The Waterloo Institute for Nanotechnology (WIN) is pleased to present a seminar with Professor David Fernandez Rivas, Mesoscale Chemical Systems, Department of Chemical Engineering, MESA+ Institute, University of Twente, The Netherlands, and Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA.
Please join us on Friday, October 18 at 11 a.m. to hear Professor Rivas's seminar titled "Microfluidics enables process intensification with cavitation and inertial ballistic."
Where: QNC 1501
When: Friday, October 18, 2024 | 11 a.m. - 12 p.m.
About the lecture
In the last decade, Process Intensification through microfluidics has proven its advantages in Chemical Engineering, with clear benefits when aiming for more sustainable and efficient ways to operate chemical processes. A growing number of companies have demonstrated that ‘‘large’’ equipments are not necessarily the only way to reach an economy of scale, and chemical engineers are more comfortable with scaling-down strategies.
Our team has developed the BuBble Gun microfluidics platform to accelerate small liquid volumes with utilization potential in biomedical applications. We are now developing new experiments to demonstrate the technological potential in novel process designs and chemical reactions.
This platform can be used to control physicochemical phenomena at the microscale with droplets and bubbles along three testing frameworks: 1) Cavitation: where we have promissing results showing the manipulation of ultrafast contact line dynamics, e.g., coating the inner walls of microfluidic channels with gold. 2) Jetting: The channel geometry and coatings influence the jet breakup, the resulting drop size distribution, and the jet trajectory. The jets are inertia dominated and we study viscoelastic effects with different additives. 3) Impact: We have numerical and experimental studies of the fluid dynamics.
Our approach offers advantages for manipulating viscous forces, surface tension, and mass transport, which are concomitant factors when dealing with chemical engineering concepts.
About the speaker
David is an engineer, scientist, educator, and co-founder of BuBclean and FlowBeams, spin-offs from the University of Twente. He focuses on teaching and solving societal challenges as Professor at the University of Twente, Research affiliate at the MIT, USA and Invited professor at the Dermatology Department, Erasmus MC Hospital, Rotterdam, NL.
David leads the BuBble Gun project, aimed at developing a needle-free injection method. He has developed novel products, such as the BuBble Bag for Ultrasonic cleaning and water treatment, and new electrode designs for hydrogen generation. He wrote the book Empathic Entrepreneurial Engineering, which is a guide to solving problems, based on the real experiences of scientists and company founders.
David has received several recognitions, such as the Lambertuszoon Fonds prize (2016) awarded by the Royal Holland Society of Sciences and Humanities (KHMW), and elected as Engineer of the Year 2021, and the Prince Friso Award by the Royal Dutch Institute of Engineers (KIVI). His work in Public Outreach earned him the Stairways to Impact Award, granted by the Dutch Scientific Council. He was elected to the Global Young Academy (2020) and the Young Academy Europe (2020), elected Secretary in 2023. In 2024, David was installed at the De Jonge Akademie (Dutch Young Academy), Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences.