3D Printing Functional Materials & Devices

Dr. Michael C. McAlpine

Michael C. McAlpine is the Benjamin Mayhugh Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Minnesota (2015-Present). He was an Assistant Professor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at Princeton University (2008-2015). He received a B.S. in Chemistry with honors from Brown University (2000) and a Ph.D. in Chemistry from Harvard University (2006). His research is focused on 3D printing functional materials & devices. He has received a number of awards: Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE), NIH Director’s New Innovator Award, TR35 Young Innovator Award, Air Force Young Investigator Award, Intelligence Community Young Investigator Award, DuPont Young Investigator Award, National Academy of Sciences Frontiers Fellow, DARPA Young Faculty Award, American Asthma Foundation Early Excellence Award, Graduate Student Mentoring Award, Extreme Mechanics Letters Young Lecturer, National Academy of Engineering Frontiers in Engineering.

More than 50 people joined MAS for an evening with Dr. McAlpine at the University of Minnesota to explore the latest biomedical uses of 3D printing. The ability to interweave biological and functional materials could enable the creation of new bioelectric devices, impacting fields such as regenerative bioelectronics, smart prosthetics, medical robotics, and human-machine interfaces. Participants learned how new strategies such as extrusion-based multi-material 3D printing are being developed to overcome the challenges of interweaving soft, strechable, temperature-sensitive 3D biological platforms with functional electronics. Dr. McAlpine explained how the blending of 3D printing, functional materials, and 'living' platforms may enable next-generation 3D printed devices.