Lecture: Simon Schleicher

SEMM SEMINAR

 – Structural Engineering, Mechanics, and Materials
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
University of California, Berkeley

Monday, October 22, 12:00-1:00 pm in 502 Davis Hall

Simon Schleicher
Assistant Professor – UC Berkeley, Department of Architecture

“Bending-active Structures and Mechanisms”

Abstract
With his work on bending-active structures and mechanisms, Simon Schleicher envisions a different approach to design and construction that integrates hitherto neglected structural behaviors such as bending and buckling as potential form-giving strategies for new structural systems. By integrating Finite Element Methods into the early stages of the design process, Simon can ascertain the equilibrium states of multiple deflected components and create designs that consider material properties and stress limitations right from the start. In the resulting structures, bending is not avoided but instrumentalized to create complex, curved geometries from standard building products. With this fabrication method, which is less dependent on the production of expensive molds or other auxiliary formwork, Simon explores a new time and material-efficient alternative to traditional construction processes.

Short Bio
Simon Schleicher is an Assistant Professor at UC Berkeley’s Department of Architecture, where he specializes in the area of bending-active structures and bio-inspired compliant mechanisms. As an architectural designer, scholar, and educator, he seeks to facilitate dynamic links between architecture and other disciplines. His work position him at the forefront of an emerging discipline where architecture, engineering, and biology come together. Before coming to Berkeley, Simon earned a doctoral degree in engineering from the University of Stuttgart and Master of Architecture degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

 

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