Ewoldt named Distinguished Young Rheologist

MechSE assistant professor Randy Ewoldt has received the Distinguished Young Rheologist Award for 2013 by TA Instruments. The recipients of this award are nominated by a group of the most established and respected academic researchers in the field of rheology.

"Illinois and MechSE have been very supportive in helping me develop an experimental research program," Ewoldt said. "This award and equipment grant from TA Instruments will strengthen and extend our existing capabilities."

Ewoldt and his group study rheology with a combination of experiment and theory, with an eye toward design based on rheological behavior. Specific materials of interest include polymer gels, yield stress fluids, and suspensions of actively swimming particles. The research includes development of new rheometry methods that are material-agnostic and therefore applicable to all rheologically complex materials. Ewoldt has been an early leader in the fast-growing field of Large Amplitude Oscillatory Shear (LAOS) experiments and has contributed greatly to the understanding of these new measurements.

"We want to make macroscopic measurements to distinguish molecular, nanoscale, and microscale features within rheologically complex materials," Ewoldt said. "We think these new characterization techniques will also lead to more optimal designs for soft robots, bio-inspired materials, and novel uses of complex fluids."

Ewoldt joined the MechSE Department in 2011 after a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Minnesota. He received PhD and MS degrees in mechanical engineering from MIT after earning a BS degree in mechanical engineering at Iowa State University.

The Distinguished Young Rheologist program is designed to help accelerate the research of new academics through grants of rheometer equipment.