Gianluca Blois, Ph.D.

Biography

Gianluca Blois, is an assistant professor in the Mechanical Engineering Department at the University of Idaho in the area of experimental fluid dynamics. He is currently located on the Boise campus in the Center for Ecohydraulics Research.

Blois completed his doctoral studies in Milan, at the Politecnico di Milano in 2007. Afterwards, he worked at the University of Birmingham, UK, and subsequently at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign where he was a member of both the Hydrosystem Laboratory and the Laboratory for Turbulent and Complex flows (LTCF). In 2015 Blois joined the Department of Aerospace and Mechanical engineering faculty at University of Notre Dame.

Blois research explores the intersection of flow physics and environmental processes and focuses on turbulent and multiphase phenomena in a range of natural systems and engineering applications. His research portfolio is predominantly inspired by geological and biological systems with complex boundaries and interfaces. Research areas of interest include: 1) turbulent boundary layer structure, modifications, modulation, and exchange mechanisms across permeable walls, with implications on hyporheic flows, sediment transport, and biofilms; 2) flow interactions and coupling with complex topographies that form and evolve in both aeolian and subaqueous natural environments with emphasis on 3D bedforms and craters; 3) pore-scale transient interfacial phenomena in immiscible multi-phase flow within heterogeneous porous structures with application to CO2 sequestration and EOR; 4) flow-plant coupling of semi-rigid aquatic vegetation in riparian environments; 5) fluid-structure interactions and surface manipulation of bluff bodies central to drag and lift control/reduction; 6)~biofluids with focus on compliant cardiovascular systems

Central to all of these research efforts is the development and utilization of novel methods to enable access of advanced flow diagnostics into otherwise inaccessible fluid domains.