Hajun Lee

Hajun Lee is a postdoctoral researcher in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at UC Berkeley, working with Prof. Lining Yao. He received his Ph.D. in Materials Science and Engineering and B.S. in Chemical Engineering from Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST). His research explores how mechanical intelligence can emerge from the interplay between materials, structures, and manufacturing, creating systems that can sense, adapt, and respond to their environment without relying solely on electronics. By integrating smart materials with mechanical metamaterials, his work aims to design soft and sustainable systems capable of multi-functionality, resilience, and autonomy.

Talk Title: The Emergence of Intelligence from Matter

What if intelligence didn’t only belong to living creatures or computers, but also to matter itself? This talk explores the emerging concept of mechanical intelligence, where materials and structures are designed to sense, respond, and adapt without the need for complex electronics or software. Starting from nature’s elegant solutions, we’ll look at how engineers and designers are reimagining the boundaries between mechanics and intelligence.

Through engaging examples, we’ll dive into smart materials that especially respond to magnetic, thermal, or optical stimuli, enabling remote-controlled motion and transformation. We’ll also explore mechanical metamaterials, whose internal architectures grant them unusual and programmable mechanical behaviors, like negative Poisson's ratio, signal propagation, or tuneable stiffness.

By blending these ideas, we can envision a future where machines are materially intelligent, such as sustainable, resilient, and beautifully simple. This talk invites you to see how intelligence can emerge from matter itself, and how such systems may reshape the way we think about robotics, design, and the material world around us.

Location: Etcheverry Hall 3108, 2521 Hearst Ave, Berkeley, CA

Live stream online: link