{"681566":{"#nid":"681566","#data":{"type":"event","title":"PhD Defense by Ethan Wold","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EIn partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EDoctor of Philosophy in Quantitative Biosciences\u003Cbr\u003Ein the School of Biological Sciences\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EEthan Wold\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EDefends his thesis:\u003Cbr\u003EEvolution of rapid wingbeats in insects through supra-resonant elasticity and actuation\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EWednesday, April 16, 2025\u003Cbr\u003E12:00pm Eastern\u003Cbr\u003ELocation: Howey Physics Building N201-202\u003Cbr\u003EZoom: https:\/\/gatech.zoom.us\/j\/99358246173\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAdvisor:\u0026nbsp;\u003Cbr\u003EDr. Simon Sponberg\u003Cbr\u003ESchool of Physics\u003Cbr\u003EGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ECommittee:\u0026nbsp;\u003Cbr\u003EDr. Nicholas Gravish\u003Cbr\u003EDepartment of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering\u003Cbr\u003EUniversity of California \u2013 San Diego\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EDr. Gregory Sawicki\u003Cbr\u003EWoodruff School of Mechanical Engineering\u003Cbr\u003EGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EDr. Saad Bhamla\u003Cbr\u003ESchool of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering\u003Cbr\u003EGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EDr. Flavio Fenton\u0026nbsp;\u003Cbr\u003ESchool of Physics\u003Cbr\u003EGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAbstract:\u003Cbr\u003E\u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp;Nature\u2019s fastest fliers, swimmers, and runners have evolved to generate and control\u003Cbr\u003Emechanical power over very short timescales to move around the world. Insects push this\u003Cbr\u003Eform of locomotion to the extreme, generating wingbeats across three orders of magnitude\u003Cbr\u003Ein wingbeat frequency. The presence of elasticity in the thorax of insects gives them\u003Cbr\u003Eresonant mechanics, suggesting that insects may flap at their resonant frequency to fly more\u003Cbr\u003Eefficiently. For fast-flapping insects like bees and flies, specialized stretch-activated flight\u003Cbr\u003Emuscles self-excite to limit cycle oscillations at a frequency that is influenced by resonance.\u003Cbr\u003EHowever, a lack of direct, comparative studies of insect exoskeleton and muscle limits our\u003Cbr\u003Eunderstanding of whether and how insect flight systems are broadly tuned to resonance.\u003Cbr\u003EThis work explores how insect wingbeat frequencies are influenced by and emerge\u003Cbr\u003Efrom morphology, elasticity, and actuation. In Aim 1, we explore how the material\u003Cbr\u003Eproperties of insect exoskeleton behave under non-sinusoidal conditions typical of flight.\u003Cbr\u003EIn Aim 2, we measured resonant properties comparatively across moths that vary in\u003Cbr\u003Ewingbeat frequency, illuminating which features of the flight system change to enable\u003Cbr\u003Efavorable resonant mechanics. In Aim 3, we use materials testing and a biophysical\u003Cbr\u003Emodel of stretch-activated muscle to show that fast-flapping insects\u2019 wingbeat frequencies\u003Cbr\u003Eare dictated by interplay between muscle and mechanical timescales. Finally, in Aim 4,\u003Cbr\u003Ewe develop an experimental paradigm for giving muscle novel physiological properties in\u003Cbr\u003Eclosed-loop called the physiological dynamic clamp. We use it to uncover the minimal\u003Cbr\u003Ephysiology needed to elicit transitions in flight actuation mode in real flight muscle, which\u003Cbr\u003Ehave enabled wingbeat frequency diversification in insects over evolutionary time.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":"","format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EEvolution of rapid wingbeats in insects through supra-resonant elasticity and actuation\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Evolution of rapid wingbeats in insects through supra-resonant elasticity and actuation"}],"uid":"27707","created_gmt":"2025-04-03 17:58:30","changed_gmt":"2025-04-03 17:58:56","author":"Tatianna Richardson","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","field_event_time":{"event_time_start":"2025-04-16T12:00:00-04:00","event_time_end":"2025-04-16T14:00:00-04:00","event_time_end_last":"2025-04-16T14:00:00-04:00","gmt_time_start":"2025-04-16 16:00:00","gmt_time_end":"2025-04-16 18:00:00","gmt_time_end_last":"2025-04-16 18:00:00","rrule":null,"timezone":"America\/New_York"},"location":"Howey Physics Building N201-202","extras":[],"groups":[{"id":"221981","name":"Graduate Studies"}],"categories":[],"keywords":[{"id":"100811","name":"Phd Defense"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[{"id":"1788","name":"Other\/Miscellaneous"}],"invited_audience":[{"id":"78771","name":"Public"}],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[],"email":[],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}