The brain, as a physical substrate, exploits rich dynamics arising from neuronal coupling through dynamic synapses, rather than centralized control or symbolic logic. In my group, we explore how similar principles can be realized in engineered materials by embedding computation directly into networks of soft, ionic, and biomolecular components. We create neuromorphic tissues—networks of physically coupled material nodes that process information through intrinsic nonlinear dynamics, fading memory, and signal propagation. By tuning coupling strength, connectivity, and material properties, these systems perform real-time temporal transformations without clocks, software, or hard-coded logic. Experiments and modeling show that these tissues can serve as physical substrates for reservoir computing, enabling the prediction and classification of highly nonlinear and chaotic temporal data.
Joseph Najem | Mechanical Engineering | LiMC2