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“Hydrodynamics-mediated trapping of microbes”
Presented by Professor Arezoo Ardekani
Professor of Mechanical Engineering, Purdue University
The interaction of motile microorganisms and surrounding fluids is of importance in a variety of biological and environmental phenomena including the development of biofilms, colonization of microbes in human and animal bodies, formation of marine algal blooms and bacterial bioremediation. Many microorganisms, especially bacteria, actively search for nutrients via a process called chemotaxis. The physical constraints posed by hydrodynamics in the locomotion of microorganisms can combine with their chemotactic ability to significantly affect functions like colonization of nutrient sources. Motivated by bacterial bio-remediation of hydrocarbons released during oil spills, I will discuss the role of hydrodynamics toward dictating distribution of microbes around interfaces and drops in the presence and absence of surfactant.
Arezoo Ardekani is a Professor of Mechanical Engineering at Purdue University. Her research focuses on complex fluids, biological flows, suspensions of particles and cells. Honored with the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE) from president Obama, Arezoo has also received an NSF CAREER Award, the Arthur B. Metzner Early Career Award from the Society of Rheology, the Society of Engineering Science Young Investigator Medal, the Sigma Xi Mid-career Research Award, and is named a Purdue University Faculty Scholar. A Fellow of ASME, Arezoo has also received the College of Engineering Faculty Excellence Awards for Graduate Student Mentorship and Early Career Research, the Schlumberger Foundation Faculty for the Future Award, the Amelia Earhart Award and the Society of Women Engineers Award. She is an Associate Editor of ASME Applied Mechanics Review, an Editorial Advisory Board Member of International Journal of Multiphase Flow and Journal of Non-Newtonian Fluid Mechanics and a member of the APS-DFD Executive Committee.