🌊 Flow Imaging Lab at Mudd [Mendelson] 🐟📷
Prof. Mendelson's Flow Imaging Lab at Mudd is recruiting for the following projects in Spring 2027:
1. Fish-Inspired Propulsion at the Water-Air Interface
The accurate jumping behavior of archer fish offers a bioinspired strategy for water-exit propulsion in underwater vehicles, especially in sensitive environments where traditional thrusters are too disruptive. This project aims to simplify, replicate, and optimize this behavior using mechanical systems, specifically flapping flexible plates. Example questions we aim to answer include:
- How does changing the amplitude and timing of each "tailbeat" affect cumulative propulsion during water-exit?
- Is it better to use faster, smaller motions or larger, sweeping ones?
- How can we time motions for beneficial wake interaction?
- At what point during water-exit does force production reach diminishing returns?
We will answer these questions by designing and prototyping mechanisms to replicate the fish's kinematics and analyzing the resulting forces and flow patterns using high-speed imaging, six-axis force sensing, particle image velocimetry (PIV), and dye visualization. We will also work with biologist collaborators to compare our results to the jumping behaviors of live fish.
In Spring 2027, the focus will be on collecting and analyzing force sensor and high-speed imaging data to understand the role of the water's surface on propulsive performance, testing a mechanism for an additional degree of freedom in the experiment, and biological comparisons.
2. Event-Based Imaging of Ice Fracture Events
This research project aims to develop a novel experiment platform to investigate the mechanics of ice fracture and the subsequent flow of meltwater and particulates (such as microbes and microplastics) released by these events. We are also developing an imaging system to characterize fracture events using advanced event (neuromorphic) cameras.
Specific goals for the spring semester include imaging setup and data processing pipeline refinement and developing test procedures for varying temperature and salinity. The role involves hands-on experimental work and heavy use of both event and traditional high-speed cameras.
To apply include the following information in your URO application:
- Essay Prompt: Why are you interested in working on this research project? What will you bring to the project and what do you hope to learn? Please answer authentically. Your response should be professional, but doesn't need to be your most polished formal essay ever. AI slop describing the lab's past work in performative detail will not receive an interview.
- Project Interests: Which project(s) are you applying to work on?
- References: Submit the names of two HMC professors as references who can comment on your work habits.
Registration for at least one unit of research credit in Spring 2027 is required. Summer offers are made from within the group in early Spring 2027 and are likely to be limited this year.
Students will join a collaborative team working at the interface of fluid mechanics, mechanical design, and computer vision.
The Flow Imaging Lab at (Harvey) Mudd (FILM), directed by Prof. Leah Mendelson, experimentally studies biological and bioinspired fluid mechanics and flows at the water-air interface. The group also works on low-cost tools for flow field measurements. Research projects in FILM frequently involve mechanical design and mechatronics, high-speed imaging, and particle image velocimetry, an experimental technique for measuring fluid velocities by filming the motion of tracer particles suspended in the flow. We frequently use image processing, computer vision, and computational photography to understand the behavior of a fluid flow.