Associate Professor of Physics Ana Oprisan has received a Fulbright Scholar fellowship to conduct research at the University of Bucharest in Romania for the spring 2021 semester.
Oprisan’s research project focuses on image processing and data mining for supercritical fluids. With the most recent microgravity experimental dataย that she and her students have been investigating at a mini-laboratory aboard the International Space Station (ISS), she plans to explore new directions in soft condensed matter by looking into the spatio-temporal analysis and the fractal structure for equilibrium fluctuations and phase separation phenomena.
โI study the properties of fluids, such as viscosity [how easy they flow], thermal conductivity, diffusion and compressibility,โ says Oprisan. โThese properties are very important for the practical design of future devices both in green chemistry and space exploration.โ
This project will engage students in the research field of supercritical fluids and will help promote the advancement of the green industry and environmentally friendly processes. The ultimate goal of her research is to use thermal and mechanical properties for deriving microscopic models of critical fluids.
The Fulbright Program is the flagship international educational exchange program sponsored by the U.S. government and is designed to โincrease mutual understanding between the people of the United States and the people of other countries.โ The Fulbright Scholar Program offers U.S. faculty and administrators โ chosen for their academic merit and leadership potential โย grants to lecture, conduct research or participate in seminars around the world.
