ABSTRACT

Colloid transport is central to challenges from contaminant remediation to microplastic spreading in the oceans. While colloids can migrate in response to solute gradients via diffusiophoresis, the impact of this mechanism under realistic flow conditions has remained unclear. Using microfluidic experiments, simulations, and theory, we show that even in strong flows, phoretic cross-streamline migration of colloids reshapes their macroscopic dispersion, challenging classical transport models.

In the second part, I will discuss nonlinear flow networks. By embedding deformable fibers into microchannels, we create fluidic elements with nonlinear, history-dependent resistance. These channels exhibit hysteresis and memory, pointing to new directions for adaptive, bio-inspired transport systems.

BRIEF ACADEMIC/EMPLOYMENT HISTORY:

Amir joined the Department of Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science at Yale as an Assistant Professor in July 2021. He earned his PhD in Mechanical Engineering from MIT in August 2018, and then moved to Princeton University as a postdoc, working in the areas of interfacial flows, transport phenomena and microscale hydrodynamics. He has received the ACS PRF Doctoral New Investigator award (2022) and NSF CAREER award (2025).

MOST RECENT RESEARCH INTERESTS:

My lab investigates how flows, chemical gradients, and soft boundaries govern transport in complex environments. Using experiments, and theory, we seek principles governing transport in systems ranging from subsurface flows to oceanic flows and living networks.