Troian Research Group

Current research interests:

Micro/nanoscale transport in liquid films and interfaces subject to confinement effects, instabilities and phase transitions; stress induced thin film flows; micro/optofluidic devices using electric, thermal or concentration fields; pattern replication in nanofilms; non-normality and instability at low Reynolds number; liquid slip and drag reduction at patterned boundaries; biofluidic transport Dr. Sandra M. Troian
Professor of Applied Physics,
Aeronautics and Mechanical Engineering

California Institute of Technology
1200 E. California Blvd.
MC 128-95
Pasadena, CA 91125 USA

Office - Watson Labs 154
Tel (626) 395-3362
Fax (626) 395-6106

curriculum vitae | home page

Sherry L. Feick

California Institute of Technology
1200 E. California Blvd.
MC 128-95
Pasadena, CA 91125

Office - Watson Labs 152
Tel (626) 395-6202
Fax (626) 395-6106

Current research interests:

Micro-thermodynamics; Microfluidics; Bistable fluidic systems; Optofluidic devices; Thermophoresis
Sponsored by NSF Dr. Mathias Dietzel
California Institute of Technology
1200 E. California Blvd.
MC 128-95
Pasadena, CA 91125

Office - Watson Labs 150
Tel (626) 395-8662
Fax (626) 395-6106

home page

Click here for a list of former postdocs

Current research interests:

On leave until March 2009
Sponsored by NSF Daniel Brox
California Institute of Technology
1200 E. California Blvd.
MC 128-95
Pasadena, CA 91125

Office - Watson Labs 148
Tel (626) 395-4848
Fax (626) 395-6106
Current research interests:

Locomotion of articulated bodies in potential flows; Biofluidics
Supported by Gordon and Betty Moore Graduate Fellowship Dzhelil Rufat
California Institute of Technology
1200 E. California Blvd.
MC 128-95
Pasadena, CA 91125

Office - Watson Labs 148
Tel (626) 395-4848
Fax (626) 395-6106

Click here for a list of former graduate students

Current research interests:

Optofluidic devices; Microfluidics; Poker games

Sponsored by George W. Housner Student Discovery Fund Michael Inadomi
California Institute of Technology
1200 E. California Blvd.
MC 128-95
Pasadena, CA 91125

Office - Watson Labs 150
Tel (626) 395-8662
Fax (626) 395-6106

Click here for a list of former undergraduate students

Former Postdoctoral Research Associates

Dr. Anton A. Darhuber Austrian NSF Postdoctoral Fellow, Princeton University, 1999-2000
Postdoctoral Research Associate, Princeton University, 2000 - 2001
Research Staff, Princeton University, 2001 - 2006
Current affiliation: Professor of Applied Physics, Technische Universiteit Eindhoven, Netherlands

Dr. Nikolai V. Priezjev Postdoctoral Research Associate, Princeton University, 2002 - 2005
Current affiliation: Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering, Michigan State University, MI

Dr. Steffen Berg Postdoctoral Research Associate, Princeton University, 2003 - 2005
Current affiliation: Research Staff Member, Shell International BV, Rijswijk, Netherlands

Dr. Anne D. Dussaud French Ministry of Education Postdoctoral Fellow, Princeton University, 1996 - 1997
Postdoctoral Research Associate, Princeton University, 1997 - 1998
Co-recipient of 1999 Francois N. Frenkiel Award, American Physical Society Division of Fluid Dynamics
Current affiliation: Research Staff Member, Momentive Performance Materials, Tarrytown, NY

Former Graduate Students

Joseph P. Valentino, Princeton University, PhD '07
Current affiliation: Technology Specialist, Fish & Richardson P.C., NY, NY
PhD Thesis: An Open Microfluidic Device Based on Thermocapillary Actuation: Design, Fabrication and Sensor Integration

Jian Zhang Chen, Princeton University, PhD '06
Current affiliation: Assistant Professor, Institute of Applied Mechanics, National Taiwan University
PhD Thesis: Microfluidic Thermocapillary Droplet Propulsion and Quantum Cascade Laser Based Fiber Sensors

Eric A. Adelizzi, Princeton University, PhD '06
Current affiliation: Research Staff Member, Institute for Defense Analyses, Alexandria, VA
PhD Thesis: Entrainment and Drainage Behavior of Thin Soap Films Containing Associating Hydrosoluble Polymer

Scott M. Miller, Princeton University, PhD '04
Current affiliation: Staff Engineer, General Electric Corp., Rochester, NY
PhD Thesis: Fabrication of Macroelectronics by Letterpress Printing and Guidelines for Printable Structures

