Proceedings of a Workshop

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Digital Object Identifier: https://doi.org/10.17226/29341

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Suggested citation: National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2026. Frontiers of Materials That Learn: Proceedings of a Workshop. Washington, DC: National Academies Press. https://doi.org/10.17226/29341.

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PLANNING COMMITTEE ON FRONTIERS OF MATERIALS THAT LEARN: A WORKSHOP

M. LISA MANNING (Chair), Syracuse University

JAMES J. DE YOREO (NAE), Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and University of Washington

ANDRÉS GARCÍA (NAE/NAM), Georgia Institute of Technology

STEVE GRANICK (NAS), University of Massachusetts Amherst

ALAN J. JACOBSEN, Amazon

ANDREA J. LIU (NAS), University of Pennsylvania

ARVIND MURUGAN, University of Chicago

VIOLA VOGEL (NAS/NAE), ETH Zürich

Staff

CHRISTOPHER JONES, Senior Program Officer, Director

LINDA WALKER, Program Coordinator

Reviewers

This Proceedings of a Workshop was reviewed in draft form by individuals chosen for their diverse perspectives and technical expertise. The purpose of this independent review is to provide candid and critical comments that will assist the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine in making each published proceedings as sound as possible and to ensure that it meets the institutional standards for quality, objectivity, evidence, and responsiveness to the charge. The review comments and draft manuscript remain confidential to protect the integrity of the process.

We thank the following individuals for their review of this proceedings:

Although the reviewers listed above provided many constructive comments and suggestions, they were not asked to endorse the content of the proceedings nor did they see the final draft before its release. The review of this proceedings was overseen by HUGH TILSON, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He was responsible for making certain that an independent examination of this proceedings was carried out in accordance with standards of the National Academies and that all review comments were carefully considered. Responsibility for the final content rests entirely with the rapporteur and the National Academies.

Contents

1 INTRODUCTION

Materials That Learn

Organization of the Proceedings

2 PHYSICAL LEARNING IMPLEMENTED IN PHYSICAL SYSTEMS

Physical Learning in Mechanical Network Materials

Physical Learning in Resistor Networks

Learning and Inference in Biomolecular Systems

Discussion

References

3 BIOLOGICAL MATERIALS AS SUBSTRATES FOR INTELLIGENT BEHAVIOR

Computationally Designed Novel Protein–Protein Interfaces

Ultrasensitive and Robust Mechanoluminescent Living Composites

Discussion

References

4 PHYSICAL AND CHEMICAL SYSTEMS AS SUBSTRATES FOR INTELLIGENT BEHAVIOR

Dynamically Reconfigurable Network Materials

Chemical Reaction Networks

Robot Swarms

Discussion

References

5 LOOKING FORWARD

Reports from the Breakout Sessions

Discussion

APPENDIXES

A Workshop Agenda

B Planning Committee and Speaker Biographical Information