Courses & Schedule

This introductory course to the vast subject of Fluid Structure Interaction is divided in two parts. The first part deals with solid mechanics. The equations for beams and plates are derived owing to a variational approach after a brief recall of continuum mechanics. In that context, application covering the frames of quasi-static and dynamics are considered. The second part introduces the scaling approach to model a general coupled fluid-solid problem. Multiple fluid-structure interaction problems related to both past and current research trends will be presented, including fluids at rest, the added mass concept, a glimpse on aeroelasticity, flow induced vibration models, and other hydrodynamic problems such as liquid sloshing, wave/structure interaction and biolocomotion.

This course introduces the basic principles of machine learning and their applications to the design of machine learning systems. Lectures will be combined with hands-on programming sessions so that students can learn how to apply machine learning technology to address mechanical engineering problems.

• Linear regressions
• Gradient descent
• Classification
• Data reduction
• Neural networks
• Deep supervised learning

Complex and heterogeneous materials are ubiquitous (e.g., powders and grains in the agribusiness, colloids in cosmetics, biological fluids and tissues, foams, gels and suspensions in food products, CO2 storage, erosion...). This course provides the knowledge and methods necessary to understand and model these complex fluids and solids.

• Rheology of complex fluids (incl. multiphase flows)
• Interfacial and capillary phenomena
• Porous and granular media
• Beyond Hookean solids

This course discusses the physics of capillary phenomena and mixing processes. It addresses fundamental principles and practical aspects, using a mechanism-rooted description illustrated with many laboratory experiments from ongoing research.

• How surface tension shapes liquids ?
• How irreversibility occurs as a consequence of molecular diffusion ?
• How these effects set the scales, similarities or self-organization of phenomena encountered from molecular to planetary scales ?

After a hands-on course on numerical modeling, students choose a project, tutored by a researcher expert on the topic. Through this practical experience, they learn to design a model, choose the suitable numerical tools, and develop a critical viewpoint on their results.

• Hands-on course on Latice Boltzmann Methods
• Hands-on course on Spectral Methods

The goal of this course is to study biological processes from an engineering/physics perspective in order to develop new bio-inspired strategies. It consists of 4 introductory lectures on current biomechanical topics in plants and animals, followed by a group project on R&D topics.

• Moving without muscle: the power of plants
• Planktonic navigation
• Bio-inspired morphing of soft solids
• Flying insects: lessons from the masters of the aerial kingdom

The goal of this advanced course is to give an introduction to current research in environmental fluid dynamics, from both a theoretical and a practical points of view. The same Navier-Stokes equations govern the dynamics of the atmosphere and oceans on Earth, of gas giants, of the subsurface oceans of icy moons, of the mantles and cores of telluric planets, of the stellar interiors, and many other complex natural systems. This course provides the knowledge and methods necessary to understand their basic dynamics and its consequences.

• Advanced lectures on the fundamental of rotating and stratified flows: waves, instabilities, and specific turbulences
• Introductory lectures on the dynamics of the Earth and its climate, of other planets, and of stars
• Tutored seminar, article reading, and scientific presentation