Doctor of Philosophy in Quantitative Biosciences

in the School of Biological Sciences

Alexander Bo Lee

Defends his thesis:

Star-shaped bubbles and cubic feces: geometry through soft matter

Thursday, October 22nd, 2020

10:30am Eastern Time

Via BlueJeans: https://bluejeans.com/997947762

Open to the Community

Advisor:

Dr. David Hu

Schools of Mechanical Engineering and Biological Sciences

Georgia Institute of Technology

Committee Members:

Dr. Julia Kubanek, School of Biological Sciences, Georgia Tech

Dr. Donald Webster, School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Georgia Tech

Dr. Peng Qiu, School of Biomedical Engineering, Georgia Tech

Dr. Alexander Alexeev, School of Mechanical Engineering, Georgia Tech

Abstract: 

In this thesis, we consider how mammals use soft tissue to generate geometric shapes out of non-living materials. The star-nosed mole sniffs for prey underwater by rapidly exhaling and inhaling bubbles without letting the bubbles pinch off. The bare-nosed wombat forms cubic feces, displaying 6 flat sides and 8 rounded corners. We develop mathematical models supported by simple table-top experiments to better understand how these mammals accomplish such amazing feats. These species control the fluids through interactions with solid tissue. Understanding these interactions could lead to innovations in chemical sensing and manufacturing.