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Department Events

Events

• Oct

  27

  Appl Math: Mike Shelley on "Self-Organization, Flows, and Transport in (and of) Living Cells"

  McCormick-Engineering Sciences and Applied Mathematics (ESAM)

  4:00 PM Hive Room 2350, Ford Motor Company Engineering Design Center

  EVENT DETAILS

  Title: Self-Organization, Flows, and Transport in (and of) Living Cells

  Speaker: Mike Shelley, Flatiron Institute

  Abstract: Organisms organize their internal contents at the microscale through striking dynamical processes. In the early C. elegans embryo, pronuclei are positioned by the interplay of centrosomal arrays and molecular motors as the cell prepares for its first division. In female Drosophila, self-organized intracellular flows transport materials across growing egg cells, establishing functional asymmetries essential for development. And in males, ultralong sperm - as long as the organism itself - are packed and stored in a remarkable state of ordered unrest.

  I will describe our work at Flatiron in understanding these phenomena by tightly interfacing multiscale modeling and simulation with quantitative experiment. The theoretical frameworks draw on fluid and nonlinear dynamics, coarse-graining, and active matter, and show how applied mathematics can illuminate the biophysical mechanisms that enable living systems to build, move, and organize themselves.

  Zoom: https://northwestern.zoom.us/j/94666309272

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  TIME Monday, October 27, 2025 at 4:00 PM - 5:00 PM

  LOCATION Hive Room 2350, Ford Motor Company Engineering Design Center    map it

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  CONTACT Ted Shaeffer    ted.shaeffer@northwestern.edu EMAIL

  CALENDAR McCormick-Engineering Sciences and Applied Mathematics (ESAM)

• Nov

  20

  Appl Math: Ed Lyman on "Elastic and Dynamic Response of Membranes Across Scales"

  McCormick-Engineering Sciences and Applied Mathematics (ESAM)

  11:15 AM M416, Technological Institute

  EVENT DETAILS

  Title: Elastic and Dynamic Response of Membranes Across Scales

  Speaker: Ed Lyman, University of Delaware

  Abstract: Cell membranes are quasi-2D soft materials, about 5 nm thick but with hundreds of square microns of surface area. They are a bilayer structure, assembled from amphiphilic molecules (lipids) and proteins. The function of membranes imposes challenging design constraints: impermeable yet fluid, mechanically robust yet deformable. Across the tree of life, cells meet these challenges by synthesizing a diverse array of lipids, whose chemistry and interactions determine the key continuum properties, like stiffness against bending and the viscosity which controls diffusion and encounter of membrane bound signaling partners. In this talk I will present our group's work using simulations to connect lipid chemistry and membrane properties, focusing on two applications. The first project considers the membranes of a family of marine invertebrates called ctenophores, which synthesize a specialized lipid chemistry to maintain membrane deformability at high pressure. The second project focuses on how lipid chemistry is used to control the viscosity of the membrane, and the challenges that come with trying to measure the viscosity of soft, thin, not-quite two dimensional fluids.

  Zoom: https://northwestern.zoom.us/j/95131921396

  -----

  To subscribe to the Applied Mathematics Colloquia List send a message to LISTSERV@LISTSERV.IT.NORTHWESTERN.EDU with the command:

  SUBSCRIBE esam-seminar FirstName LastName

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  TIME Thursday, November 20, 2025 at 11:15 AM - 12:15 PM

  LOCATION M416, Technological Institute    map it

  ADD TO CALENDAR

  CONTACT Ted Shaeffer    ted.shaeffer@northwestern.edu EMAIL

  CALENDAR McCormick-Engineering Sciences and Applied Mathematics (ESAM)

• Dec

  13

  Northwestern Engineering PhD Hooding and Master's Recognition Ceremony

  McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science

  4:00 PM Pick-Staiger Concert Hall

  EVENT DETAILS

  The ceremony will take place on Saturday, December 13 in Pick-Staiger Concert Hall, 50 Arts Circle Drive.

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  TIME Saturday, December 13, 2025 at 4:00 PM - 6:00 PM

  LOCATION Pick-Staiger Concert Hall    map it

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  CONTACT Andi Joppie    andi.joppie@northwestern.edu EMAIL

  CALENDAR McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science