People

Pedro M. Reis Principal Investigator Full Professor Email: pedro.reis(at)epfl.ch Office: MED 0 1226 Phone: +41 21 69 37118

Pedro Miguel Reis is a Full Professor of Mechanical Engineering at the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), where he moved to on November 1st, 2017. His research group, the Flexible Structures Laboratory, is dedicated to the fundamental understanding of the mechanics of slender structures and their intrinsic geometric nonlinearities.

Prof. Reis received a B.Sc. in Physics from the University of Manchester, UK (1999), a Certificate of Advanced Studies in Mathematics (Part III Maths) from St. John’s College and DAMTP, University of Cambridge (2000) and a Ph.D. in physics from the University of Manchester (2004). He then moved as a Post-Doc at the City College of New York (2004-2005). Between 2005 and 2007 he was a CNRS Post-Doc at the ESPCI in Paris. He joined MIT in 2007 as an Instructor in Applied Mathematics in the Department of Mathematics. In 2010 he moved to MIT’s School of Engineering, with dual appointments in Mechanical Engineering and Civil & Environmental Engineering, first as the Esther and Harold E. Edgerton Assistant Professor and, since the summer of 2014 as Gilbert W. Winslow Associate Professor. In October 2013, the Popular Science magazine named Prof. Reis to its 2013 “Brilliant 10” list of young stars in Science and Technology. He has also received the 2014 CAREER Award (NSF), the 2016 Thomas J.R. Hughes Young Investigator Award (Applied Mechanics Division of the ASME), the 2016 GSOFT Early Career Award for Soft Matter Research (APS) and he is a Fellow of the APS.

When not playing with slender structures, Prof. Reis spends his time being silly with his twins and enjoying the Swiss Alps.

A more detailed Curriculum Vitae can be found here.

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Matteo Pezzulla Postdoctoral Associate Email: matteo.pezzulla(at)epfl.ch Website: Matteo Pezzulla Office: MED 0 1626 Phone: +41 21 69 38249

Matteo is a Post-Doc at the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), where he moved to on November 1st, 2017. Matteo got his B.Sc. in Aerospace Engineering from Sapienza – Università di Roma in 2010, an M.Sc. in Space Engineering from the same school in 2012, and also the Ph.D. in Theoretical and Applied Mechanics in 2015. Prior to joining EPFL, Matteo was a Postdoctoral Associate at Boston University (BU), from 2015 to 2017. He is interested in the fluid-structure interactions (FSI) of perforated slender structures and viscous fluids, at low Reynolds numbers. He also keeps an interest on the geometric mechanics of slender structures such as shells, which he worked on during his time in Boston. Matteo is a member of the APS and the Italian Research Group in Mathematical Physics (GNFM).

When he is not at EPFL, Matteo likes to travel, play basketball and the guitar.

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Dong Yan Postdoctoral Associate Email: dong.yan(at)epfl.ch Website: Dong Yan Office: MED 0 1526 Phone: +41 21 69 32781

Dong is a Post-Doc at the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) starting from November 1st, 2017. Dong got his B.Sc. in Theoretical and Applied Mechanics at Beijing Institute of Technology (BIT) in China in 2010. He completed his doctoral work focusing on the wrinkling of thin films in Micromechanics Research Group at BIT under the supervision of Gengkai Hu and Kai Zhang and got his Ph.D. in Mechanics in 2017. Dong is interested in the mechanics of slender structures, soft materials and structures, and metamaterials and metastructures. His current research at the fleXLab mainly focuses on the buckling of shells.

Dong likes traveling, playing badminton and running in his spare time.

