Bryan VanSaders

University of Michigan–Ann Arbor, University of Chicago

Papers

Total Citations

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About

Bryan VanSaders is a researcher working at the intersection of soft matter physics, active matter, and materials design. His work explores how local, information-driven forces can control the shape and behavior of crystalline materials, particularly at the colloidal scale. In his highly cited 2021 paper, "Sculpting crystals one Burgers vector at a time," he demonstrated that plastic deformation in crystals with isotropic attractions can be achieved through the controlled creation and migration of dislocations—effectively enabling a form of "colloidal lattice robot swarm" that reshapes material without global forces. This work, with 8 citations, laid the foundation for his subsequent research into "Informational active matter" (2023, 5 citations), where he investigates how local information processing can drive collective, adaptive behavior in particle systems. VanSaders' contributions are notable for bridging fundamental concepts in dislocation dynamics with emerging ideas in active matter and swarm robotics, offering a new paradigm for programmable, reconfigurable materials. His research has implications for designing self-assembling structures and microrobotic systems that operate without centralized control.