Page 10 - ME-06-E
P. 10
Faculty News Smaller and Faster: Looking
Faculty Researchers Are Ahead
Stretching the Boundaries
of Material and Time An innovative technology
developed in Assoc. Prof. Moran
Developing Researchers from the Technion have Bercovici’s lab will enable cheap
developed a new testing method that allows and accurate production of optical
them to directly measure twin boundary motion lenses, changing the lives of
in nanometers (one millionth of a millimeter) and millions who do not have access
microseconds (one millionth of a second). The new to eyeglasses. The technology was
method opens up new horizons for understanding recently demonstrated successfully
the electro-, magneto-, and thermo-mechanical in a microgravity experiment run
reactions of a range of materials. by NASA.
The research, published in the prominent
scientific journal Advanced Functional Materials,
was led by Prof. Doron Shilo and PhD candidate
Emil Bronstein from the Faculty of Mechanical
Engineering along with Prof. Ronen Talmon from
the Faculty of Electrical and Computer Engineering.
The research was conducted in collaboration with
colleagues from the University of Debrecen in
Hungary.
A new technology developed at the Technion
that enables the speedy manufacture of
complex and accurate optical components,
with no need for casting or polishing, is on
the brink of changing the daily lives of billions of people
all over the world. The original technology was present-
ed at a NASA microgravity flight last December, where it
demonstrated 100% success.
Twin boundary motion is the dominant The technology is the brainchild of Assoc. Prof. Moran
phenomenon in twinning, a common mechanism
Prof. that exists in a range of materials. Until now, it was Bercovici and Asst. Prof Valeri Frumkin (then a post-doc-
Doron thought that the boundary moved continuously
Shilo when the material was loaded quickly, and jerkily toral researcher in Bercovici’s lab, now a post-doctoral
when the material was loaded slowly. But the
results of the experiment with the new system fellow at MIT), after the two saw the World Economic Fo-
show that the boundary’s behavior is similar
in both slow and rapid loading conditions. The rum’s report that 2.5 billion people in the world (mostly
researchers have suggested a theory to explain
these findings, which have potential for improving in developing countries) do not have access to eyeglass-
actuators (engines) that are based on twin
boundary motion. es. To solve this problem, the researchers developed a
The researchers are currently working on
developing machine learning-based methods that technology that allows them to shape a liquid polymer
will allow them to conduct similar research on
additional materials. into complex forms within a liquid environment by us-
ing the physical forces acting on it. Later, the polymer
stiffens and becomes a solid lens. “In this manner we
can produce components in a huge range of shapes and
sizes, from any liquid that can be solidified,” explains
Prof. Bercovici. “The process is environmentally sustain-
able and does not generate waste.” The innovation was
presented in the scientific journal Optica in an article
written by Mor Elgarisi, PhD student in Prof. Bercovici’s
10 | MEgazine | Faculty of Mechanical Engineering
