Mass Transport in Hele-Shaw Cells and its Applications to Microfluidics
Physics
etienne-2.boulais@polymtl.ca
1) Short presentation
My name is Etienne Boulais, I am a PhD candidate at Polytechnique Montreal in engineering physics in Professor Thomas Gervais’ lab. The subject of my thesis is mathematical analysis of flow and diffusion in microfluidic systems.
2) What was your method of explaining your thesis in 3 minutes
Explaining a very technical subject in a manner that is accessible and clear is a difficult ordeal. I tried to recenter the discussion on tangible impacts that our research in microfluidics has on society at large. I also tried to clearly show the link between these larger impacts and the more precise details of what I actually do in my day-to-day life in research.
3) What inspires you to do research?
This project has allowed me to bridge the gap between my interest in sciences and mathematics, as well as my passion for visual arts. Indeed, most of the work I did in my day to day has had a very visual and aesthetic dimension, which I believe has contributed to the success of the project. In this way I am inspired to do work that combines seemingly disparate domains of knowledge and brings them together in a way that is more than the sum of its parts.
4) If you had to dedicate your research to anyone in the past, present, or future, who would it be and why?
To everyone who has a profound desire to understand how the world around them works, as well as to all of those who dedicate their life to things the rest of the world finds useless.
3 Keywords to explain your thesis
Fluid Mechanics, Diffusion, Mathematical Modelling
