Mattia Bacca

Assistant Professor

B.Sc., M.Sc., Ph.D. (University of Trento, Italy), Postdoctoral Fellowship (University of California, Santa Barbara).

Research Interests

• Micromechanics of Soft Solid Matter

Current Research Work

Mechanics of:

• Biomembranes and Enveloped Viruses
• Cells (Mechanobiology) and Soft Materials
• Puncture, Cutting, Fracture
• Adhesion

Selected Publications

Papers:

• Kong, A., Bacca, M. (2022). A self-adhesion criterion for slanted micropillars. Extreme Mechanics Letters, 52, 101663.
• Bacca, M. (2022). Mechanics of diffusion-mediated budding and implications for virus replication and infection. Journal of the Royal Society Interface, 19, 20220525
• Fregonese, S., Bacca, M. (2022). How friction and adhesion affect the mechanics of deep penetration in soft solids. Soft Matter, 18 (36), 6882-6887
• Agostinelli, D., Elfring, GJ., Bacca, M. (2022). The morphological role of ligand inhibitors in blocking receptor-and clathrin-mediated endocytosis. Soft Matter, 18 (18), 3531-3545.
• Sameoto, D., Khungura, H., Benvidi, FH, Asad, A., Liang, T., Bacca, M. (2022). Space applications for gecko-inspired adhesives. Biomimicry for Aerospace, 423-458.
• Khungura, H., & Bacca, M. (2021). The role of interfacial curvature in controlling the detachment strength of bioinspired fibrillar adhesives. Mechanics of Materials, 160, 103914.
• Fregonese, S., & Bacca, M. (2021). Piercing soft solids: A mechanical theory for needle insertion. Journal of the Mechanics and Physics of Solids, 154, 104497.
• H. Khungura, M. Bacca (2020). Optimal load sharing in bioinspired fibrillar adhesives: Asymptotic solution, Journal of Applied Mechanics, 88 (3), 031004.
• M. Bacca, O.A. Saleh, and R.M. McMeeking (2019). Contraction of polymer gels created by the activity of molecular motors, Soft Matter, 15, 4467 – 44751.
• K. Chen, A. Vigliotti, M. Bacca, R.M. McMeeking, V.S. Deshpande, J.W. Holmes (2018). Role of boundary conditions in determining cell alignment in response to stretch, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 115, 986-991.
• M. Bacca, C. Creton, R.M. McMeeking (2017). A model for the Mullins effect in multi-network elastomers, Journal of Applied Mechanics, 84, 121009.
• M. Bacca, R.M. McMeeking (2017). A viscoelastic constitutive law for hydrogels,” Meccanica, 55, 3345–3355.
• M. Bacca, N.A. Fleck, R.M. McMeeking (2017). A swell toughening strategy for elastomers having surface cracks, Extreme Mechanics Letters, 10, 32–40.
• M. Bacca, J.A. Booth, K.L. Turner, R.M. McMeeking. (2016). Load sharing in bioinspired fibrillar adhesives with backing layer interactions and interfacial misalignment, Journal of the Mechanics and Physics of Solids, 96, 428–444.

For a full list of publications, visit my profile on: