News & EventsDepartment Events
Events
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Feb8
EVENT DETAILS
lessLife in a tight spot: How bacteria spread through crowded spaces
Abstract:
Bacterial spreading through motility and growth plays a central role in agriculture, biotechnology, the environment, and medicine. These processes are typically studied in the lab in liquid cultures or on flat surfaces; however, many bacterial habitats—e.g., soils, sediments, and biological gels/tissues—are more complex and crowded 3D spaces. In this talk, I will describe my group's work using tools from soft materials engineering, imaging, and mathematical modeling to unravel how confinement in a crowded 3D space changes how bacteria behave. We have developed the ability to (i) directly visualize bacteria from the scale of a single cell to that of an entire population, and (ii) 3D-print precisely structured multi-cellular communities, in crowded 3D porous media more akin to their natural habitats. Our experiments using this platform have revealed previously unknown ways in which crowding fundamentally alters how bacteria move and grow, both at the single-cell and population scales. Guided by these findings, we have developed theoretical models to more accurately predict the motion and growth of bacterial populations, and other forms of "active matter", in complex environments. Taken together, these findings help to reveal new principles to predict and control the organization of bacteria, and active matter in general, in complex and crowded environments. They could also potentially help provide quantitative guidelines for the control of these dynamics in processes ranging from bioremediation and agriculture to drug delivery.
Bio:
Sujit Datta is an Assistant Professor and Director of Graduate Studies of Chemical and Biological Engineering at Princeton University. He earned a BA in Mathematics and Physics and an MS in Physics in 2008 from the University of Pennsylvania, and then a PhD in Physics in 2013 from Harvard, where he studied fluid dynamics and instabilities in soft and disordered media. His postdoctoral training was in Chemical Engineering at Caltech, where he studied the biophysics of the gut with Rustem Ismagilov. Datta joined Princeton in 2017, where his lab studies the fascinating behaviors manifested by soft ("squishy") and living systems in complex environments. He also actively leads outreach efforts in STEM to bring together diverse perspectives and provide access to researchers from traditionally under-represented groups in studies of soft and living systems. Altogether, this work has been recognized by awards from a broad range of different communities, reflecting its multidisciplinary nature, including through the NSF CAREER Award, Pew Biomedical Scholar Award, AIChE 35 Under 35 Award, ACS Unilever Award, Camille Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar Award, three awards from the APS (Early Career Award in Biological Physics, Andreas Acrivos Award in Fluid Dynamics, and the Apker Award), and multiple commendations for teaching.
TIME Wednesday, February 8, 2023 at 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM
LOCATION A230, Technological Institute map it
CONTACT Stephanie Lukas stephanie.lukas@northwestern.edu EMAIL
CALENDAR McCormick - Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE)
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Feb15
EVENT DETAILS
lessA New Class of Numerical Methods with Embedded Computational Intelligence for Coupled Field Problems and Discrepancy Modeling
Abstract:
This talk presents a systematic procedure for building computational intelligence in the modeling and simulation methods for multifield problems in science and engineering. A multiscale decomposition of the unknown fields into coarse and fine scales leads to two coupled system of equations that describe physics at the global and the local levels. Employing discontinuous functions in this framework results in Variational Multiscale Discontinuous Galerkin (VMDG) class of methods for mathematically non-smooth problems with weak and strong discontinuities and internal constraints. The fine-scale equations in the VMDG method are endowed with adjoint-based error estimation feature which concurrently quantifies the unresolved part of physics as a function of the residual of the Euler-Lagrange equations. Fine-scale models for this missing part of physics are derived and variationally embedded in the coarse-scale equations. This modelling step builds computational intelligence in the numerical method that adapts locally in space and time to yield solutions that possess enhanced stability and accuracy. Mathematical structure of the VMDG formalism is exploited for discrepancy modeling wherein physics-based models are augmented via variationally derived loss functions that penalize the difference between the computed quantities and the measured sensor data. The structure of the derived kernel functions provides ideas for the integration of machine learning approaches in the modeling methods.