Benjamin J. Fischer, Princeton University, PhD '03
Past affiliation: Staff Engineer, ExxonMobil Research, Houston, TX
PhD Thesis: Non-Modal Linear Stability Analysis of Thin Film Spreading by Marangoni Stresses

Jeffrey M. Davis, Princeton University, PhD '03
Current affiliation: Associate Professor, Dept. of Chemical Engineering, Univ. of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA
PhD Thesis: Dynamics and Linear Stability of Thermocapillary Spreading Films on Homogeneous and Micropatterned Surfaces

Walter W. Reisner, Princeton University, M.S. '02, PhD '06
Current affiliation: Postdoctoral Research Associate, Technical University of Denmark, Copenhagen, Denmark
M.S. Thesis: Confinement Effects on the Dynamics of Thermocapillary Spreading Films

Dawn E. Kataoka, Princeton University, PhD '99
Current affiliation: Systems Analyst, Sandia Laboratories, Livermore, CA
PhD Thesis: Spreading Behavior of Thermally Driven Liquid Films

Omar K. Matar, Princeton University, PhD '98
Current affiliation: Professor, Dept. of Chemical Eng. & Chemical Tech., Imperial College, London
PhD. Thesis: Dynamic Behavior of a Surfactant Monolayer Spreading on a Thin Liquid Film

Vera K. Smith, Princeton University, MSE '97
MSE Thesis: Rheology and Drainage Behavior of Freely Suspended Soap Films Containing Hydrosoluble Polymer

Former Undergraduate Researchers

Filip Crnogorac, Dept. of Chemical Engineering, Princeton University, BSE '03
Senior Thesis: Electronically Addressable Sensor Arrays for Microfluidic Devices Based on Free Surface Flow

Casey Jacobsen, Dept. of Electrical Engineering, Princeton University, BSE '03
Senior Thesis: Microscale Letterpress Printing of Amorphous Silicon Thin Film Transistors

Elizabeth A. Hon, Dept. of Electrical Engineering, Princeton University, BSE '02
Senior Thesis: Micropatterning of Metal Films for Macroelectronic Devices

Bernard Y. Wang, Dept. of Electrical Engineering, Princeton University, BSE '01
Senior Thesis: Digitally Configurable Microheater Array for Fluidic Delivery Systems

Tanja Cuk, Engineering Physics Program, Princeton University, BSE '00
Co-advised by Prof. Sigurd Wagner (EE)
Charles Ira Young Medal (EE)
Senior Thesis: Using Convective Flow Splitting for the Direct Printing of Copper Lines

Conor Madigan, Dept. of Electrical Engineering, Princeton University, BSE '00
Co-advised by Prof. Jim Sturm (EE)
Calvin Dodd MacCracken Senior Thesis Award (SEAS) and POEM Newport Award in Photonics (EE)
Senior Thesis: Polymer Organic Light Emitting Diode Patterning by Ink Jet Printing

Gwendolyn D. Barriac, Engineering Physics Program, Princeton University, BSE '98
Co-advised by Prof. S. Wagner (EE)
Peter Mark Prize (EE) and Jeffrey O. Kephardt `80 Prize (SEAS)
Junior Thesis: The Effects of Line Tension on the Minimum Radius of a Sessile Droplet
Senior Project: High Resolution Offset Printing for Microelectronics Fabrication

Jean Freysz, Princeton University, Summer Apprenticeship '98
Scientific Training Program, École Polytechnique (Palaiseau, France)
Senior Thesis: Ink Jet Patterning on Polymeric Surfaces

David S. Ege, Dept. of Chemical Engineering, Princeton University, BSE '96
Senior Thesis: Chemical Implications of DPPC Structure on Marangoni Driven Spreading on Thin Water Films

Stephanie R. Roberts, Dept. of Chemical Engineering, Princeton University, BSE '96
Senior Thesis: The Effects of Bead Coating on Axial Segregation in a Binary Mixture of Granular Materials

Morgan Schwartz, Dept. of Chemical Engineering, Princeton University, BSE '96
Senior Thesis: Pattern Formation in Bacterial Colonies

Ashanthi M. Pereira, Dept. of Chemical Engineering, Princeton University, BSE '95
Michele Goudie Prize (ChE)
Senior Thesis: An Experimental Investigation of a Marangoni Driven Fingering Instability in Aqueous Surfactant Systems

Andrew B. Williams, Dept. of Chemical Engineering, Princeton University, BSE '95
Senior Thesis: Axial Segregation of Granular Particles in a Rotating Horizontal Cylinder