Arezoo Ardekani

Arezoo Motavalizadeh Ardekani
Born	Iran
Alma mater	Sharif University of Technology University of California, Irvine
Scientific career
Institutions	Indiana University–Purdue University Indianapolis Massachusetts Institute of Technology Purdue University
Thesis	Particle interaction, deformation, and collision in viscous and viscoelastic fluids (2009)

Arezoo M. Ardekani is an Iranian-American physicist and Professor at Purdue University. Her research considers the flow of complex fluids. She was elected a Fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers in 2020 and a Fellow of the American Physical Society in 2022.

Early life and education

Ardekani is from Iran. She was born in Isfahan, and was encouraged to become a scientist as a child. She moved to Tehran for her undergraduate studes, where she earned her Bachelor's degree at the Sharif University of Technology. Ardekani moved to the University of California, Irvine for her graduate research, where she worked on particle interactions. She moved to Massachusetts Institute of Technology as a Shapiro Postdoctoral Fellow, where she worked with Gareth H. McKinley on bead formation in viscoelastic jets.

Research and career

Ardekani started her independent career at the University of Notre Dame in 2011. She moved to Indiana University–Purdue University Indianapolis in 2014, where she leads the Complex Felow Lab. She investigates complex fluids and particle transport. She combines theoretical analyses with computational simulations to understand fluid flow.

Amongst the materials systems investigated by Ardekani, she studied the microbes that accumulate at oil spills. She identified that microbes initially move due to chemotaxis (they are attracted to the chemical trail of a food source), but subsequently move due to the formation of a hydrodynamic phenomenon. Ardekani demonstrated that microbes are involved with environmental remediation.

Awards and honours

• 2007 Amelia Earhart Fellowship
• 2012 National Science Foundation CAREER Award
• 2016 Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers
• 2020 Society of Engineering Science Young Investigator Medal
• 2020 Elected Fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers
• 2020 Society of Rheology Arthur B. Metzner Early Career Award
• 2020 Purdue University University Faculty Scholar
• 2022 Elected Fellow of the American Physical Society

Select publications

• A Karimi; S Yazdi; Arezoo M Ardekani (5 April 2013). "Hydrodynamic mechanisms of cell and particle trapping in microfluidics". Biomicrofluidics. 7 (2): 21501. doi:10.1063/1.4799787. ISSN 1932-1058. PMC 3631262. PMID 24404005. Wikidata Q30440491.
• Gao-Jin Li; Arezoo M Ardekani (15 July 2014). "Hydrodynamic interaction of microswimmers near a wall". Physical Review E. 90 (1): 013010. Bibcode:2014PhRvE..90a3010L. doi:10.1103/PHYSREVE.90.013010. ISSN 1539-3755. PMC 4547626. PMID 25122372. Wikidata Q35990994.
• A Karimi; David K. Karig; A Kumar; Arezoo M Ardekani (1 January 2015). "Interplay of physical mechanisms and biofilm processes: review of microfluidic methods". Lab on a Chip. 15 (1): 23–42. doi:10.1039/C4LC01095G. ISSN 1473-0197. PMC 4261921. PMID 25385289. Wikidata Q30394297.