Soft Condensed Matter Research
What one would consider ‘normal’ condensed matter comes in two phases, solid or liquid. The definition of ‘soft’ condensed matter is not quite so cut in dry. Examples of soft condensed matter are pastes, jello-o and molasses as well as many others. The question, are they solid or liquid, can only be answered by the observations we make when studying these materials. From the hundreds of years of scientific query that has gone into such materials the general consensus is that they are appear to have properties of both solids and liquids. In short nobody knows and because of this we study the fundamental properties of soft condensed matter (polymers, biological tissues. etc…). As practicing engineers we apply this knowledge to tackle pertinent issues facing clinicians and microfluidic device designers.