Description:

Title: Bridging Computation and Matter: Programming Intelligence into Physical Systems

Abstract:
Scientific discovery faces an asymmetry: machine learning models can predict thousands of novel materials in seconds, simulations can systematically explore vast design spaces, yet physical validation requires months of manual experimentation. While software is programmable and rapidly iterable, physical experimentation remains fragmented across specialized, infrastructure-heavy labs and tacit expertise. This gap raises a central question: how can physical experimentation match the programmability of software? My research addresses this by bridging computation and matter through programmable materials, fabrication systems, and laboratory infrastructure that introduce software-like adaptability into materials, biological processes, and experimental workflows. I pursue this vision through three interconnected research thrusts: materials that encode intelligent behaviors without electronics; fabrication platforms that harness biological growth as a controllable manufacturing process; and modular automation systems that transform experiments into self-optimizing workflows. In this talk, I will present systems ranging from self-burying seed carriers to mycelium-based bio-fabrication platforms to modular lab automation frameworks that learn from execution and optimize protocols in real time, illustrating a pathway toward democratizing experimental access, accelerating materials discovery, and bridging the programmability gap between software and physical reality.

Bio: Danli Luo is a PhD candidate in Human-Centered Design & Engineering at the University of Washington, with an M.S. in Materials Science and Engineering from Carnegie Mellon University. Her research reimagines scientific instrumentation by embedding programmability and physical intelligence directly into materials, biological processes, and experimental workflows. Drawing from human-computer interaction, robotics, and bio-inspired design, she develops materially intelligent instruments, adaptive fabrication platforms, and autonomous laboratory systems used by restoration ecologists, materials scientists, synthetic biologists, chefs, and educators. Her work has been published in Nature, Science Advances, RSC Advances, CHI, and UIST, featured on the cover of Nature, exhibited at the London Design Biennale, and licensed by Fortune 500 companies. Danli’s honors include MIT Technology Review 35 Innovators Under 35, Heidelberg Laureate Forum Young Researcher, and Fast Company’s World Changing Ideas Honorable Mention.