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Paul Grandgeorge Postdoctoral Associate Email: paul.grandgeorge(at)epfl.ch Website: Paul Grandgeorge Office: MED 0 1626 Phone: +41 21 69 38249

Paul Grandgeorge works as a Post-Doc at the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), where he moved to on March 1st, 2018. He received his BSc and MSc in Mechanical Engineering at EPFL and during his BSc, he spent one year studying at the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, Barcelona (Spain). Paul performed his Ph.D. thesis at the ∂’Alembert institute, Sorbonne Université, Paris (France), under the supervision of Arnaud Antkowiak and Sébastien Neukirch, where he focused on the elasto-capillary interactions between liquid drops and fibrous media. His main area of interest at EPFL’s fleXLab lies in the mechanics of elastic knots and the development of model experiments to describe the complex interaction between flexible rods.

Outside the lab, Paul likes to travel and go for walks in the mountains.

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Samuel Poincloux Postdoctoral Associate Email: samuel.poincloux(at)epfl.ch Website: Samuel Poincloux Office: MED 0 1626 Phone: +41 21 69 38249

Samuel is a Post-Doc at the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) starting from January 1st, 2019. Samuel got his engineering degree from ESPCI Paris followed by a research master at École Normale Supérieure (ENS)/Sorbonne University on Macroscopic and Statistical Physics. He then conducted his PhD in the Statistical Physics Laboratory at ENS Paris under the supervision of Mokhtar Adda-Bedia and Frédéric Lechenault where he worked on the mechanical and statistical response of knitted fabrics. He is interested in elasticity-structure interactions where friction plays a major role. In the fleXLab, his focus is on the mechanics of multi-layered structures.

In his free time, Samuel enjoys hiking, biking and discovering new kind of foods and drinks.

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Armelle Keiser Postdoctoral Associate Email: armelle.gaskeiser(at)epfl.ch Website: Armelle Keiser Office: MED 0 1526 Phone: +41 21 69 32781

Armelle Keiser works as a Post-Doc at the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), where she moved to on January 1st, 2019. She received her BSc and MSc in Mechanical Engineering at ESPCI Paris. She then completed her doctoral work focusing on the dynamic of liquids on lubricant-infused textured surfaces, under the supervision of Christophe Clanet and David Quéré and got her Ph.D. from Sorbonne Université in 2018. At EPFL’s fleXLab and UNFoLD, her work focuses on the aerodynamics of flexible and morphable structures at high Reynolds number.

Outside the lab, Armelle enjoys hiking in the mountains or walking along the Lake Léman.

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Tian Chen Postdoctoral Associate Email: tian.chen(at)epfl.ch Website: Tian Chen Office: MED 0 1526 Phone: +41 21 69 32781

Tim joined EPFL as a Post-Doc starting from January 1st, 2019. He spent his undergrad in a program called Engineering Science at the University of Toronto in Canada, and obtained his master degree in Civil Engineering at TU Delft in the Netherlands. He conducted his doctoral education in Mechanical Engineering at ETH Zurich, producing a thesis titled “Materials-based design of autonomous machines using 4D printing”. At EPFL, he plans to propose a new class of programmable mechanical metamaterial.

Whenever he has time, he enjoys hiking, ice skating, watching Friends (the TV show) and exploring forbidden areas.

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Tomohiko Sano Postdoctoral Associate Email: tomohiko.sano(at)epfl.ch Website: Tomohiko Sano Office: MED 0 1526 Phone: +41 21 69 32781

Tomohiko is a Post-Doc at the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) starting from April 1st, 2019, and Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) Overseas Research Fellow. He received his B.Sc. in Faculty of Science, Kyoto University in 2011, and got his M.Sc. in Graduate School of Science, Kyoto University in 2013. He got his Ph.D. in Graduate School of Science, Kyoto University, 2016. In his doctoral work, he studied the fluctuating motion of a tracer attached to non-equilibrium environments, such as granular systems theoretically. Tomohiko was a JSPS PostDoc research fellow at Ritsumeikan University from 2016 to 2019, studying functionality in structures and geometry both theoretically and experimentally. He was awarded the 13th Young Scientists Award of the Physical Society of Japan, entitled “Theoretical and experimental studies on the flexibility of structures -friction, buckling, and snap-buckling-.” In the fleXLab, he is interested in friction between thin structures including mechanics of knots.

