Computer-Generated Animation:  During my time at Georgia Tech, I started collaborating with computer scientists on rapidly efficient physically-based models for animation of various fluid flows. Working with GT CoC faculty Greg Turk and Irfan Essa, graduate students Mark Carlson, Nipun Kwatra, Huamin Wang and Chris Wojtan, and undergraduate student Nathan Bell, our collaborations included simulations of melting, efficient coupling of rigid bodies and fluids (image on left), granular flows, various fluid-boundary interactions, controlled cloth animations, and virtual rheoscopic visualization of flows. Associated videos are available for download, linked from the publications pages. An NSF Mathematical Sciences Priority Area grant supported Profs. Mucha and Turk to further expand the techniques and applications of such simulations for scientific investigation and visualization of flows at and near interfaces.

Suspensions, Sedimentation, & Fluid-Solid Interactions:  My graduate, postdoctoral, and early faculty research included study of the fluid dynamics of solid particles suspended in fluids (liquids or gases), with special interest in sedimentation at small Reynolds numbers, that is, small, slow, or highly viscous flows. Part of this work was been aimed at understanding fluctuations in sedimentation, visualized as swirls in the image on the left, the underlying density and velocity fluctuations of which are important to characterize properly for accurate modeling of the macroscopic transport of the sedimenting particles. These investigations led me to a broader interest in simulation of microscopic and macroscopic models of various interacting particle systems, especially where they have direct applications to the physical, biological, or social sciences. The main goal throughout is to find simplified or reduced models and simulations to determine the properties or make meaningful visualizations of various systems and phenomena. More information is available in our group publications.