Nature Inspired Surface Engineering (NISE) conference
The Fourth International Conference on Nature-Inspired Surface Engineering (NISE 2026), following the third one, will be held on Aug 10-13, 2026 at the University of Toronto, Canada. NISE 2026 will be hosted by the Department of Materials Science & Engineering.
The technical program will be held at Room #2158 – JJR Macleod Auditorium at the Medical Sciences Building of the University of Toronto (1 King’s College Cir, Toronto, ON M5S 3K9, Canada).
Nature, such as plants, insects, and marine animals, shows unique surface properties in their components (e.g., leaves, wings, eyes, legs, and skins) for multiple purposes, such as water-repellency, anti-adhesion, and anti-reflection. Such multifunctional surface properties are attributed to three-dimensional and hierarchical surface structures with modulated surface chemistry and mechanical pliability. Over the last couple of decades, we have witnessed a significant advancement in the fundamental understanding of surface and interfacial phenomena of such multifunctional surfaces as well as the design, fabrication, and applications of those coatings/surfaces/materials. The NISE conference provides a means of reporting and sharing the latest developments in the nature-inspired surface engineering, encompassing physics, chemistry, biology, material science, and various engineering disciplines. Topics of interest include, but are not limited to:
Fundamental understanding of surface and interface science and phenomena such as wetting, adhesion, adsorption, desorption, friction, (bio)tribology, wear, corrosion, biofouling, icing/deicing, phase changes, heat/energy transfer, electrochemistry, optics/photonics, etc.
Material processing and fabrication techniques for functional surfaces including novel techniques such as 3D printing and self-assembly
Surface modification and coating techniques for functional surfaces
Machine Learning (ML) and Artificial Intelligence (AI) for surface engineering
Hydro-, aero, ice-, and oleo-phobic/philic surfaces
SLIPS (slippery liquid infused porous surfaces) and LIS (lubricant impregnated surfaces)
Stimuli-responsive and adaptive materials and surfaces
Self-healing/self-repairing materials and surfaces
Surface engineering in energy applications
Surface engineering in water-related applications
Surface engineering in biomedical applications
Surface engineering in optical and electrical applications
Surface engineering in industrial applications
Surface characterization and metrology
Novel phenomena and applications of engineered surfaces/coatings