In his free time, he enjoys cooking, walking along the lake Léman and traveling.

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Changyeob Baek Ph.D. Graduate Student Email: cbaek(at)mit.edu Website: Changyeob Baek Office: Building 1, Room 334, MIT Phone: +1 617 324 3325

Changyeob Baek is a Ph.D. student at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). He earned his B.S. in the Department of Mechanical Engineering, Seoul National University, South Korea, in 2015, and at the same year, he began his graduate studies at MIT. He has been studying the mechanics of filamentous structures – for now, gridshells – under the guidance of Pedro Reis. Being the last active member of the former EGS. Lab at MIT, he will fly back and forth between Boston and Lausanne to fulfill his Ph.D.

During his leisure time, he enjoys cooking and walking along the city of Boston.

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Paul Johanns Ph.D. Graduate Student Email: paul.johanns(at)epfl.ch Website: Paul Johanns Office: MED 0 1526 Phone: +41 21 69 32781

Paul Johanns is a Ph.D. student at the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), starting from April 1st, 2018. He got his B.Sc. and M.Sc. both in Mechanical Engineering from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich (ETH Zurich) in 2016 and 2017, respectively. Paul performed his Master Thesis in Prof. Chiara Daraio’s lab at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) working on tensegrity-inspired structures for impact protection. His research at EPFL’s fleXLab focuses on the fundamental understanding of the topological influence on the mechanics of complex knots.

Paul likes to play music – trumpet and organ – and to go scuba diving in his free time.

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Arefeh Abbasi Ph.D. Graduate Student Email: arefeh.abbasi(at)epfl.ch Website: Arefeh Abbasi Office: MED 0 1526 Phone: +41 21 69 32781

Arefeh Abbasi is a Ph.D. student at the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), where she moved to on February 15th, 2019. Arefeh got her B.Sc. in Mechanical Engineering (Solid Mechanics) from Shiraz University, Iran, in 2014, and her M.Sc. in Mechanical Engineering (Applied Design) from Shiraz University of Technology, Iran, in 2017. During her graduate study in Iran, she worked on finite element analysis of plates, shells, and smart structures. Now, her area of interest at the fleXLab focuses on the buckling of shells.

In her free time, Arefeh enjoys cooking, biking and traveling.

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Noelia Simone Administrative Assistant Email: noelia.simone(at)epfl.ch Website: Noelia Simone Office: MED 0 1726 Phone: +41 21 69 35726

Noelia is the Administrative Assistant of the Flexible Structures Laboratory at EPFL. She is also managing the administrative and finance coordination part of an H2020 European project with Prof. A. Radenovic (EPFL STI IBI-STI LBEN). In 2014, and after her Commercial Business apprenticeship at EPFL (EPFL SB ISIC LCOM), Noelia received her Federal Certificate of Proficiency (CFC) in Commercial Business. She also got the chance to work in the private domain, for the startup Abionic.

Apart from her varied and exciting job, Noelia loves traveling and would dream to travel around the World.

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Alumni from the fleXLab

	Caroline Gay Student internship at the fleXLab, EPFL (2019) Now: Master’s student at ESPCI Paris
	Lilian Cruveiller Student internship at the fleXLab, EPFL (2019) Now: Master’s student at Ecole Polytechnique (Palaiseau, France)
	Anna Lee Postdoc at the fleXLab, EPFL (2018) Now: Assistant Professor in Department of Mechanical Engineering, Pohang University of Science and Technology, Korea
	Benjamin Rahm Master’s Project Student at the fleXLab, EPFL (2018)
	Mazen Al Achkar Master’s Project Student at the fleXLab, EPFL (2018)
	Mark Guttag Postdoc at the fleXLab, EPFL (2018) Now: Exponent, Boston, US
	Tomohiko Sano Visiting Postdoc at the fleXLab, EPFL (2018) Now: Postdoc at the fleXLab, EPFL
	Bartosz Kaczmarski  Visiting Undergraduate Student at the fleXLab, EPFL (2018) Now: Undergraduate Student at Princeton University, US

