The effect of non Newtonian liquid rheology on the swimming performance of microorganisms is still poorly understood, despite numerous recent studies.  In our effort to clarify some aspects of this problem, we have developed a series of magnetic synthetic swimmers that self-propel immersed in a fluid by emulating the swimming strategy of flagellated microorganisms. With these devices, it is possible to control some aspects of the motion with the objective to isolate specific effects. In this talk, recent results on the effects of shear-thinning viscosity and viscoelasticity on the motion of helical swimmers will presented and discussed. Also, a number of other new uses of the synthetic swimmers will be presented including swimming across gradients, swimming in sand, interactions and rheometry.

BRIEF ACADEMIC/EMPLOYMENT HISTORY:

Roberto Zenit is a Professor of Engineering at Brown University. Previously, he worked at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) for nearly 20 years. He did his undergraduate degree at UNAM and graduate studies at Caltech. He was a postdoctoral scholar at Cornell University. He has been an invited Professor in France, UK, USA and The Netherlands.

MOST RECENT RESEARCH INTERESTS:

Professor Zenit is interested in two-phase flows, biological flow and more recently on the physical aspects of artistic painting.