Pamela Abshire
Professor, Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering and Institute for Systems Research

Lecture Title: What Can Cells Teach Us About Computing?
Date/Time: Friday, October 29, 3:30–4:30 pm
Location: Zupnik Lecture Hall, Kim Building (KEB 1110)
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Abshire's areas of research specialty are in the fields of VLSI circuit design and bioengineering, focusing on better understanding the tradeoffs between performance and resources in natural and engineered systems. Her interests include information theory for physical systems; noise theory for electronic, photonic, and biological systems; analysis and design of sensory information processing systems; and algorithm, VLSI circuit, and microsystem design, especially for low power applications.

Abshire was named an ADVANCE Professor—senior faculty members who identify as women and serve as strategic mentors and knowledge brokers for faculty within their college—by UMD in 2020–2021 and again in 2021–2022. She has also received the Clark School's E. Robert Kent Outstanding Teaching Award for Junior Faculty. She received an NSF CAREER award and is an IEEE Fellow.

John Fisher
Fischell Family Distinguished Professor & Department Chair, Fischell Department of Bioengineering

Lecture Title: 3D Printing Human Tissues
Date/Time: Wednesday, November 3, 4:00–5:00 pm
Location: 1101 The Forum, A. James Clark Hall
Register by October 20

Fisher is a leader in the areas of biomaterials, tissue engineering, and bioprinting. He directs the NIH-funded Center for Engineering Complex Tissues, a research collaboration with Rice University and the Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine that focuses on 3D printing and bioprinting for regenerative medicine applications. He also heads the Tissue Engineering and Biomaterials Laboratory, where his group investigates biomaterials, stem cells, bioprinting, and bioreactors for the regeneration of lost tissues.

Fisher helped establish the Fischell Department of Bioengineering as an assistant professor in 2006, and was named department chair 10 years later. He has committed to advance the department's reputation as a top-tier program by further propelling the department's commitment to groundbreaking research, high-quality education, and engineering entrepreneurship. He is a Fellow of the International Academy of Medical and Biological Engineering, the Biomedical Engineering Society, and the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering.

Liangbing Hu
Herbert Rabin Distinguished Professor, Department of Materials Science & Engineering

Lecture Title: Materials Innovations and Manufacturing for Sustainability
Date/Time: Thursday, November 18, 4:00–5:00 pm
Location: 1101 The Forum, A. James Clark Hall
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Hu, a self-described wood nanotechnologist, has made a name for himself developing alternative technologies out of natural resources, including: batteries made from wood, a blade of grass, and even a leaf; super wood, a light-weight, sustainable alternative to steel or carbon fiber; transparent wood composites as a replacement for glass; and photonic paper for future electronics display technologies. He has published more than 150 papers on nanotechnologies using cellulose nanomaterials.

Hu is active in mentoring and outreach activities including serving as a Gemstone Honors Program advisor, hosting high school students participating in Women In Engineering summer programming, partnering with Wheaton High School to create summer internships and new science lessons, and talking to visitors of all ages about materials science at Maryland Day. Hu is an MRS Fellow and has been ranked in the top 2 percent of world scientists by Stanford University.