Engineering Life Conference 2022

From June 27th to 29th, 2022, the Engineering Life Conference "Active Matter Across Scales" organized by the Center for Molecular Bioengineering (B CUBE) of the TU Dresden took place in the Steigenberger Hotel in the historic center of Dresden. The aim of this conference was to bring together scientists and engineers to nourish an interdisciplinary multifaceted discussion of active matter across scales. The symposium was organized by Prof. Yael Politi from B CUBE.

The individual motion of active entities from molecules through cells and tissues to animals give rise to emergent collective behavior across large scales. These, often marvel, phenomena are described in the context of Active matter. Active matter encompasses out of thermodynamic equilibrium systems in which individual particles extract or produces energy used to generate mechanical work. During the conference, the following topics in particular were discussed:

• Molecular design of active matter
• Active matter in cellular and developmental biology
• Emergent and collective behavior
• Theory and modeling
• Metamaterials, topology, geometry, defects and ordering

Particular highlights were, for example, the keynote lecture by Prof. Peter Fratzl, Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces in Potsdam on the topic of extracellular mechanical activity of biological materials, as well as the poster sessions in the afternoons, during which lively scientific exchange was possible.

This was the sixth conference in the biennial Engineering Life series and the next symposium is scheduled for 2024.