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Alumni from the EGS.Lab (our former home at MIT)

	Mark Guttag Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering at the EGS.Lab, MIT (2014-2017) Thesis title:”Aerodynamic Drag on Deformable and Active Structures in High Reynolds Number Conditions” Now: Exponent, Boston, US
	Anna Lee Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering at the EGS.Lab, MIT (2014-2017) Thesis title:”Fabrication and Buckling of Thin Spherical Shells Containing Precise Geometric Imperfections” Now: Assistant Professor in Department of Mechanical Engineering, Pohang University of Science and Technology, Korea
	Joel Marthelot Postdoc at the EGS.Lab, MIT (2014-2017) Visiting Graduate Student at the EGS.Lab, MIT (Spring 2010, Master 2 from Université Pierre et Marie Curie, Paris, France) Now: Postdoc at the LE.Lab, Princeton University
	Francisco López Jiménez Postdoc at the EGS.Lab, MIT (2013-2016) Now: Assistant Professor in Ann and H.J. Smead Aerospace Engineering Sciences, University of Colorado Boulder
	Hussain Karimi Postdoc at the EGS.Lab, MIT (2015-2017)
	Grace Goon M.Sc. in Aeronautics and Astronautics at the EGS.Lab, MIT (2012-2017) Now: Ph.D. student at MIT
	Elizabeth (Liz) Strong M.Sc. in Mechanical Engineering at the EGS.Lab, MIT (2015-2017) Now: Ph.D. student at University of Colorado Boulder
	Rashed Al-Rashed M.Sc. in Mechanical Engineering at the EGS.Lab, MIT (2015-2017) Now: Ph.D. student at MIT
	Claudio Falcon Visiting Professor at the EGS.Lab, MIT (2015-2017) Now: Associate Professor in Departamento de Fisica, Faculdad de Ciencias Fisicas y Matematicas, Universidad de Chile
	Latoya Oliver Administrative Assistant at the EGS.Lab, MIT (2016-2017)
	M. Khalid Jawed Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering at the EGS.Lab, MIT (2012-2016) Thesis title:”Geometrically Nonlinear Configurations in Rod-Like Structures” Now: Assistant Professor in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, University of California, Los Angeles
	Laelia Kim-Lan Vaulot M.Eng. in Civil & Environmental Engineering at the EGS.Lab, MIT (2015-2016) Thesis title:”Form Finding in Elastic Gridshells” Now: Graduate student at Yale University
	Connor McMahan Undergraduate Student and superUROP at the EGS.Lab, MIT (2015-2016) Thesis title:”Form Finding in Elastic Gridshells” Now: Graduate student at Caltech
	Rebecca Fowler Administrative Assistant at the EGS.Lab, MIT (2014-2016)
	Connor Mulcahy M.S. in Mechanical Engineering at the EGS.Lab, MIT (2013-2015) Thesis title:”Rotation of a Slender Rod Injected into a Cylindrical Constraint” Now: Boston Scientific
	Noor Khouri Undergraduate Student, UROP at the EGS.Lab, MIT (2013-2015) MIT Class of 2015 (Course 1: Civil & Environment Engineering)
	Ryan McDermott Undergraduate Student, UROP at the EGS.Lab, MIT (2014-2015) MIT Class of 2015 (Course 2: Mechanical Engineering). Now: Design Engineer at Daily Thermetrics (Houston, TX)
	Alice Nasto M.Sc. Student at the EGS.Lab, MIT (2011-2014) Now: Ph.D. student at MIT
	Marie Rice Undergraduate Student, UROP at the EGS.Lab, MIT (2013-2014) Now: Ph.D. student at University of Michigan
	Peter Dieleman Visiting Graduate Student at the EGS.Lab, MIT (2014) Now: Ph.D. student at Leiden University, Netherlands
