Rolling submissions are welcome!
Submissions are welcome on a rolling basis, with no fixed submission deadline. Accepted Challenge Papers will be published on the workshop website.
MUM 2026 Workshop · Glasgow, UK
When Materials Think 2026
Computational Materials for Mobile and Ubiquitous Interaction — bringing together HCI, materials science, embedded AI, design, biomedicine, and engineering.
Matter as an active participant
Date1 December 2026
FormatHalf-day · In person
At25th ACM MUM Conference
Latest updates
News
Submissions are now open!
Submissions for WMT 2026 are now open. Submit your 2–4 page Challenge Paper through the official EasyChair submission page. Submissions are welcome on a rolling basis, with no fixed submission deadline.
The WMT 2026 website is live!
Welcome to the official website of the When Materials Think 2026 workshop. More updates will follow soon.
Save the dates
Important
dates
- Submissions:
- Rolling · No fixed deadline
- Notification to Authors:
- Individually after peer review
- Workshop Date:
Submissions are reviewed on a rolling basis, and authors will be notified individually of the outcome.
The premise
Materials are no longer passive substrates. They can sense, interpret, adapt, and communicate — becoming computational media in their own right.
WMT 2026 explores what becomes possible when material properties, sensing, embedded intelligence, actuation, and human interaction are designed as one system. Through challenge-based discussion, this workshop will connect communities that too often approach these questions separately and establish a shared interdisciplinary research agenda.
Four perspectives — a material can…
01 / Sense
Integrated and distributed sensing, flexible electronics, biomaterials, context awareness, and methods for capturing human activity or environmental change.
02 / Interpret
Edge AI, TinyML, embedded intelligence, local inference, distributed computing, and resource-aware learning within material systems.
03 / Respond
Actuation, shape change, adaptive structures, dynamic physical properties, and visual, tactile, acoustic, thermal, or mechanical feedback.
04 / Live with people
Human-material interaction, wearables, prosthetics, interactive environments, fabrication, privacy, accessibility, sustainability, and responsible AI.
Open questions — explore the research challenges
01
How can sensing, computation, and actuation be co-designed with a material’s physical, aesthetic, and structural properties?
02
How can people perceive, interpret, control, trust, and appropriate autonomously adapting materials?
03
How should we evaluate systems whose behaviour changes across time, context, and physical configuration?
04
How should privacy, security, accessibility, repairability, sustainability, and end-of-life shape computational materials?
05
Which shared terminologies, benchmarks, toolkits, and infrastructures can support truly interdisciplinary research?
Call for participation
Bring a challenge. Build a research direction.
We invite 2–4 page Challenge Papers that surface a meaningful problem requiring more than one discipline.
Submissions may present an open research problem, visionary or critical position, preliminary concept, methodological limitation, interdisciplinary case study, or early system that exposes an unresolved challenge. Authors should describe both the expertise they bring and the knowledge or collaboration they hope to develop. Contributions do not need to be anonymized, and authors may retain identifying information in their manuscripts.
Topics of interest
We welcome contributions across computational materials, particularly work connecting design, biomedical engineering, aerospace engineering, HCI, materials science, and embedded intelligence. Relevant topics include, but are not limited to:
- Materials that senseIntegrated and distributed sensing, flexible electronics, biomaterials, context awareness, and the capture of human activity or environmental change.
- Materials that interpretEdge AI, TinyML, embedded intelligence, local inference, distributed computing, and resource-aware learning within material systems.
- Materials that respondActuation, shape change, adaptive structures, dynamic physical properties, and visual, tactile, acoustic, thermal, or mechanical feedback.
- Materials that live with peopleHuman-material interaction, wearables, body-integrated technologies, prosthetics and assistive systems, interactive environments, digital fabrication, mobility and aerospace applications, accessibility, sustainability, and responsible AI.
Submission guidelines
We invite Challenge Papers addressing one or more of the workshop’s topics of interest. Submissions are welcome on a rolling basis, with no fixed submission deadline, through the official WMT 2026 EasyChair submission page. All submissions will undergo peer review, and authors will be notified individually of the outcome. Accepted Challenge Papers will be published on the workshop website and will serve as the basis for presentations and collaborative discussions during the workshop.
Submission format
Challenge Papers should be 2–4 pages long, prepared as a PDF using the ACM single-column manuscript format. Contributions should identify a meaningful challenge that benefits from interdisciplinary discussion.
Templates
Please use the official ACM Primary Article Template referenced by MUM 2026.
Camera-Ready and Presentation Instructions
Instructions for preparing the final version will be communicated individually to authors of accepted papers.
Presentation Instructions will be announced soon
Preliminary programme
One half-day.
Four movements.
The precise timing may be adapted to the official MUM 2026 programme.
Welcome, introduction, and workshop overview10 min
Invited talk by Prof. Tommaso Scalici35 min
Participant lightning talks · Sense30 min
Collaborative challenge mapping · Interpret45 min
Coffee break15 min
Interdisciplinary group work and demo exchange · Respond75 min
Group reports and roadmap definition · Connect25 min
Closing remarks and next steps5 min
Invited speaker
Prof. Tommaso Scalici
Materials scientist and aerospace engineer · University of Enna “Kore”
An interdisciplinary materials-science perspective on sensing, adaptive response, manufacturability, reliability, and structural performance.
Prof. Scalici’s work spans advanced composites, smart and multifunctional materials, experimental and fracture mechanics, structural integrity, biomaterials, aerospace structures, and sustainable composites. His opening lecture will connect material design and characterisation with materials made to interact with people and their environment.
Workshop contributions
Accepted papers
The accepted papers will be announced here.
Accepted Challenge Papers will be published on this website following peer review and notification of the authors.
Peer review
Program Committee
Meet the reviewers
Submissions will undergo peer review by the members of the Program Committee. Contributions do not need to be anonymized.
- Prof. Salvatore Sorce University of Enna “Kore”
- Dr. Carmelo Rosario Vindigni University of Enna “Kore”
- Dr. Giuseppe Mantegna University of Enna “Kore”
Organising team
The people behind
the matter
Maria Antonella Messina
University of Enna “Kore”, Italy
PhD researcher in Intelligent Systems for Engineering working on the design, additive manufacturing, and mechanical characterisation of advanced lattice structures and metamaterials for lower-limb external prostheses.
mariaantonella.messina@unikorestudent.it
Sofia Marilina Glorioso
University of Enna “Kore”, Italy
PhD researcher in Intelligent Systems for Engineering, supported by STMicroelectronics, focusing on efficient neural networks and multimodal data processing for resource-constrained devices.