Abstract: Mechanical instabilities have historically been viewed as a failure mechanism in materials and engineering structures. Over the past decade, the incredible advantages of controllable surface and structural instabilities have been harnessed in soft materials at all scales for functionalities, including stretchable electronics, surface-related multifunctionality, and soft robotics. In this talk, I will discuss our recent work on leveraging mechanical instability in soft materials and structures for achieving extreme properties and high performances. First, I will discuss mechanics of surface…