A fascinating class of problems in contemporary fluid mechanics involves the interplay ‎between dynamic boundaries and fluid flows. The study of these problems usually requires accommodating several time and ‎length scales. Moreover, they often involve complex geometries in which mechanical, chemical, and ‎transport phenomena are coupled. The multi-scale, multi-physics nature of such problems makes it ‎extremely challenging to develop comprehensive analytical models for treating these systems. Also, ‎experimental approaches are typically very costly, time-consuming, and require significant effort unless ‎guided by theory or simulations.

In the Complex Fluids and Active Matter Lab, we combine reduced-order ‎models and numerical techniques, including mesoscale and hybrid methods, with simple experiments to study the interaction of ‎flowing fluid with complex (and often dynamically changing) structures. Problems we consider ‎span a wide range of length scales as shown in the figure below. Please visit our publications page for additional information.