Sixth International Conference on Recent Advances in Nonlinear Mechanics

Plenary Speakers

Plenary Speakers (in alphabetical order)

Professor Huiling Duan (Interfacial Mechanics, Peking University)

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Professor Yonggang Huang (Solid Mechanics, Northwestern University)

Bio: Yonggang Huang is the Achenbach Professor of Engineering at Northwestern University. He is interested in mechanics of stretchable inorganic electronics and mechanics-guided deterministic 3D assembly, and has published >700 journal papers, including 16 in Science and 10 in Nature. He is a member of the US National Academy of Engineering, US National Academy of Sciences, American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and a foreign member of Royal Society (London), Royal Society of Canada, Chinese Academy of Sciences, and 4 other academies in Europe and Canada. In 2024 Society of Engineering Science established the Yonggang Huang Engineering Science Medal. In 2025 the Hagler Institute for Advanced Study at Texas A&M University established the John Rogers – Yonggang Huang Medal for Research Collaboration. In the same year the International Conference of Computational & Experimental Engineering and Science established the John Rogers/Yonggang Huang Medal. He is the only tenured/tenure-track faculty member having received the Cole-Higgings Teaching Award twice in the award history at Northwestern University. He is also the only foreign member to serve the chair of election committee in the >360-year history of the Royal Society.

Presentation Title: Bioelastic state recovery for haptic sensory substitution

Abstract: The rich set of mechanoreceptors found in human skin offers a versatile engineering interface for transmitting information and eliciting perceptions, potentially serving a broad range of applications in patient care and other important industries. Targeted multisensory engagement of these afferent units, however, faces persistent challenges, especially for wearable, programmable systems that need to operate adaptively across the body. Here we present a miniaturized electromechanical structure that, when combined with skin as an elastic, energy-storing element, supports bistable, self-sensing modes of deformation. Targeting specific classes of mechanoreceptors as the basis for distinct, programmed sensory responses, this haptic unit can deliver both dynamic and static stimuli, directed as either normal or shear forces. Systematic experimental and theoretical studies establish foundational principles and practical criteria for low-energy operation across natural anatomical variations in the mechanical properties of human skin. A wireless, skin-conformable haptic interface, integrating an array of these bistable transducers, serves as a high-density channel capable of rendering input from smartphone-based 3D scanning and inertial sensors. Demonstrations of this system include sensory substitution designed to improve the quality of life for patients with visual and proprioceptive impairments.

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Professor Tomasz Kapitaniak (Dynamics, Lodz University of Technology )

Bio: Professor Tomasz Kapitaniak educated in Poland, holds degrees in both mechanical engineering and applied mathematics. He is Head of the Division of Dynamics at the Lodz University of Technology and serves as Dean of Division IV (Technical Sciences) of the Polish Academy of Sciences, the highest scientific bodies in Poland. He is also a Member of the General Assembly of the International Union of Theoretical and Applied Mechanics (IUTAM), shaping the global research agenda in mechanics.

An internationally recognised authority in theoretical and applied mechanics, nonlinear dynamics, network science, and complex systems theory, Professor Kapitaniak applies his work to engineering systems and critical infrastructure such as power grids. He has authored over 350 papers in leading journals, and delivered numerous keynote, plenary, and invited lectures at major international conferences.

He has held long-term visiting positions at the University of Leeds and the University of Maryland, supported by prestigious fellowships from the British Council, King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology, and the Fulbright Program. A member of numerous editorial boards, he is Associate Editor of CHAOS and EPL and has organised a dozen international conferences.

His many distinctions include Honorary Professorships at Saratov State University and Yanshan University, Doctor Honoris Causa from Lublin University of Technology, election to the Polish Academy of Sciences (Corresponding Member in 2013, Full Member in 2019), and membership in Academia Europaea (2021). In 2025, he was named Fellow of the Asia-Pacific Artificial Intelligence Association.

Presentation Title: Synchronous and desynchronous states of coupled oscillators

Abstract: Understanding the collective behavior of dynamical systems is essential for explaining various emergent phenomena in natural and engineered settings. A key step in this process is formulating an appropriate mathematical description of the individual systems and network of systems. In this context, a range of physical systems is considered here, including the classical pendula, superconducting Josephson junctions, power grids, and various others. Despite the diversity of the systems in terms of physical structure and their application domains, they exhibit strikingly similar dynamical features, namely, phase dynamics governed by inertia and damping and in their response to external forcing. This observation creates interest and motivates a search for a unified theoretical framework capable of capturing the fundamentals of their dynamical behaviors exhibited across the systems. This talk critically examines the up-to-date research activities on the dynamics of the second-order phase oscillator, henceforth claimed here as a universality class by its own merit as a simple nonlinear dynamical model representing a broad class of physical systems. It offers a common mathematical framework to develop a comprehensive understanding, from a general perspective, that bridges, the theoretical and experimental observations of pendulum motion, Josephson junctions, and power grids and their collective behaviors. While each of these systems has been discussed in disparate physical contexts, their underlying mathematical structures reveal strong commonalities. In particular, we highlight the importance of analyzing these systems through the lens of nonlinear phase dynamics to uncover their shared mechanisms and system-specific variety of behaviors as well. This survey mainly focuses on some specific interrelated themes: (i) collective phenomena and emergent synchronization; (ii) the role of heterogeneity in terms of system parameters and the effect of noise on the emergent dynamics; (iii) multi-stability and complex transient regimes; (iv) the integration of machine learning for model discovery, control, and prediction; and (v) the broader applicability of phase oscillator models across diverse domains beyond the canonical systems considered here. By systematically comparing the dynamical behaviors of the varied physical systems within a cohesive mathematical framework of second-order phase oscillators, this review seeks for the universal and distinctive features of nonlinear dynamics of the three systems, their collective behaviors such as emergent synchrony, partial synchrony, or chimera states, and specifically explains real-life phenomena, and crowd synchrony that may lead to a collapse of a footbridge and the failure of a power grid. Besides our main emphasis on these system, brief notes have been added on other systems where this second-order phase model explains their dynamical properties. A broad synthesis on the topic will not only deepen our theoretical understanding but also suggest any design and control of complex dynamical systems in both natural and engineered settings.

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