Bone is a hierarchical composite of collagen and hydroxyapatite. The unique blend of material properties and structural complexity provide bone with remarkable levels of toughness and stiffness per unit weight and enables multiple functionalities at different length scales. In this talk, Dr. Elbanna will report on his recent progress in studying structure and function relations in bone at different scales and implications for bio-inspired design. His work culminates in the proposition that complex trabecular architecture, unlike what is routinely suggested by Wolff’s law, generally requires a trade-off between different competing objectives. He will discuss the implications of this finding for the inverse analysis of biological structures as well as the bio-inspired design of multifunctional porous systems. Bio: Ahmed E. Elbanna holds a Ph.D. in civil engineering (2011) and an M.S. in applied mechanics (2006), both from the California Institute of Technology, and an M.S. in structural engineering (2005) and B.S. in civil engineering (2003) from Cairo University. He was a postdoc in the Physics of Complex Systems group at UCSB (2011-2012). He joined UIUC as an assistant professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering in 2013 and he currently leads the Mechanics of Complex Systems Laboratory (MCSlab@UIUC). Dr. Elbanna's research focuses on developing computational and analytical models for complex material behavior such as friction, adhesion, and viscoplasticity, and elucidating the implications of these phenomena, in lieu of other microstructural geometric features, on fracture toughness and optimality in multiscale systems.