A University of Massachusetts professor has received a National Science Foundation (NSF) CAREER grant for $400,000 over the next five years to continue his research on the stability of viscoelastic solutions in extensional flows.
Jonathan Rothstein, a professor in the Mechanical and Industrial Engineering Department, has been studying viscoelastic fluids since 1996. His research began at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology where he received his PhD in 2001 before continuing his research as a member of the faculty at UMass Amherst. His current research is carried out in the Non-Newtonian Fluid Dynamics Lab, of which Rothstein is the director, in Gunness Laboratory.
'What we've proposed to do,' Rothstein said of the NSF grant, 'is to look at a whole new class of materials. There has been very little research in looking at how these materials behave in strong stretching or extensional flows.'
Many of the materials Rothstein is planning to study already have practical applications, but are used without a fundamental understanding of how these materials work. Paints, shampoos and hair gel are all examples, according to Rothstein, of consumer products that have been mixed with these materials, which act as 'viscosity modifiers.'
'Trying to understand how these materials behave in these various complex flows is important both from an industrial-commercial aspect and also from a basic fundamental science viewpoint,' Rothstein said.
Much of the funding from the NSF CAREER grant is going towards bringing in more graduate students and funding their research on the project, according to Rothstein. Funds from the grant have also been allocated to develop an outreach program to encourage participation in the sciences by local students, kindergarten through high school, and to expand undergraduate research opportunities within the university. To this end Rothstein plans on bringing the results of his research into his classrooms at the undergraduate level through demonstrations and experimentation.
Rothstein also plans to increase undergraduate research opportunities in his lab. At any given time, Rothstein has about four undergraduate students working for him. The new budget allows him to bring undergraduate students in to work during the summer in addition to those students who would already be working on independent studies pertaining to Rothstein's research throughout the school year.
Integral to Rothstein's research is a machine, one of only four or five in the world according to Rothstein, called a filament stretching rheometer. It was constructed in Rothstein's laboratory by his research team and is used to stretch the wormlike micelles, the agents which impart viscoelasticity to a given material, and measures their response to extensional flows. The filament stretching rheometer also determines exactly how far these micelles can be extended before they break.
According to the NSF program Web site, the NSF funds about 11,000 proposals each year, out of a submitted 40,000. The NSF makes up one-fourth of all federal funding for basic scientific research at academic institutions in the United States. The CAREER Program is designed to assist faculty members who 'most effectively integrate research and education within the context of the mission of their organization' early in their careers.
Be the first to comment on this article!