Research Summary

I graduated from Carnegie Mellon University in 2017 with a B.S. in physics. However, I pivoted to mechanics for my doctorate, which I am working towards in the COSYMO group. My interests are, broadly, the application of optimization techniques to physical systems. In particular, I am researching granular arches and packings of granular materials. To study the former, grain-scale data gathered from ant tunnels are being utilized to reveal how ants manipulate their surroundings to achieve stability and tunneling efficiency. For the latter, the relationship between grain shape and larger scale material properties - such as packing density - are being investigated through the use of Level Set-DEM. My hope is to leverage these results to design algorithms which can guide engineers in the development of granular structures, and to eventually generalize these ideas to complex systems.