DIRECTOR

Dr. Keith Moored

Currently an associate professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering and Mechanics at Lehigh University.  Dr. Moored grew up in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia and attended the University of Virginia where he received a B.S. in Aerospace Engineering and a B.A. in Physics in 2004.  He stayed at UVa to research the principles of bio-inspired propulsion based on the swimming of manta rays for his dissertation.  He received his Ph.D. in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at the University of Virginia in 2010.  From 2010-2013, he was a Postdoctoral Research Associate and Lecturer in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at Princeton University.  Additionally, in 2012, he sailed as faculty on Semester at Sea for the Engineering Maymester, short-term voyage through South and Central America.  Dr. Moored joined the faculty of Mechanical Engineering and Mechanics at Lehigh University in 2013.  He is currently a PI on an ONR MURI topic on non-traditional propulsion and he has been awarded an NSF CAREER award.  Dr. Moored’s research interests are at the intersection of fluid mechanics, solid mechanics and biology.

CV  Scholar profile   ResearchGate profile

POSTDOCTORAL RESEARCHERS

Dr. Amin Mivehchi

Amin received his B.Sc. and M.Sc. From Terhan Polytechnic, Iran, in field of Naval Engineering Hydrodynamics. Amin moved to University of Rhode Island In 2013 to pursue his Ph.D. in Ocean Engineering with focus on bio-inspired propulsors and energy harvesting systems, Boundary Element method and High Performance Computing and continued his work in experimental and numerical Fluid -Structure Interaction problems. Amin join biofluids lab in Nov 2018. His current research focuses on unsteady ground effect and thrust and lift generation of bio-inspired propulsors.

 

 

Dr. Seth Brooks

Seth received his B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Grove City College. He later moved to Syracuse, NY to pursue a Ph.D. in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at Syracuse University with a focus on bio-inspired propulsors and experimental fluid mechanics. He joined the Unsteady Flow Interactions Laboratory in the Fall of 2021 where his current research focuses on unsteady ground effect, traveling wave propulsors, and oscillatory energy harvesting. Outside the lab, he enjoys spending time with his wife and two boys.

 

 

 

GRADUATE RESEARCHERS

David Lee, Ph.D. Candidate

David obtained his undergraduate degree in Mechanical Engineering from Wilkes University, now he is a Ph.D candidate at Lehigh University. His research interests include experimental vortex-body interactions and gust response of lifting foils.

 

 

Tianjun Han, Ph.D. Candidate

Tianjun joined the lab as a PhD student in August 2018. He got his bachelor’s degree in energy dynamics system from Wuhan University, and he worked at the Energy Research Center of Lehigh University for his master’s degree. Now he is working on unsteady fluid-structure interaction with non-uniform flexibility for the design of the advanced underwater vehicle. In free time, Tianjun will play drum in the California drum shop.

 

 

 

Pedro Ormonde, Ph.D. Candidate

Pedro joined the group in August 2018 as a PhD student. He is a Mechanical Engineer from Univ. Federal do Rio de Janeiro (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) and obtained his MSc degree in Aeronautical Engineering from Instituto Tecnológico de Aeronáutica (São José dos Campos, Brazil), where he studied coherent structures in turbulent, reattaching flows. His current research at the Moored Lab focuses on understanding the dynamic interactions and fluid-mediated forces that occur in collectives of swimming animals. Pedro likes going to the beach, swimming and exercising, as well as watching comedy.

 

 

  • Balram Saud, Ph.D. Candidate

UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCHERS

Zemichael Gebeyehu (BS student)

 

 

 

 

Abiola Oladipo (BS student)

Abiola joined the lab in June 2021 as part of the Bio-Inspired Renewable Energy for Highly-Efficient Low-Cost Riverine Environment Hydrokinetics Project. He is currently pursuing a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering with a minor in Aerospace Engineering. Currently he is serving as a research assistant for the Bio-Inspired Piezoelectric Propulsive Drive Development Project. In addition, Abiola is involved in the Lehigh Innov8 team, the Aerospace Club, the African Student Association, and as a Career Intern at Lehigh’s Center for Career and Professional Development. His research interests are in air and spacecraft propulsion as well as fluid mechanics. In his spare time, he is an avid soccer player, gym rat, and reader.  LinkedIn Profile

 

 

 

Ben Kramer (BS student)

 

 

 

 

Matt Tallo (BS Student)
Matt joined the lab as an undergraduate student in January 2022. He is currently studying Mechanical Engineering with minors in Aerospace Engineering and Japanese. His research focuses on the viability of using piezoelectric actuators as a method of high-efficiency propulsion. Outside of the classroom, Matt is involved with the Aerospace Club, Student Senate, and Douglass Dialogues. In his free time, he enjoys playing classical piano, and has performed at venues such as Carnegie Hall and Jazz at Lincoln Center.
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  • Ilias Chekkori

ALUMNI

Isabel Steinthal (MS graduate)

Isabel received her B.Sc. in Integrated Mechanical Engineering and Design from Lehigh University in 2020.  She joined the lab January 2020 during her undergraduate degree and has continued to work on her research as part of her master’s thesis.  She is planning to graduate in May 2021 with her M. Sc in Mechanical Engineering.  Her research focuses on experimental energy generation and bio-inspired propulsion.  In her free time, she enjoys artwork, gardening, and spending time with her cat.

