Laboratory for Complex Systems and Nonlinear Dynamics in Fluids and Granular Materials

Research

Julio Ottino's group focuses on mixing of fluids and, most recently, granular mixing/segregation. His work involves theory, computations, and experiments. His initial work in fluids established the scientific basis of mixing, developing mathematical frameworks that, when coupled with experiments, showed that flows can produce a special kind of stretching and folding, related to the mathematics of horseshoe maps, that results in chaotic motion and effective mixing. These ideas have impacted multiple domains. He has been interested in extensions of this foundation to include chemical reactions and processes such as aggregation and fragmentation and applications ranging from microfluidics and materials processing to carbon capture and geophysical sciences. His most recent work in mixing and segregation of granular matter exploiting the mathematics of piecewise isometries is connecting his work with new areas in mathematics, which has sparked an interest in the impact of pure math in physical sciences.

Our Group and Alumni

Julio M. Ottino

Julio M. Ottino is an engineering scientist recognized for his work in fluid dynamics, chaos and nonlinear dynamics, complex systems, and especially mixing. He was born in La Plata, Argentina and grew up with twin interests in the physical sciences and visual arts. He obtained his first degree at the University of La Plata, in Argentina, before receiving a PhD in chemical engineering from the University of Minnesota. He is currently at the McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science in Northwestern University where he holds the titles of Robert R. McCormick Institute Professor and Walter P. Murphy Professor of Chemical and Biological Engineering. He is also a professor of Management and Organizations at Kellogg School of Management. Previously he held positions at the University of Massachusetts Amherst as well as chaired and senior appointments at the California Institute of Technology, Stanford University, and the University of Minnesota. He was the co-founder and director of the Northwestern Institute on Complex Systems (NICO) and the author of the Kinematics of Mixing: Stretching, Chaos, and Transport (Cambridge University Press 1989) and The Nexus, Augmented Thinking for a Complex World, with Bruce Mau (MIT Press, 2022). He is a member of both the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Engineering as well as the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

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Leadership

Ottino was the founder and co-director (with Daniel Diermeier) of the Northwestern Institute on Complex Systems (NICO) in 2004. NICO gave rise to several others centers and institutes within Northwestern. As dean of Engineering and Applied Science (2005-2023) he created numerous university-wide initiatives, programs, and centers, in the areas of design, energy and sustainability, human-computer interaction, and entrepreneurship. Partner schools included the Kellogg School of Management, the Pritzker School of Law, the Feinberg School of Medicine, the Medill School of Journalism, and the School of Education and Social Policy, all these within Northwestern, as well as external organizations ranging from the Argonne National Lab to the Art Institute of Chicago. Notable among these were the creation of Segal Design Institute (2007, endowed 2007), the Farley Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation (2007, endowed 2008), the Architectural Engineering and Design program in Civil Engineering (2008), the re-launching of the MMM Program with Kellogg by adding a Master of Design Innovation component, the development of the NUvention series of courses, such as Medical Innovation, Energy, Analytics, which linked multiple schools within Northwestern, as well as launching a series of Masters of Science programs in Analytics, Artificial Intelligence, Engineering Design Innovation, Robotics, Energy and Sustainability, and the establishment of the Law and Technology Initiative. He was instrumental, jointly with the Medill School of Journalism, in the creation of the Bay Area Immersion program and development of the San Francisco academic space. Ottino was responsible for the creation of numerous research Centers, many of them university wide: ISEN, the Institute for Sustainability and Energy at Northwestern Engineering, the Center for Synthetic Biology, the Center for Scientific Studies in the Arts, and the Centers for Engineering Sustainability and Resilience, Physical Genomics and Engineering, and Robotics and Biosystems, as well as facilitating the launching of the Querrey Simpson Institute for Bioelectronics, and the Simpson Querrey Institute. During his tenure as dean, Ottino launched the Integrated Engineering degree, the Murphy Institute, and the establishment of the McCormick Office of Personal Development. He made Design Thinking and Communication a centerpiece of the undergraduate McCormick education experience and the entry point to its whole brain thinking culture, with lead to programs such as ETOPIA: The Engineering Transdisciplinary Outreach Project in the Arts and several initiatives in the arts/engineering space. With the Block Museum, the Artist-at-Large and the Art + Engineering Program; with the Art Institute of Chicago Center for Scientific Studies in the Arts; and with the School of the Art Institute of Chicago joint courses such as Data as Art.

