 at 15:00 pm, in Amphi 02 of the Mathematics Institute, Building B37, at Sart Tilman (access)