Image of Dr Chris Forman courtesy Department of Chemistry
Dr Christopher Forman will speak on Tuesday, 15 March as part of the University of Cambridge Science Festival.
Chris will deliver his lecture "Can iPods grow on trees?" at 7:30 pm at the Mill Lane Lecture Rooms.
Chris, who is a postdoctoral researcher in the department, uses the idea of iPods growing on trees to explain how biology makes its own versions of batteries, displays and processors, using tiny nanoscale components.
Chris, whose background is in theoretical physics, biophysics and nanotechnology, says he breaks apart an iPod to see what's inside and uses it as a “slice through biology” to explain concepts like self-assembly, electron transport in biosystems, and translation and transcription of DNA information into proteins, and how these can produce functionally similar components to those found in the iPod.
Along the way he explores the importance of soil, 3D printing, additive manufacturing, planetary boundary conditions and the thermodynamics of the planet--and how these things all couple together.
Chris received his PhD in biophysics in 2009 and completed his first postdoc at the Institute for Manufacturing, looking at the use of Focused Ion Beam to control the potential and topology of HOPG surfaces and their interactions with proteins. He is now working as a postdoc with Professor David Wales, using coarse grain basin hopping techniques to study bone and peptide based fibrous materials, in collaboration with Professor Melinda Duer and Dr Paul Barker.
The lecture is aimed at ages 15+ and although free, tickets should be booked in advance.