Silas D. Alben

Infobox Scientist
name = Silas D. Alben

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residence = Atlanta, Georgia
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nationality = American
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fields = Biomechanics Numerical methods Control theory
workplaces = Georgia Institute of Technology
alma_mater = New York University Harvard University
doctoral_advisor = Michael Shelley
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Silas D. Alben is an American mathematician and an Assistant Professor in the School of Mathematics at the Georgia Institute of Technology. Alben is the recipient of the 2005 Andreas Acrivos Dissertation Award in Fluid Dynamics, and is known for his work in biomechanics and biologically inspired systems, for which he has garnered widespread media attention.

Biography

Education

Silas Alben attended Harvard College where he received in 1999 A.B. degrees in Mathematics and Physics, magna cum laude. [http://www.aps.org/programs/honors/prizes/prizerecipient.cfm?name=Silas%20D.%20Alben&year=2005 APS biography of Silas Alben] ] At Harvard, Alben served as the photo editor for the "Harvard Crimson" and worked as a research assistant at the Harvard University High Energy Physics Lab. Alben interned at the Weizmann Institute of Science, where he implemented artificial neural networks to find better amino acid contact potential for proteins, and was a National Science Foundation fellow with the University of Michigan High Energy Spin Physics Group. In the summer of 1998, Alben worked as a research assistant at the Santa Fe Institute. [ [http://www.santafe.edu/research/publications/bulletin/summer1998v13n2.pdf Santa Fe Institute biography of Silas Alben] ]

Following his studies at Harvard, Alben spent a year teaching high school physics in Mexico City. In 2000, he joined the Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences at New York University, where he received a Ph.D. in Mathematics in 2004. His thesis "Drag Reduction by Self-Similar Bending and a Transition to Forward Flight by a Symmetry-Breaking Instability" was advised by Michael Shelley,cite book
author = Alben, S.
year = 2004
title = Drag reduction by self-similar bending and a transition to forward flight by a symmetry breaking instability
publisher =
isbn = ] and received the 2005 Andreas Acrivos Dissertation Award, a prestigious award given by the American Physical Society in recognizing achievements in fluid dynamics. The citation reads: "for elegant mathematical and numerical analysis of fluid-structure interaction to elucidate deformation-induced drag reduction of flexible membranes in a wind and induction of forward flight by the symmetry-breaking flapping of wings". [ [http://www.dfd2005.northwestern.edu/scientific.htm Andreas Acrivos Dissertation Award] ]

Career

After receiving his Ph.D., Alben returned to the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences at Harvard as a NSF Mathematical Sciences Postdoctoral Fellow and Lecturer. [ [http://www.researchcrossroads.org/index.php?view=article&id=50%3Agrant-details&option=com_content&Itemid=37&grant_id=3310409 NSF Mathematical Sciences Postdoctoral Fellow award - Silas Alben] ] In 2007 Alben joined the faculty of the Georgia Institute of Technology as an Assistant Professor, and he is currently a member of the Center for Biologically Inspired Design. [ [http://www.cbid.gatech.edu/members.html Georgia Tech Center for Biologically Inspired Design] ]

Research

Alben's research focuses on problems arising in biomechanics and material science, and consists of the "modeling, theoretical analysis and development of numerical methods, with the general goal of obtaining new physical insight into these problems". [ [http://www.math.gatech.edu/%7Ealben/ Silas Alben ] ] Alben has collaborated with numerous mathematicians, physicists, and biologists in these areas and produced a number of interesting results which attracted widespread media attention.

Flexible structures

As a graduate student at NYU, Alben worked with Jun Zhang and Michael Shelley in investigating the dynamics of flexible structures and how such structures can become more aerodynamic by altering their shape. In this study, Alben designed experiments which visualizes a short glass fiber deforming in fluid flow, and showed that the fiber can reduce the drag force exerted by the fluid by changing its shape. The results of this work was published 2002 in "Nature" under the title "Drag Reduction Through Self-Similar Bending of a Flexible Body",cite journal
author = Alben, S.
coauthors = Shelley, M.; Zhang, J.
year = 2002
title = Drag reduction through self-similar bending of a flexible body
journal = Nature
volume = 420
issue = 6915
pages = 479-481
url = http://www.math.nyu.edu/phd_students/albens/ASZ.Nature.pdf
accessdate = 2008-06-29] and was the subject of various news articles in periodicals including "The New York Times" [ [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?sec=technology&res=9B03E4DA173DF934A25751C1A9649C8B63 Nature's Secret to Building for Strength: Flexibility] ] and others. [ [http://www.scienceblog.com/community/older/2002/D/20024472.html NYU scientists show the benefits of being flexible] ] A continuation of this work titled "How flexibility induces streamlining in a two-dimensional flow"cite journal
author = Alben, S.
coauthors = Shelley, M.; Zhang, J.
year = 2004
title = How flexibility induces streamlining in a two-dimensional flow
journal = Physics of Fluids
volume = 16
pages = 1694
url = http://link.aip.org/link/?PHFLE6/16/1694/1
accessdate = 2008-06-29] received the 2004 Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics (SIAM) Student Paper Prize. [ [http://www.siam.org/prizes/sponsored/student_paper.php SIAM Student Paper Prize] ]

Humpback-whales

As a Postdoctoral Fellow at Harvard, Alben collaborated with Ernst A. van Nierop and Michael P. Brenner in a paper titled "How Bumps on Whale Flippers Delay Stall: An Aerodynamic Model".cite journal
author = Van Nierop, E.A.
coauthors = Alben, S.; Brenner, M.P.
year = 2008
title = How Bumps on Whale Flippers Delay Stall: An Aerodynamic Model
journal = Physical Review Letters
volume = 100
issue = 5
pages = 54502
doi = 10.1103/PhysRevLett.100.054502] In this paper, Alben solved a long-standing problem in biology and physics which deals with the humpback whale's agility with bumps on the leading edges of their flippers and gave a mathematical model for this hydrodynamic phenomenon. This result, featured in MIT's "Technology Review" [ [http://www.technologyreview.com/Energy/20379/ Whale-Inspired Wind Turbines] ] and "Nature", [ [http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v451/n7181/full/451868a.html Fluid dynamics: Lifting a whale] ] provided the theoretical basis for potential improvements in using bumps for more stable airplanes, more agile submarines, and more efficient turbine blades.

elf-assembly

In 2007, Alben investigated (with Michael P. Brenner) the self-assembly of a 3D structures from flat, elastic sheets. This experiment, featured on "New Scientist", [ [http://technology.newscientist.com/channel/tech/nanotechnology/dn12017 Self-assembly could simplify nanotech construction] ] presented a new technique in nano construction; previously, the transformation of flat sheets to 3D structures were performed by random formation, but in this study, the addition of biases into the design of the sheets gave the possibility of predicating the resulting shape.

Honors and awards

*Andreas Acrivos Dissertation Award in Fluid Dynamics (2005)
*National Science Foundation Mathematical Sciences Postdoctoral Fellow award (2004)
*SIAM Student Paper Prize (2004)

ee also

*List of Georgia Institute of Technology faculty

References

External links

* [http://www.math.gatech.edu/%7Ealben/ Homepage]
* [http://www.math.gatech.edu/people/faculty/alben.html Georgia Tech faculty profile]
* [http://genealogy.math.ndsu.nodak.edu/id.php?id=95492 Mathematics Genealogy Project profile]