Metamaterials Genome

The Metamaterial Genome project aims to create a cumulative knowledge base such that we can combine the understanding of multiple organisations studying hierarchical material systems in one place, namely a topological database with machine learning interface and toolkits. The initiative is inspired by the human genome project, which was able to map a complete sequence of human DNA by multiple partners over a decade. The proposed initiative is at the stage of designing the system, securing funding for the development and maintenance, and recruiting partner organisations to create a successful project architecture.

The current leadership team includes: Dr Oliver Duncan, Prof Fabrizio Scarpa and Dr Lukasz Kaczmarczyk. If you want to get involved, please contact Dr Stefan Szyniszewski (stefan.t.szyniszewski@durham.ac.uk) who leads the project’s initial development.

What is a Metamaterials Genome?

The Metamaterials Genome is a collaborative initiative to map out material properties achievable by meta-material technologies, including their manufacturing steps. It is an effort to map out the extent of possible meta-material properties and identify unexplored areas based on the parametric understanding of the existing meta-material structures.

This is an analogue to the human genome project, which mapped out human DNA over 20 years. It required collaboration between many organizations to build a complete description of the human genome.

Why is it needed?

Mapping Metamaterials design space is needed to develop surrogate models for rapid design and prototyping of new material technologies. It also provides the foundation and an extensive database, which lends itself to the use of artificial intelligence in the future. Mapping the metamaterial genome can also uncover the technologies and architectures with the potential for achieving unprecedented and extreme properties, based on the collective knowledge from multiple partner organizations and across different physical domains.

How can it benefit you?

Rich dataset information and parametric classification can benefit partner organizations by giving them access to and understanding of the currently achievable design domain. Furthermore, the development of suitable models that can capture the relationships between material parameters, manufacturing technologies, and physical properties will accelerate the development process by suggesting the most appropriate material technologies required for specific applications.

What we are looking for

We are looking for partners who can contribute physical data and properties of metamaterials in exchange for access to the database describing a broader design space. We also need steering and advice to identify the key parameters and keywords to describe metamaterials uniquely and efficiently.

Interested in engaging with the project?

Contact Dr Stefan Szyniszewski (stefan.t.szyniszewski@durham.ac.uk) and cc the Network mailbox info@metamaterials.network.

The website for the Metamaterial Genome Project is currently under development but can be found here.