The VMDG method is extended to material and geometric nonlinearity and applied to layered additive manufacturing. A thermodynamically consistent constitutive model that emanates from mixture theory is employed for 3D printing with materials that undergo thermo-chemo-mechanical curing. One-sided VMDG formalism leads to Immersed Boundary Method for weak enforcement of Dirichlet boundary conditions on immersed surfaces that traverse through the computational grids. These ideas are further explored in the context of fluid mechanics to show the generality of the proposed methods and their range of application to problems of contemporary interest in science and engineering.
Bio:
Arif Masud is John and Eileen Blumenschein Professor of Mechanics and Computations in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, and the Department of Aerospace Engineering, at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He also holds joint appointment as Professor of Biomedical and Translational Sciences in the Carle-Illinois College of Medicine. Dr. Masud has made fundamental and pioneering contributions to the development of Variational Multiscale (VMS) Methods for fluid and solid mechanics. He is the President of the Society of Engineering Science (SES) for 2023 and is the Vice-President of the Engineering Mechanics Institute (EMI) of ASCE. He has served as the Associate Editor (AE) of the ASCE Journal of Engineering Mechanics, and AE of the ASME Journal of Applied Mechanics. Dr. Masud was Chair of the Computational Mechanics Committee of ASCE, and Chair of the Fluid Mechanics Committee of ASME. He is an Associate Fellow of AIAA, and Fellow of USACM, IACM, AAM, ASME, EMI, and SES. Prof Masud was awarded the 2019 G.I. Taylor Medal by SES, and the 2022 Ted Belytschko Applied Mechanics Award by AMD-ASME for fundamental contributions to the Theory of Stabilized and Variational Multiscale Methods in Computational Mechanics.
TIME Wednesday, February 15, 2023 at 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM
LOCATION A230, Technological Institute map it
CONTACT Stephanie Lukas stephanie.lukas@northwestern.edu EMAIL
CALENDAR McCormick - Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE)
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Feb15
EVENT DETAILS
less
Join us for a series of professional development events hosted by McCormick HR. The first event of the series will focus on conflict resolution.
Conflict is an unavoidable part of life, both at home and at work. Knowing how to resolve conflict – and, in many cases, reap the benefits that conflict can bring – is a valuable skill. Participants in this workshop will learn how to iron out differences before they escalate, they will explore the dynamics of conflict, develop awareness of their role in conflict situations, and acquire tips for dealing with hostile individuals.
This event is voluntary and open to all Northwestern Engineering staff, faculty, postdocs, and research staff.
Training provided by SupportLinc, your Employee Assistance Program
TIME Wednesday, February 15, 2023 at 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM
LOCATION The Hive, Room 2-350, Ford Motor Company Engineering Design Center map it
CONTACT Kimberly Higgins kimberly.higgins@northwestern.edu EMAIL
CALENDAR McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science
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Feb17
EVENT DETAILS
lessAn Integrated Approach to Flood Mitigation: Landscape Analysis, Stormwater Modeling, and Green Infrastructure Design in Markham, IL
Abstract:
The Chicago region has a long history of flooding issues and major stormwater infrastructure projects aimed at combating this. Markham, a small suburb south of Chicago, has experienced severe and frequent flooding in recent years. Markham is home to the Indian Boundary Prairies (IBPs), five high-quality remnant prairie wetlands. This study focused on flooding issues in the Bel Aire neighborhood, a residential community in Markham directly bordering Gensburg Markham Prairie (GMP), one of the five IBPs. This study aims to (1) understand the root causes of flooding in the Bel Aire neighborhood by analyzing local and regional landscape features, (2) determine the quantity and extent of flooding via hydrologic & hydraulic modeling, and (3) design conceptual green infrastructure solutions that aim to mitigate flooding and establish connections between the community and the adjacent IBPs. The analysis of the Bel Aire neighborhood’s landscape focused on the progression of local and regional geomorphology, hydrology, vegetation, infrastructure, and precipitation trends. Hydrologic & hydraulic modeling utilized HEC-HMS and HEC-RAS to simulate the floodplain under three design storms. The results of this modeling served as inputs for the performance-based design of green infrastructure systems within the hydraulic model. This work provides a proof-of-concept foundation for the detailed design of stormwater infrastructure in Markham and establishes a framework for green infrastructure-driven flood mitigation solutions for communities throughout the Chicago region.
