IAM-PIMS-MITACS Distinguished Colloquium Series: Kenneth Breuer (Brown University)

Flagellated bacteria, such as E. Coli, propel themselves using multiple flagella – long, thin helical filaments – that are rotated using nanoscale motors. We will discuss a few aspects of the fluid mechanics associated with bacterial motility, studied using scale modeling, numerical simulations and microscale experiments. The phenomena explored include the mechanics of flagellar bundling, in which several distinct filaments combine into a single helical bundle via viscous hydrodynamic interactions, the flow fields associated with viscous helical motions, and mechanisms for hydrodynamic synchronization of adjacent flagella motion. We will also briefly show how the flagella motion can be harnessed in engineered systems to enhance low Reynolds number mixing, to pump fluids, and to transport objects through microfluidic systems.

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Kenny Breuer received his ScB degree from Brown and his MSc and PhD from MIT. He spent nine years on the faculty of MIT in the Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics, before returning to Brown in 1999. His research interests are in fluid mechanics, covering a wide range of topics, including the physics of flows at micron and nanometer scales, animal flight (bat flight in particular), and the physics and control of turbulent flows. He is author of over one hundred refereed technical publications, and has edited and co-authored several books, including "Microscale Diagnostic Techniques", "A Gallery of Fluid Motion", and "Multimedia Fluid Mechanics".