Abstract: Topological mechanics is a new field where concepts of
topologically protected states of matter are realized in mechanical
systems, leading to robust phenomena from one-way edge waves to
soft modes and self-stress states protected by topology. In this talk, I
will review a class of topological mechanical systems, Maxwell
lattices, which are characterized by their proximity to mechanical
instability. I will discuss recent theoretical and experimental advances
in designs of transformable topological mechanical metamaterials
based on Maxwell lattices.

BIO: Xiaoming Mao completed her PhD at the University of Illinois at
Urbana Champaign in 2008, and was a postdoctoral fellow at the
University of Pennsylvania during 2008–2012. She joined the faculty
of the University of Michigan in 2012. Xiaoming’s research group
studies a range of questions in fields ranging from soft matter to
materials and biophysics, including rigidity and flow in disordered
systems, topological mechanical metamaterials, self-assembly of
complex and open structures at the nano and colloidal scales, and
motility of cells in the extracellular matrix.