Research group in 2007 (Left to right: Diego Melani-Barreiro, Nick Pohlman, Ashley Smart, Pengfei Chen, Prof. Richard Lueptow, Dean Julio Ottino, Gabe Juarez, Steve Cisar, Steve Meier, Jiajun Wang)
Welcome to our website.
Please feel free to explore our website and learn more about what we do. The Laboratory for Complex Systems and Nonlinear Dynamics in Fluids and Granular Materials is directed and advised by Julio M. Ottino.
We are active participants in interdisciplinary research. Several PhD candidates and students in our group participated in the NSF-IGERT in Dynamics of Complex Systems in Science and Engineering as well as the NSF-IGERT in Virtual Tribology.
Note: The copyright for published work resides with the journal or publisher. The PDF files provided here are for consultation purposes only. The material may not be reproduced, printed, or distributed without the permission of the appropriate copyright holder.
For recent publications, select Publications in the menu above. Also see the new Classic Papers section under Publications.
In the News
- J. M. Ottino's talk from the Master of Product Development speaker series, "Creative Processes in Science and Technology: Insights from Visual Arts," is now available online here.
- Ivan Christov, a graduate student in the Ottino group, received a best student paper award at the Sixth IMACS International Conference on Nonlinear Evolution Equations and Wave Phenomena: Computation and Theory.
- "The Mathematical Foundations of Mixing," co-authored by J.M. Ottino, was reviewed in Dynamical Systems Magazine. Read the review here.
- In September 2008, J.M. Ottino co-organized an NSF workshop with John Guckenheimer from mathematics at Cornell University titled "Foundations for Complex Systems Research in the Physical Sciences and Engineering." The workshop was charged with identifying barriers and gaps that impede complex systems research. The report can be accessed here.
- J.M. Ottino’s 2007 talk at the National Science Foundation, "Engineering Complex Systems and Complex Systems Engineering," is now available as part of show “Frontier,” produced by NSF. The show is available on the Research Channel or Northwestern’s YouTube Channel.
- Former Ottino student appointed Director of IIT Bombay: Prof. Devang Khakhar, a student of Julio M. Ottino at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, has been appointed as the new director of IIT Bombay as of January 1, 2009. He joined the Department of Chemical Engineering at IIT Bombay in January 1987, and has been with the institute since then.
- Professor Julio M. Ottino has received one of the most prestigious awards in physics, the 2008 Fluid Dynamics Prize of the American Physical Society (APS). The prize recognizes and encourages outstanding achievement in fluid dynamics research.
Past Events
- See our talks at the APS Division of Fluid Dynamics 60th Annual Meeting in Salt Lake City (November 18 – 20, 2007)
- Northwestern Institute on Complex Systems Complexity Conference (March 28 – 29, 2007)
- Look for our recent talks in the proceedings of the AIChE Annual Meeting in San Francisco and the APS Division of Fluids Dynamics 59th Annual Meeting in Tampa Bay in November 2006.
- View a list of our talks at the APS Division of Fluid Dynamics 58th Annual Meeting in Chicago (November 20 – 22, 2005)
- Presentations at the AIChE 2005 Annual Meeting in Cincinnati (October 30 – November 4, 2005)
- Complex Systems across Disciplines conference (October 29 – 30, 2004)
- Complex Systems across Disciplines conference (October 24 – 25, 2003)
Book Reviews, Perspectives, Essays and Series
New Articles
On Mixing and Demixing
Julio M. Ottino and Richard M. Lueptow, Science, 319, 912-913, (2008).
Coarsening of granular segregation patterns in quasi-two-dimensional tumblers
Steven W. Meier, Diego A. Melani Barreiro, Julio M. Ottino, and Richard M. Lueptow, Nature Physics, 4, 244-248, (2008).
A dynamical systems approach to mixing and segregation of granular materials in tumblers
Steven W. Meier, Richard M. Lueptow and Julio M. Ottino, Advances in Physics, 56, 757-827, (2007).
New Book
The Mathematical Foundations of Mixing
The Linked Twist Map as a Paradigm in Applications Micro to Macro, Fluids to Solids
Rob Sturman, Julio M. Ottino, Stephen Wiggins
Read reviews of The Mathematical Foundations of Mixing from the American
Mathematical Society and the European Mathematical Society
 Summary for the Foundations for Complex Systems Research by Julio M. Ottino and John Guckenheimer from an NSF Workshop in September 2008 |
 Linked twist map formalism in two and three dimensions applied to mixing in tumbled granular flows by R. Sturman, S.W. Meier, J.M. Ottino, and S.Wiggins from J. Fluid Mech., Vol.602, pp. 129-174, 2008 |
 On Mixing and Demixing by Julio M. Ottino and Richard M. Lueptow from Science, February 20, 2008 |
 Rhythm engineering by William L. Kath and Julio M. Ottino from Science, June 29, 2007 |
 Farewell by Julio M. Ottino from AIChE Journal in August 2006 issue. Prof. Ottino steps down as Editor for the Perspectives section. |
 Building on Failure, Nature, May 25, 2006, a review of Success Through Failure: The Paradox of Design by Henry Petroski |
 Designing Optimal Micromixers by Julio M. Ottino and Stephen Wiggins from Science July 23, 2004 |
 Series of papers in the May 2004 issue of Philosophical Transactions series A of a theme entitled Transport and Mixing at the Microscale, compiled and edited by Stephen Wiggins and Julio Ottino |
 Prof. Ottino's Concept Essay Engineering Complex Systems from Nature January 29,2004 |