Bio:
Conor McGarvey graduated from Northwestern in 2022 with a B.S. in Environmental Engineering and a minor in Architectural Engineering and Design. During his time at Northwestern, Conor worked as a research assistant on Dr. Kimberly Gray's NSF-funded green infrastructure grant, focusing on the work in Markham and assisting Haley Lewis with field and laboratory work. He currently works as a civil/environmental engineer at Hampton, Lenzini, & Renwick, Inc, an engineering firm in Elgin, IL that specializes in civil engineering, surveying, and environmental services. The majority of his project work is related to water resource engineering, working on hydrologic and hydraulic modeling, naturalized detention basin design, streambank stabilization, and municipal stormwater reviews.
TIME Friday, February 17, 2023 at 2:00 PM - 3:00 PM
LOCATION The Hive, Ford Motor Company Engineering Design Center map it
CONTACT Stephanie Lukas stephanie.lukas@northwestern.edu EMAIL
CALENDAR McCormick - Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE)
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Feb22
EVENT DETAILS
lessTBA
TIME Wednesday, February 22, 2023 at 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM
LOCATION A230, Technological Institute map it
CONTACT Stephanie Lukas stephanie.lukas@northwestern.edu EMAIL
CALENDAR McCormick - Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE)
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Feb24
EVENT DETAILS
lessMonitoring the performance of green infrastructure for stormwater management in the Chicagoland region
Bio:
Colleen O’Brien is a fourth year PhD Candidate at Northwestern University in Professor Aaron Packman’s laboratory. Her research involves the monitoring of green infrastructure for stormwater management and investigates how the type, scale and quality of green spaces impacts their ability to reduce local urban flooding. Prior to Northwestern, Colleen worked in engineering consulting and received her Master’s in Water Resource Engineering from Tufts University, where she researched water insecurity in the West Bank, and her Bachelor’s in Environmental Engineering and French from the University of Southern California.
Abstract:
Climate change is leading to more extreme precipitation events in the Midwest, which require new ways of managing stormwater, particularly in urban areas. Green infrastructure has become an increasingly popular way of providing additional stormwater storage, as well as supporting urban biodiversity. However, many questions on the performance of green infrastructure still remain. Understanding the impact of the type, scale, and quality of green infrastructure on flood reduction is critical to designing green spaces that will help address the challenge of urban stormwater management.
During this seminar, I will present preliminary results from the monitoring of three green infrastructure projects in the Chicagoland region: Indian Boundary Prairies, the Garfield Park Eco-Orchard, and Cultivate Collective at the Academy for Global Citizenship. Our research at Indian Boundary Prairies investigates the resilience of these ecological systems to inputs of urban runoff. At the Garfield Park Eco-Orchard, we explore how green infrastructure can reduce the burden placed on the drainage system. Cultivate Collective at the Academy for Global Citizenship is an example of using social science and engineering methods to quantify the community benefits of green infrastructure. Developing a better understanding of how these systems perform under various conditions can inform the design and maintenance of future green infrastructure projects, which will be critical to manage increased stormwater due to climate change.
TIME Friday, February 24, 2023 at 2:00 PM - 3:00 PM
LOCATION A230, Technological Institute map it
CONTACT Stephanie Lukas stephanie.lukas@northwestern.edu EMAIL
CALENDAR McCormick - Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE)
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Mar1
EVENT DETAILS
lessElastomers filled with liquid inclusions: Theory, numerical implementation, and some basic results
Abstract:
Over the past few years, a series of experimental and theoretical investigations have pointed to elastomers filled with liquid inclusions — ranging from ionic liquids, to liquid metals, to ferrofluids — as a promising new class of materials with unique combinations of mechanical and physical properties. The reason behind such novel properties is twofold. On one hand, the addition of liquid inclusions to elastomers increases the overall deformability. This is in contrast to the addition of conventional fillers, which, being typically made of stiff solids, decreases deformability. On the other hand, the mechanics and physics of the interfaces separating a solid elastomer from embedded liquid inclusions, while negligible when the inclusions are ‘‘large’’, may have a significant and even dominant impact on the macroscopic response of the material when the inclusions are ‘‘small’’.
