Virginia Soft Matter Workshop X

The Virginia Soft Matter Workshop X is a collaborative gathering designed to bring together researchers, scientists, and students from the Commonwealth with a shared interest in the field of soft matter, which encompasses a wide range of materials, including polymers, colloids, liquid crystals, foams, gels, biological matter, granular matter, and more.. The VSM X Workshop aims to foster interdisciplinary dialogue, promote the exchange of ideas, integrate students and post-docs into the community, and showcase recent advancements in soft matter research—all to deepen our understanding of the complex behaviors and applications of soft matter systems. 

The VSM X Workshop will not charge registration fees and will provide complimentary breakfast, coffee breaks, and lunch. However, you still need to register so we can get an accurate attendance. 

The Virginia Soft Matter (VSM) Workshop series began in February 2014 at James Madison University with generous support from the 4-VA Consortium. In the following years, the Workshop rotated among various Virginia Institutions, including Virginia Tech (October 2014, 2018, 2025), University of Virginia (2015, 2019), Virginia Commonwealth University (2016, 2023), and James Madison University (2017, 2024). VSM X will be held at Virginia Tech on October 18, 2025. We are seeking volunteers to organize future VSM events, which are expected to rotate among Virginia institutions annually.

Sound Bite
Conference participants are invited to contribute sound bites. Only a title is needed at registration.  A 3-4 slide PDF of your sound bite is due to chengsf@vt.edu by October 10, 2025.

 8:15 – Registration and Breakfast 
9:00 – Introductory remarks: Shengfeng Cheng (VT)
            Opening address: Kevin Pitt (College of Science, VT)
            Welcome: Randy Helfin (Senior Associate Vice President, Research and Innovation, VT)
Session 1: Chair, Rana Ashkar (Virginia Tech)  
 9:10 – Invited Speaker: Michael Bartlett (Virginia Tech)
           Title: Soft Materials for Multifunctional Electronics, Robots, and Adhesives 
9:50 – Sound bite presentations I
10:30 – Coffee break 
Session 2: Chair, Uwe Tauber (Virginia Tech) 
11:00 – Invited Speaker: Camille Bilodeau (Univ. Virginia)
             Title: Protein Adsorption to Peptide-Functionalized Surfaces: The Interplay Between Peptide Structure,                                                 Surface Morphology, and Protein Adsorption Strength
11:40 – Sound bite presentations II
12:00 – Lunch

Session 3: Chair, Nadir Kaplan (Virginia Tech)
 1:20 – Invited Speaker: Daniel Beller (Johns Hopkins Univ.)
           Title: Braids, Vortices, and Twist Lines in the Topological Defects of Active Nematics
 2:00 – Sound bite presentations III
 2:20 – Invited Speaker: Leah Spangler (Virginia Commonwealth Univ.)
           Title: Engineering Proteins for the Biomanufacturing of Optoelectronic Nanomaterials
3:00 – Coffee break 
Session 4: Chair, Vinh Nguyen (Virginia Tech)
 3:30 – Sound bite presentations IV
 4:10 – Invited Speaker: Juan Cebral (George Mason Univ.)
           Title: Blood Flow Dynamics and Cerebral Aneurysm Wall Structure
4:50 – Concluding remarks