Description:

Speaker:

Daniel Harris, Assistant Professor of Engineering, Brown University

Title:

At the Interface: Physical Analogy with Interfacial Fluid Mechanics

Abstract: 

Maxwell describes physical analogy as a "partial similarity between the laws of one science and those of another which makes each of them illustrate the other."  Hydrodynamics has long since been a source of physical analogy, sharing similar equations with other seemingly disparate fields of physics.  The focus of this talk will be on physical analogies with interfacial fluid systems, where accessible tabletop experiments can be used to investigate and communicate physical phenomena at vastly different scales.  Following a brief review of some historical examples of analogy in interfacial fluid mechanics, I will describe two recent tabletop experiments developed in our lab that share similarities with certain microscopic colloidal systems.  While physical analogy can be fruitfully used to advance science across disciplines, it can also be leveraged to enhance scientific communication and pedagogy.

Speaker Bio:

Daniel M. Harris is an Assistant Professor of Engineering at Brown University in the Fluids and Thermal Sciences group.  Before joining Brown, Dan was a Postdoctoral Research Associate and Lecturer at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in the Department of Mathematics.  Dan received his B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Cornell University in 2010 and his Ph.D. in Applied Mathematics from MIT in 2015.

Dan’s primary research interests are in interfacial phenomena, microfluidics, and transport phenomena.  His research involves an integrated experimental and theoretical approach.  Dan has also received numerous awards for his scientific visualizations, including being selected as the winner of the 2016 NSF/Popular Science Visualization Challenge in Photography, as well as numerous prizes from the American Physical Society’s Gallery of Fluid Motion and Gallery of Soft Matter.  

Location:

In person: Chambers Hall, 600 Foster Street, Lower Level
Remote option: https://northwestern.zoom.us/j/93585934682
Passcode: NICO2024

About the Speaker Series:

Wednesdays@NICO is a vibrant weekly seminar series focusing broadly on the topics of complex systems, data science and network science. It brings together attendees ranging from graduate students to senior faculty who span all of the schools across Northwestern, from applied math to sociology to biology and every discipline in-between. Please visit: https://bit.ly/WedatNICO for information on future speakers.