Scott R. White, professor of aerospace engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign is a world-leading expert in material science. He is well-known for pioneering the development of self-healing polymerbased materials. As a member of the Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology, he has been making important contributions to the development of autonomous materials systems inspired by biology.
His research applies principles of biological systems, such as healing and vasculature, to materials such as plastics, electronic circuits and batteries. White is known for designing materials embedded with microcapsules that rupture when cracked or damaged, filling the cracks and “healing” the plastic or circuit.
Professor White will use his stay in Germany to establish collaborations with groups deriving biomimetic approaches from the study of natural materials such as bone, plants or protein fibers.