“The Mechanics of Fracture and Adhesion of Polymer Coatings”

Michael Thouless, Ph.D.
Professor, Mechanical Engineering
Professor, Materials Science and Engineering
Arthur F. Thurnau Professor, Mechanical Engineering
Janine Johnson Weins Professor

The first concept that will be explored in this talk is the time-dependent nature of cracking in polymeric coatings, with a particular interest in the coatings for automotive polymeric glazing. Experiments suggest that crack velocities in these particular systems, while sensitive to visco-elastic properties, are controlled by kinetic processes.
The second topic will address the adhesion of ice to polymeric coatings. In particular, the work illustrates the dual role that both interfacial strength and interfacial toughness play in determining the conditions for delamination. Experimental studies show that the force required to delaminate a layer of ice from a polymeric coating depends on the scale of the problem.

“Collecting Long-range Genetic and Epigenetic Information at the Single-molecule Level

Yifan Liu, Ph.D.
Research Assistant Professor, Epigenetics and Chromatin Biology
Department of Pathology
Michigan Medicine
University of Michigan

Recent developments in sequencing and optical mapping technologies open up new possibilities to collect long-range genetic and epigenetic information at the single-molecule level.  Three platforms from PacBio, Oxford Nanopore Technologies, and Bionano Genomics will be surveyed, exploring their potentials and limitations.  In particular, PacBio sequencing has been successfully used for mapping in eukaryotic cells the distribution of N6-methyladenine (6mA), a DNA base modification.  The sequencing results support 6mA as a transcription-associated epigenetic mark, and suggest a molecular mechanism for its maintenance after DNA replication. 

Pizza will be served!