	Sharon Lacey Administrative Assistant at the EGS.Lab, MIT (2012-2014) Now: Writer at MIT’s Center for Arts, Science & Technology, MIT
	Romain Lagrange Instructor in Applied Mathematics, MIT (2012-2014) Now: Researcher at CEA, France
	James Miller Ph.D. in Civil & Environmental Engineering at the EGS.Lab, MIT (2010-2013) Now: Research Scientist, Schlumberger Doll Research, Cambridge, USA
	Denis Terwagne Postdoc at the EGS.Lab, MIT (2011-2013) Now: Assistant Professor, Department of Physics, Université Libre de Bruxelles
	Joao Lopes Sabbatical visit at the EGS.Lab, MIT (2013) Now: Structural Engineer CERN (European Organization for Nuclear Research)
	Amy McGuire Administrative Assistant at the EGS.Lab, MIT (2011-2013) Now: Renewable Energy Project Coordinator Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources
	Tianxiang Su Postdoc at the EGS.Lab, MIT (2011-2013) Now: Research Scientist, Schlumberger Doll Research, Cambridge, USA
	Arnaud Lazarus Postdoc at the EGS.Lab, MIT (2010-2013) Now: Assistant Professor at the Institut Jean Le Rond d’Alembert, Université Pierre et Marie Curie, Paris, France
	Miha Brojan Post-doc and Fullbright Fellow at the EGS.Lab, MIT (2011-2013) Now: Lecturer at the University of Ljubljana, Slovenia
	Adrien Bresson Visiting Graduate Student at the EGS.Lab, MIT (Spring 2013)
	Carmen Castanos Undergraduate Student, UROP at the EGS.Lab, MIT (Spring 2013) MIT Class of 2015 (Course 1: Civil and Environmental Engineering) Now: Graduate student at MIT
	Matthew Santer Sabbatical visit at the EGS.Lab, MIT (2012-2013) MIT Class of 2015 (Course 1: Civil and Environmental Engineering) Now: Senior Lecturer in the Department of Aeronautics, Imperial College London, UK
	Matt Metlitz Undergraduate Student, UROP at the EGS.Lab, MIT (2012) MIT Class of 2014 (Course 2: Mechanical Engineering)
	Sarah Southerland Undergraduate Student, UROP at the EGS.Lab, MIT (2012) MIT Class of 2013 (Course 2: Mechanical Engineering and Course 4: Architecture)
	Tommy Tran High-School Student Intern at the EGS.Lab, MIT (Summer 2012). Malden High School (2012), Summer Internship in partnership with Summer Search Boston and NSF
	Nicolas Bravo Undergraduate Student, UROP at the EGS.Lab, MIT (Spring 2012) MIT Class of 2015 (Course 2: Mechanical Engineering)
	Miho Kitagawa Undergraduate Student, UROP at the EGS.Lab, MIT (Spring 2012) MIT Class of 2014 (Course 2A: Mechanical Engineering)
	Breanna Berry Undergraduate Student, UROP at the EGS.Lab, MIT (Summer, Fall 2011) MIT Class of 2012 (Course 2: Mechanical Engineering)
	Bastiaan Florijn Visiting Graduate Student at the EGS.Lab, MIT (Spring 2011) Master 2 Leiden University, Netherlands
	Aurelie Fargette Visiting Graduate Student at the EGS.Lab, MIT (Spring 2011) Master 1 from École Normale Supérieure, Paris, France
	Jibo Wen Undergraduate Student, UROP at the EGS.Lab, MIT (Spring 2011) MIT Class of 2013 (Course 1: Civil & Environmental Engineering)
	Joséphine Mannent Visiting Graduate Student at the EGS.Lab, MIT (Fall 2010) École des Mines de Paris, France
	Claude Perdigou Visiting Graduate Student at the EGS.Lab, MIT (Spring 2010) Master 1 from École Normale Supérieure, Paris, France
	Owusu Ansah Undergraduate UROP at the EGS.Lab, MIT (Spring 2010)
	Trevor Shannon Undergraduate UROP at the EGS.Lab, MIT (Spring 2010)