The Mechanics of Materials and Structures (MOMS) program in the Division of Civil, Mechanical, and Manufacturing Innovation (CMMI) of the National Science Foundation (NSF) has announced award #2023179 to our proposal entitled “Mechanics of Active Slide-Ring Networks: from Molecular Motors to Molecular Machine“ , with Franck Vernerey as PI and Carson Bruns as Co-PI. The project provides almost $0.5M to support the development of a statistical mechanics theory (Vernerey), validated by experiment (Bruns), that can explain and predict the mechanics of slide-ring gels and actuators.

Purnendu, Kailey, and Jesse have all passed their Preliminary Exams this summer. An official welcome to the PhD program and congratulations all of you!

Carson gave the first of a new series of webinars hosted by the Chemistry Department at the University of Zurich. Many thanks to Professors Michal Juríček and Michal Shoshan for the invitation and hosting!

Since 1999 the Graduate School at the University of Colorado Boulder has been awarding $1000 grants, named in honor of Beverly Sears and funded by generous donors, to graduate students who compete annually for these prizes. Pitching her chemistry robot project, Kailey Shara was one of this year’s winners. Congratulations Kailey!

Carson hosted an Art Pop-Up in the engineering center at CU Boulder, where students wandering by had a chance to stop and try their hand at tattooing, while learning about our work on tattoo innovation.

Carson gave a Bufftalk (CU’s homegrown version of a TED talk) to CU alumni, students, parents, prospectives, and friends at the award-winning NEXT event in New York City. Watch the Bufftalk here.

The Vantis Institute has developed an innovative method of pigmenting the dermis of the scalp (in a manner akin to permanent makeup) for hair loss restoration treatment. Bruns is now the first member of their board of advisors. Together, we hope to revolutionize medical aesthetics by collaborating on the most cutting-edge technology available in the world of tattoos and permanent makeup.

Did you know that, although the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has the authority to regulate color additives in cosmetic products (and tattoo inks are considered cosmetics) no pigment has ever been FDA-approved for tattoo inks and permanent makeup? In a way, all tattoo inks are illegal, although the FDA has, historically, not exercised its right to regulate the industry. Carson has joined forces with the Association of Food and Drug Officials (AFDO) Body Art Committee to get the first Color Additive Petition for tattoo inks through FDA approval. It will be a long process, but if we are successful, it will help establish protocols for the FDA to help maintain the safety of pigments that are injected into the skin of hundreds of millions of Americans.

Our work on nano-engineered tattoos is featured in the Tattoo: Identity Through Ink exhibit at the Vesterheim Norwegian-American Museum in Decorah, Iowa, from June 19, 2019 through April 26, 2020. Carson gave the third and final lecture of their Fall lecture series in cooperation with the Scandinavian Studies and Chemistry Departments at Luther College, his alma matter. What an honor it was!

Carson discusses our biomedical tattoos in an episode of The History Channel’s Ancient Aliens. Watch the episode.

See the latest story on our tattoo research over at Blogthinkbig.com

A small group of teens joined Carson today to learn about smart tattoos in the Teen Science Cafe at the Belmar Library in Lakewood, CO. The hands-on activity involved tattooing bananas with our smart (thermochromic and photochromic) tattoo inks! Many thanks to all the teens who participated.

Carson gave a keynote talk on Tech Tattoos at the me Convention in Frankfurt, a future-focused technology conference organized by SXSW and Mercedes-Benz in partnership.

Carson speaks about tech tattoos, molecular machines, and the future on The Disruptors, a podcast to shift humanity’s focus to the future.

https://disruptors.fm/141-how-nanotech-tattoos-will-give-us-superhuman-strength-senses-and-merge-with-biotech-carson-bruns

Here's the YouTube link: https://youtu.be/DdYfnwR-T1M

Or check it out on iTunes or Stitcher

Read Carson’s latest article on the rise of smart tattoos on the TEDxMileHigh blog.

Karan has passed the preliminary exam in the Materials Science and Engineering Program, the first milestone toward the PhD. Up next is the comprehensive exam. Well done Karan!

Carson’s TEDx talk, re-titled Could a Tattoo Help You Stay Healthy? has been featured on the homepage of TED.com

Check out our TEDx talk on the future of tattoos.

Jesse was the recipient of the “best presentation” award in the Biomedical category at the Graduate Engineering Annual Research & Recruitment Symposium (GEARRS) of the Department of Mechanical Engineering. Congratulations Jesse!

Kailey Shara and Purnendu are the first ATLAS PhD students to join the Emergent Nanomaterials Lab. Kailey joins us from Case Western Reserve University and Purnendu joins us from IIT Roorkee. Welcome Kailey and Purnendu!