(Keynote Presentation)
Giovanni Volpe
Date: 23 August 2026
Time: 8:30 AM – 9:05 AM PDT
Place: Conv. Ctr. Room 11A
Microscopic geared metamachines provide a powerful platform to control motion and mechanical work at the microscale. While the miniaturization of mechanical systems has been pursued for decades, integrating drives and gear trains at micrometer scales has remained a major challenge. Recent advances in optical metasurfaces and on-chip fabrication enable light-driven metarotors that transfer torque to passive gears under uniform illumination. These systems have been explored under various conditions by varying light polarization, intensity, and structural symmetry to achieve directional control, tunable rotation rates, and efficient torque transmission. Integrated designs such as rack-and-pinion configurations further demonstrate conversion of rotational motion into linear actuation within compact microsystems. More broadly, geared metamachines extend the landscape of light-powered micro- and nanomachines. In this presentation, I’ll give an overview of this field with a focus on metarotor design, torque transfer across microscopic gear trains, and integrated light-programmable micromechanical systems.