Anna-Karin Tornberg will receive funding for a postdoctoral position for international researchers at the Numerical Analysis Group at the Department of mathematics, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm.
The new area of research – micro-fluidics, or microscopic fluid mechanics – has been developed to satisfy the need for understanding the manipulation of ever-smaller nano-objects. One emerging technology is “droplet micro-fluidics” in which very small droplets of water suspended in oil contain samples. Their surface is coated with an active substance, which keeps the droplets apart. Each droplet, less than a thirty thousandth millimeter in diameter, can contain a unique combination of substances or biological samples.
With the growing interest in micro-fluidics there is a need to better understand the underlying processes and their biological applications. The challenge is to develop accurate and fast methods for computer simulations of micro-fluids, particularly in three dimensions. One of the difficulties of such modeling stems from the variability of the water droplets, which tend to move around and undergo deformations. This is difficult to simulate with accurate and fast results.
The proposed research project will include the active substance coating of the droplets in the simulations, as well as develop new methods in order to circumvent certain difficulties. The goal is to develop accurate and fast methods for computer simulations for micro-fluid droplets coated with active substance.
Photo KTH Royal Institute of Technology/ Henrik Gustavsson