Biohybrid devices are systems that combine living cells with soft materials to engineer functions that outperform inert machines. One example of this new type of devices is the use of muscle cells to power soft robots that perform functions such as swimming, walking, gripping or pumping. A main
goal of our group is the development of a new generation of biohybrid devices based on folded stem cell tissues under optomechanical control. Thanks to the potential of stem cells, these devices will be able to self-heal, to self-assemble, to self-replicate, and to generate significant forces such as those
that drive early embryonic development. To achieve this goal, we need to combine experimental bioengineering with computational models that capture the 3D dynamics of stem cell tissues. In this master’s project, the student will participate in the development of 3D hierarchical vertex models of
stem cell tissues as well as in their experimental testing. Using a scalable parallel computational framework, we will describe each surface of each cell in tissues encompassing thousands of cells. We will use these models to understand stem cell tissue dynamics and to design and test biohybrid soft
robots with sensing, actuation and control capabilities.

Supervisor:  Prof. Xavier Trepat from IBEC

REFERENCES:
Ricotti, L., Trimmer, B., Feinberg, A. W., Raman, R., Parker, K. K., Bashir, R., ... & Menciassi, A.
(2017). Biohybrid actuators for robotics: A review of devices actuated by living cells. Science
robotics, 2(12), eaaq0495.
Latorre, E., Kale, S., Casares, L., Gómez-González, M., Uroz, M., Valon, L., ... & Trepat, X. (2018).
Active superelasticity in three-dimensional epithelia of controlled shape. Nature, 563(7730), 203-208.
Alt, S., Ganguly, P., & Salbreux, G. (2017). Vertex models: from cell mechanics to tissue
morphogenesis. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 372(1720),
20150520.