In this talk, I will present a general continuum framework and associated numerical implementation that describes the macroscopic mechanical behavior of elastomers filled with liquid inclusions directly in terms of their microscopic behavior. The focus will be on the non-dissipative case when the elastomer is a hyperelastic solid, the liquid making up the inclusions is a hyperelastic fluid, the interfaces separating the solid elastomer from the liquid inclusions feature their own hyperelastic behavior, which may possibly include the presence of initial interfacial forces such as surface tension, and the inclusions are initially spherical in shape. Within this case, in particular, I will present results for random isotropic suspensions of monodisperse liquid spherical inclusions and discuss their unique mechanical properties.
Bio:
Oscar Lopez-Pamies is the Colonel Harry F. & Frankie M. Lovell Professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, which he joined in 2011. He received his B.A. degree in Mathematics and B.S. and M.S. degrees in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Maryland Baltimore County in 2001 and 2002, and his Ph.D. degrees in Applied Mechanics from the University of Pennsylvania and Ecole Polytechnique (France) in 2006. His research focuses on the development of mathematical theories and associated numerical methods to describe, explain, and predict the mechanical and physical behavior, stability, and failure of highly deformable heterogeneous solids. He is the recipient of a number of academic honors, including the Young Scientist Prize from the European Mechanics Society in 2009, the NSF CAREER award in 2011, the Journal of Applied Mechanics award in 2014, and the Young Investigator Medal from the Society of Engineering Science in 2017.
TIME Wednesday, March 1, 2023 at 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM
LOCATION A230, Technological Institute map it
CONTACT Stephanie Lukas stephanie.lukas@northwestern.edu EMAIL
CALENDAR McCormick - Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE)
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Mar3
EVENT DETAILS
lessData-driven sparse sensing and modeling of ecohydrological systems
Abstract:
In this data-rich era, hydrologists and other environmental scientists are motivated to measure and model everything, everywhere. Yet, limited time, budgets, and technology constrain the number of variables and resolution that can be measured and modeled; and, furthermore, not all variables and spatiotemporal scales in a system provide useful information. Therefore, broad questions in environmental systems modeling include: What variables, times, and locations are most informative of the relevant processes? And what is the minimum sampling required to achieve robust measurement and modeling? To address these questions, in this talk, I will discuss the application of data-driven, sparse sensing and modeling methods in ecohydrology. As a first example, we analyze high-frequency (sub-hourly) soil moisture, temperature, and biogeochemical data in the Fourier domain to model the sensitivity of soil respiration to hydroclimatic variability. This method allows us to develop a process-based model that captures variability across timescales in addition to long-term mean values. Secondly, we show that, generally, environmental signals are “sparse” in the Fourier domain and this sparsity can be leveraged to reduce temporal sampling requirements orders of magnitude below current state-of-the-practice. Finally, we move beyond the Fourier basis and develop sampling bases tailored to hydrological variables, such as streamflow. This method is applied to predict streamflow in ungauged or poorly gauged basins. Further development and application of these methods promises to improve ecohydrological systems sensing and modeling by reducing sample requirements and identifying a minimal set of variables essential to complete characterization of the dynamics.
Bio:
Dr. Anthony Parolari, PhD, PE is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Civil, Construction, and Environmental Engineering at Marquette University. He completed his bachelors and masters degrees in CEE at the University of Michigan, a PhD in CEE with a focus in ecohydrology at the Parsons Laboratory at MIT, and a postdoc at Duke University. He has over 17 years of professional and research experience in hydrology and water resources engineering, including 2 years as a consultant in water infrastructure planning and management. Dr. Parolari’s research investigates the impact of climate on ecosystem processes, including plant productivity, soil biogeochemistry, and surface water quality. This research integrates experiments, data analytics, and computer modeling to improve basic understanding of complex environmental systems that can be leveraged to solve resource management challenges in natural, agricultural, and urban settings.
