Dr John Biggins

Dr John Biggins is a Professor of Soft-Matter Engineering at the University of Cambridge, Department of Engineering. His research focuses on the mechanics of soft solids, including liquid crystal elastomers, elastic instabilities, and biological tissues. He explores how these materials deform, contort, and fail, with applications in shape-shifting devices and understanding phenomena such as brain folding. His work is rooted in theory, particularly continuum mechanics and condensed matter physics, and he collaborates closely with experimentalists. Dr Biggins teaches courses in mechanics and variational methods and is a fellow of Corpus Christi College.

John S Biggins is an associate professor of Applied Mechanics at the University of Cambridge, specializing in the mechanics of soft materials and complex deformations. His research focuses on the physics of soft matter, particularly liquid crystal elastomers, elasticity, and morphogenesis. He investigates how constrained growth and mechanical instabilities influence the formation of complex structures in soft solids. His work includes studies on the elasticity of polydomain liquid crystal elastomers, surface sulci in squeezed soft solids, and the mechanics of biological processes such as blastocyst hatching. Biggins also explores the interplay between elasticity and pattern formation, including the dynamics of chain fountains and the role of structural confinement in shaping surfaces.