NSF Org:	CMMI Division of Civil, Mechanical, and Manufacturing Innovation
Recipient:	WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY, THE
Initial Amendment Date:	September 4, 2007
Latest Amendment Date:	September 4, 2007
Award Number:	0700830
Award Instrument:	Standard Grant
Program Manager:	Shih-Chi Liu CMMI  Division of Civil, Mechanical, and Manufacturing Innovation ENG  Directorate for Engineering
Start Date:	September 1, 2007
End Date:	October 31, 2008 (Estimated)
Total Intended Award Amount:	$240,000.00
Total Awarded Amount to Date:	$240,000.00
Funds Obligated to Date:	FY 2007 = $0.00
History of Investigator:	Amy Shen (Principal Investigator) amyshen@u.washington.edu William Pickard (Co-Principal Investigator)
Recipient Sponsored Research Office:	Washington University 1 BROOKINGS DR SAINT LOUIS MO  US  63130-4862 (314)747-4134
Sponsor Congressional District:	01
Primary Place of Performance:	Washington University 1 BROOKINGS DR SAINT LOUIS MO  US  63130-4862
Primary Place of Performance Congressional District:	01
Unique Entity Identifier (UEI):	L6NFUM28LQM5
Parent UEI:
NSF Program(s):	SENSORS AND SENSING SYSTEMS, MATH PRIORITY SOLICITATION
Primary Program Source:	app-0107
Program Reference Code(s):	032E, 1059, 7303, 9102, CVIS
Program Element Code(s):	163900, 744600
Award Agency Code:	4900
Fund Agency Code:	4900
Assistance Listing Number(s):	47.041

ABSTRACT

The proposal utilizes an interdisciplinary approach to study the locomotion of C. elegans and their sensory response to environmental variations. C. elegans is one of the mostly studied model animals in biology due to its genetic tractability, sequenced genome, simple anatomy and body transparency. It is also a superb system to study mobility and sensing. This project will use C. elegans as a simple model system of living organisms to obtain critical physical information for understanding the interplay between sensing, locomotion and environment, incorporate this information into theoretical and computational models of undulatory locomotion.

This is a collaborative research project between a mechanical engineer at Washington University and a mathematical at the New York University.

This research is expected to impact on smart sensing and actuation technology, and the results will serve as building blocks for development of smart devices that can lead to robust design of adaptive systems and structures.

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