Assistant Professor Natalie Reznikov, Department of Bioengineering, McGill University

If bone is the answer, then what is the question?

A truly bioinspired approach to design optimization should follow the energetically favourable natural paradigm of “minimum inventory with maximum diversity”. I will present a study that was inspired by constructive regression of trabecular (spongy) bone – a natural process of network connectivity optimization occurring early in skeletal development. Application of iterative evolutionary optimization to a primary network topological blueprint, and in silico simulated loading of several consecutive generations of "evolved" bone-like 3D networks reveal what the biomechanical role of trabecular bone is. The findings also illustrate the power of parametric design which Nature has already perfected over eons of evolution.

Bio:
Natalie received her PhD in 2014 from the Weizmann Institute of Science in the Department of Structural Biology (Israel). Her interest in bone – an archetypal, hierarchical material of high complexity –  shaped her professional expertise in 3D imaging using electron microscopy and X-ray tomography. In 2018-2020 she worked as an applications specialist with a Montreal-based IT company (Object Research Systems Inc, ORS) that produces the software Dragonfly for multimodal imaging and image analysis. In her current capacity of an Assistant Professor in the Department of Bioengineering, Natalie’s research interests are the following: i) Structural water and its role in the architecture and mechanical behavior of natural and engineered materials; ii) Pre-stress in natural materials, and its implementation in biomimetic materials; iii) Structure-function relationships in living organisms (animals and plants); iv) Biomineralization; v) 3D-imaging and image processing.