 

 

Melike Kurt, Ph.D.

Melike joined the group in 2014 as a PhD student, and expecting to graduate by May 2020. She is from Turkey and obtained her B.Sc. (2011) in Mechanical Engineering from Istanbul Technical University and M.Sc. (2014) in Mechanical Engineering from Bogazici University, in Turkey. Her Ph.D. work focuses on fundamental flow physics, and performance enhancement aspects of vortex-body, and multiple body interactions in unsteady flows inspired by swimmers in nature, by incorporating experimental and theoretical approaches. Her leisure time activities include, but not limited to, reading about history and linguistics, padding her cat, painting random pages in her art journal, and sweating some in the gym.

 

Carolyn Wang (BS graduate)

Carolyn participated in the group from September 2019 to August 2020, assisting with wireless data collection. She is an undergraduate senior majoring in Computer Engineering and graduating in May 2021. Her involvements on campus include being an undergrad teaching assistant, career intern for Lehigh’s Center for Career and Professional Development, current president of Lehigh’s Society of Asian Scientists & Engineers (SASE) Chapter, and an exec member of Alpha Omega Epsilon and Rossin Junior Fellows. During her free time, she enjoys cooking, hiking, and playing tennis.

 

 

Emre Akoz, Ph.D.

Emre successfully defended his dissertation in July 2019.  He is now a data scientist at the KLA corporation in Ann Arbor, MI.  Emre received his bachelors degree in mechanical engineering from Middle East Technical University. He joined the biofluids lab in 2013 and has been working on different types of fish locomotion and the underlying physics of fast and efficient swimming. He likes to run on trails in his free time.

 

 

 

Nathan Wagenhofer, Ph.D.

Nate successfully defended his dissertation on the noise generation of hydrofoils undergoing unsteady motions in April 2019.  He is now working at CRAFT Tech, a Pennsylvania CFD company.  His dissertation work could be applied to the design of quiet underwater swimming machines. Hailing from the short Appalachian mountains of PA, he has received his prior degrees in Mathematics from Kutztown University and Mechanical Engineering from Temple University. Nate stands at 6’1″ and enjoys all types of sandwiches (pronounced: /ˈhoʊ.ɡi/).

 

 

Fatma Ayancik Cinoglu, Ph.D.

Fatma earned her Ph.D. in July 2019 and is now as a postdoctoral research associate at EPFL (Lausanne, Switzerland) in the UNFoLD laboratory. She is from Turkey, and she received a B.S. (2012) and M.Sc. (2014) in Mechanical Engineering from TOBB ETU. Her work focuses on the use of numerical tools to understand the nonlinear mechanisms behind fast and efficient swimming in biology by introducing shape, kinematics, and flexibility effects to the problem. Her research interests are unsteady fluid mechanics, biological swimming, fluid-structure interaction, nonlinear optimization, and GPU accelerated computing.

 She is a former president and current vice president of Lehigh WISE (Women in Science and Engineering) and P.C. Rossin Doctoral Fellow at Lehigh University. She has been awarded a full scholarship for M.Sc. (2012), World Energy Council Youth and Energy Award (2013), Honorary Graduation Degree (2014), APS FGSA Travel Award for Excellence in Graduate Research (2017), Graduate Student Life Leadership Award (2018). During her free time she enjoys reading, cooking and doing yoga. LinkedIn Profile.

  • Nick Lorch (BS student)
  • Aatika Rizwan (BS student)
  • Michelle Rodrigues (BS graduate)
  • Brian Leard (BS graduate)
  • Daniel Simon (BS graduate)
  • Victoria Cohen (high school graduate)
  • Colin Bleiler (BS graduate)
  • Andrew Gilbert (BS graduate)
  • Clare Severe (BS graduate)
  • Stephen Goelz (BS graduate)
  • Andrew Price (BS graduate)
  • Rebecca Salsburg-Frank (BS graduate)
  • Jason Conti (BS graduate)
  • Matthew Faller (BS graduate)
  • Connor Baldwin (MS graduate)
  • Nithin Rajaram (MS graduate)
  • Yuanyi Xie (MS graduate)
  • Dr. Samane Zeyghami (Postdoctoral Researcher)
  • Jackson Cochran-Carney (MS graduate)
  • Douglas Rumbaugh (MS graduate)
  • Connor Fulbright (MEng graduate)
  • Teresita Libel (BS graduate)
  • Robert Haag (BS graduate)
  • Durlav Mudbhari (MS gradaute)
  • Timothy Schutter (MS graduate)
  • David Flectcher (BS graduate)
  • Adrien Antoinette (BS graduate)
  • Ibrahim Hashmi (BS graduate)
  • Stephen Yenouskas (BS graduate)
  • Chris Schleicher (Postdoctoral Researcher)
  • Arielle Weiner (BS graduate)
  • Patrick Walgren (BS graduate)
  • Jason Levine (BS graduate)
  • Devon Fano (BS graduate)
  • Naoki Miura (BS graduate)
  • Rory Lipkis (high school graduate)
  • Evan Gaj (BS graduate)
  • Daniel Bateman (BS graduate)
  • Tanzirul Hoque (BS graduate)
  • Zixun (Jason) Wu (BS graduate)
  • Diane Zettl (BS graduate)
  • Joshua Okrent (BS graduate)
  • Kai He (BS graduate)