TIME Friday, March 3, 2023 at 2:00 PM - 3:00 PM
LOCATION A230, Technological Institute map it
CONTACT Stephanie Lukas stephanie.lukas@northwestern.edu EMAIL
CALENDAR McCormick - Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE)
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Mar8
EVENT DETAILS
lessTailoring the Fracture Network Evolution and Response of Civil, Energy, and Environmental Geosystems
Abstract:
The analysis and optimum design of important civil, energy, and environmental geo-systems, such as unconventional geothermal and fossil energy reservoirs, energy and waste (H2 and CO2) geo-storage facilities, natural and man-made slopes, and tunnels often require understanding geomaterials’ multi-scale behavior under coupled hydraulic, thermal, chemical, and mechanical excitations. I am interested in understanding the coupled physical processes responsible for the overall response of geosystems. Specifically, I investigate the role of micro-and-mesoscale characteristics of the solid skeleton, such as the natural fracture patterns in the rock mass, and their evolution when interacting with the boundary conditions and imposed excitations. In this talk, I will present a series of laboratory experimental studies designed to understand the behavior of hydraulic fractures in a rock mass and their interactions with the rock’s pre-existing natural fractures using state-of-the-art imaging techniques. I will also present a series of hybrid numerical simulations to examine the coupled hydro-seismo-mechanical response of naturally fractured rocks subject to high-pressure fluid injection with respect to the rock matrix permeability and physical characteristics of the natural fractures. I use this versatile simulation technique to also study the whole spectrum of a jointed rock slope from pre-failure deformations leading to progressive failure mechanism and final collapse state.
Bio:
Dr. Shahrzad Roshankhah is an Assistant Professor at the University of Utah’s Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering since August 2021. Her research involves lab and numerical simulations to model the coupled thermal, hydraulic, and mechanical behavior of geomaterials using high-resolution, multi-scale, and multi-phase process monitoring techniques. Before joining the U, Shahrzad was a research scientist at Caltech, where she studied the behavior of hydraulic fractures in naturally fractured rocks through laboratory experiments and numerical simulations, as well as the elastoplastic behavior of particle impacts in particle impacts. She also taught civil and geotechnical engineering courses as a lecturer at California State University, Long Beach, for two years. Shahrzad received her Ph.D. from Georgia Tech and her M.Sc. from the Amirkabir University of Technology, both in geotechnical engineering. Shahrzad has over six years of industry experience in civil and geotechnical engineering and is a holder of a Professional Engineering License from the State of Utah.
TIME Wednesday, March 8, 2023 at 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM
LOCATION A230, Technological Institute map it
CONTACT Stephanie Lukas stephanie.lukas@northwestern.edu EMAIL
CALENDAR McCormick - Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE)
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Mar11
EVENT DETAILS
lessWinter Classes End
TIME Saturday, March 11, 2023
CONTACT Office of the Registrar nu-registrar@northwestern.edu EMAIL
CALENDAR University Academic Calendar
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Mar18
EVENT DETAILS
lessSpring Break Begins
TIME Saturday, March 18, 2023
CONTACT Office of the Registrar nu-registrar@northwestern.edu EMAIL
CALENDAR University Academic Calendar
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Mar24
EVENT DETAILS
lessWinter Degrees Conferred
TIME Friday, March 24, 2023
CONTACT Office of the Registrar nu-registrar@northwestern.edu EMAIL
CALENDAR University Academic Calendar
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Mar27
EVENT DETAILS
lessSpring Break Ends
TIME Monday, March 27, 2023
CONTACT Office of the Registrar nu-registrar@northwestern.edu EMAIL
CALENDAR University Academic Calendar
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Mar28
EVENT DETAILS
lessSpring Classes begin 8 a.m. (Northwestern Monday: Classes scheduled to meet on Mondays meet on this day)
TIME Tuesday, March 28, 2023
CONTACT Office of the Registrar nu-registrar@northwestern.edu EMAIL
CALENDAR University Academic Calendar