QnAs with John A. Rogers

Abstract

Nature is full of curves. So it is only natural that manmade devices meant to interact with nature emulate its elements of design. That is the line of reasoning behind the innovations of John Rogers, a member of the National Academy of Engineering and a professor of materials science at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. Rogers’ innovations have inspired an array of approaches to render supple rigid surfaces found in electronic devices. From stretchable electronic sensors that can be slapped onto human skin like removable tattoos to digital cameras that mimic the retina to create pin-sharp images, Rogers has attempted to stretch the limits of engineering to bring creative solutions to common problems. In 2011, Rogers won the Lemelson-Massachusetts Institute of Technology prize, a $500,000 award for inventions that improve the world. Here, Rogers explains his bioinspired design to PNAS. John A. Rogers. > PNAS:You have fabricated a skin patch that can monitor a number of functions in the human body. How did you get the idea to develop a stretchable sensor? > Rogers:Most efforts in the electronics industry seek to make transistors smaller and to pack them at ever higher densities into integrated circuits. That trend is known as Moore’s law, which posits that the number of transistors that can be inexpensively placed in circuits doubles …