Li-ion batteries are commercially successful power sources for a diverse range of applications. However, the characteristics of Li-ion batteries make them susceptible to both swelling and thermal runaway, resulting in failed products, and occasionally in fires and explosions. In some cases, defects in lithium batteries are not detected prior to use. For example, recently both GM and Hyunadai had to recall their EVs due to defects in the LG Chem batteries. In other cases, some companies manufacture batteries with inadequate safety features or misrepresent the true nature of their battery. To mitigate safety hazards prior to the occurrence of thermal runaway, various strategies have been applied for battery cells, as well as battery packages. This lecture reviews the safety issues and safety strategies for Li-ion batteries.

Greater uncertainty in global trade flows and black swan events, such as COVID-19, have increasingly challenged the current supply chain business model. Digital technologies have been recognized as a key enabler for enabling resilient and responsive supply chains. In this seminar, I would like to share about the ongoing research program Supply Chain 4.0, which aims to research and co-develop digital and automation technologies with industry members to enable responsive, resilient and secured supply chain management processes to prepare company for the ever volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous (VUCA) global supply chain environment. Details of the three research theme will be shared, which including Supply Chain Connectivity, Data-Driven Optimization and Smart Warehouse Automation for next generation logistics.

Therapeutic intervention for Parkinson’s disease (PD) via deep brain stimulation (DBS) represents the current paradigm for managing the advanced stages of the disease in patients when treatment with pharmaceuticals becomes inadequate. Although DBS is the prevailing therapy in these cases, the overall effectiveness and reliability of DBS can be diminished over time due to biocompatibility issues with the electronic implants. To achieve a lifetime solution, this talk envisions that the next generation of neural implants will be entirely “biological” and “autologous”, both physically and functionally. Thus, in this work, we set forth toward developing a biological brain pacemaker (BBP) for treating PD. Our focus is to investigate engineering strategies for creating a multicellular biological circuit that integrates innate biological design and function while incorporating principles of neuromodulation to create a biological mechanism for delivering high-frequency stimulation with cellular specificity. We engineer a 3D multicellular circuit design built entirely from biological and biocompatible components using established tissue engineering protocols to demonstrate the feasibility of creating a living neural implant. Furthermore, we show we can organize cellular materials to create potential functional connections in normal physiological conditions, thus laying down the foundation of designing a high-frequency pacing system for selective and controlled therapeutic neurostimulation. The findings from this work may lead to the future development of autologous living neural implants that both circumvent the issues inherent in electronic neural implants and form more biocompatible devices with lifelong robustness to repair and restore motor functions, with the ultimate benefit for patients with PD.

Inter-modal transfer efficiency is the key tosuccess for the development of Inter-modalpassenger transportation system, such ashigh-speed rail trains and last-mile transport.Long waiting time often occurs for passengerswhen they get off trains and transfer to taxi ore-hailing services. On the other hand, taxi ande-hailing service drives also suffer from longwaiting time for picking up customers at theover-crowded pickup points. In light of thetransfer' efficiency challenge, it becomesurgent for transport hub operators (e.gairports,railway stations) to designsystematic approaches to maximize thetransfer efficiency between rail trains andlast-mile transport. In this paper, we propose

Due to the rapid population aging globally, the current trend of robotic research has been shifting from traditional industrial robots that are separated from humans to human-centered robots that coexist, cooperate, and collaborate with humans. A major motivation for introducing compliance to human-centered robots is physical human-robot interaction.

Widespreadadoption oflow-carbontechnologies such as electric vehicles,renewables, and heat pumps requires urgentadaptations of existing transportation andenergy infrastructures. However, questionsremain on the effectiveness and robustness ofvarious strategies for infrastructure expansionand demand management to decarbonizewhile incurring minimum disruptions tohuman activities. Addressing these questionscan be challenging because it requires aspatially and temporally explicit modeling ofthe variations and uncertainties in humantravel and energy-consuming behaviors,technology performance, and resourceavailability. This talk will discuss some of myrecent work on tackling this challenge around1) planning of charging stations and powergrid for personal electric vehicles, 2) demandmanagement of electric vehicle charging, 3)

Stem cells are controlled by the microenvironment termed the “niche” to control tissue development, renewal, and regeneration. How niche signals dictate stem cell behavior is a central question underlying the use of stem cells in regenerative medicine. Niche signals such as EGF instructs cells to proliferate, while Wnt proteins act to maintain the proliferative capacity of cells. However, how these niche signals control cell division during tissue growth and regeneration is not fully understood. In this talk, I will show my work that identified molecular mechanisms of how niche signals such as EGF and Wnt control cell division, and how they contribute to tissue growth and regeneration. More specifically, I will focus on the novel mechanisms for Wnt signaling in control of cell cycle progression in the liver.

lt is expected that commercial use of dronesin the near future will involve delivery serviceoperations by e-commerce companies. Weconsider relevantstrategic andtacticadecisions that these retailers will face indrone-based delivery operations, and derivepolicies on when to offer drone delivery, whatdelivery capacity to maintain, and whatamount to charge for such deliveries. To thisend, we develop a Markov decision processframework, andintroduce two(MDP)heuristic procedures, through which near-optimalclosed-formsolutions canbeobtained. The results are aimed at helpingonline retailers to determine in real timewhether and to what extent to offer drone-based delivery for given product categories indifferent service zones. ln addition, we studydelivery fee structures and identify drone

Mechanosensitive channels transduce physical force into electrochemical signaling and play essential roles in touch, hearing, and proprioception. Several classes of mechanosensitive channels have been identified, including the degenerin and epithelial Na+ channels (DEG/ENaCs), transient receptor potential (TRP) proteins, transmembrane channel-like (TMC) proteins, and Piezo ion channels. Mechanosensitive ion channels are not only expressed in sensory systems but also in various tissues throughout the body to regulate numerous developmental processes, such as vascular development and erythrocyte volume homeostasis. However, the involvement of mechanosensitive channels in neuronal development is not understood. In this talk, I will present our recent works about how DEG/ENaC mechanosensitive channels regulate the growth and branching of dendrites during neuronal development and what their roles are in the proprioceptive system in C. elegans.

As a key enabling technology of Industry 4.0, Digital Twin has been applied to various industrial domains covering different lifecycle phases to provide a comprehensive virtual description of products and systems. While the benefit of Digital Twin is undoubted, it faces challenges when dealing with certain complex industrial systems, which requires integrating all relevant data, information and knowledge involving multiple domains and across the entire lifecycle. Semantic technologies, such as ontology engineering and knowledge graphs, provide potential solutions by empowering Digital Twins with augmented interoperability and cognitive capabilities. The Model Based Systems Engineering (MBSE) technology facilitates the formalized application of modeling to support cross-domain and cross-lifecycle information representation. Enabled by these state-of-the-art technologies, the Cognitive Digital Twin (CDT) concept has been recently proposed which reveals a promising evolution of the current Digital Twin concept towards a more intelligent, comprehensive, and full lifecycle representation of complex systems. In this seminar, the concept of CDT and its key features will be presented, together with application cases developed in collaborative projects with EU industries.