Major Honors

In 1997 he was elected member of the National Academy of Engineering “For research on chaos theory, advancing knowledge of the fluid mechanics of mixing, granular material flow, and materials processing.” (https://www.nae.edu/30301/Dr-Julio-M-Ottino)

In 2003 he was elected member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (https://www.amacad.org/person/julio-mario-ottino).

In 2022 he was elected to the National Academy of Sciences (https://www.nasonline.org/member-directory/members/3003435.html)

Other significant honors and awards

1993 Fellow of the American Physical Society, “For pioneering experimental and theoretical contributions to the understanding of fluid mixing, and for exploiting and elucidating its relationship to chaos”. https://www.aps.org/programs/honors/fellowships/archive-all.cfm?initial=&year=1993&unit_id=&institution=Northwestern+University

1994 Alpha Chi Sigma Award Walker from the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE) https://www.aiche.org/community/awards/winners/28877

2001 Guggenheim Fellow https://www.gf.org/fellows/all-fellows/julio-m-ottino/

2001 William H. Walker from the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE) https://www.aiche.org/community/awards/william-h-walker-award-excellence-contributions-chemical-engineering-literature

2008 selected by AIChE as one of the “One Hundred Engineers of the Modern Era” https://ohsonline.com/Articles/2008/10/31-AIChE-Centennial-Celebrates-100-Engineers.aspx?Page=1.

2008 Fluid Dynamics Prize from the American Physical Society “For outstanding contributions to the fundamental understanding of chaotic mixing in laminar flows, to mixing and segregation in granular flows and for ground-breaking experimental work that has led to the broad application of these concepts.” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fluid_Dynamics_Prize_(APS)

2010 selected to deliver the 62^nd Institute Lecture of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE Institute lecture) http://www.aiche.org/community/awards/institute-lecturer-award

In 2017 Gordon Prize from the National Academy of Engineering http://www8.nationalacademies.org/onpinews/newsitem.aspx?RecordID=152017;

2018 Founders Award for Outstanding Contributions to the Field of Chemical Engineering, American Institute of Chemical Engineers, “For pioneering work establishing the mathematical foundations of fluid mixing, granular flows, and complex systems, and for thought leadership and creative vision in chemical engineering.” https://www.aiche.org/chenected/2018/10/2018-annual-meeting-honors-ceremony-recap

2023 Distinguished Lecturer, Hagler Institute of Advance Study, Texas A&M University

2024 Fellow American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering, “outstanding contributions to the understanding of fluid mixing and biocomplexity, and for leadership in engineering education.” https://aimbe.org/press/ottino-COF-8101.pdf

Named and Significant Lectureships

2024 Albert Michelson Memorial Lecture, United States Naval Academy

2024 William. G. Lowrie Lectures, The Ohio State University

2024 EMI/PMC (Engineering Mechanics Institute Conference and Probabilistic Mechanics & Reliability Conference) Keynote/ Plenary Lecture

2024 Fellow American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering

2023 G.I. Taylor Medal, Society of Engineering Science2023 Distinguished Lecturer, Hagler Institute of Advance Study, Texas A&M University

2023 Plenary Lecture, 11^th World Congress of Chemical Engineering, Buenos Aires, Argentina

2021 Keynote, National Academy of Engineering, Forum on Complex Unifiable Systems (FOCUS)

2109 Covestro Distinguished Lectureships, Dept. of Chemical and Petroleum Engineering, University of Pittsburgh

2018 William M.W. Mong Distinguished Lecture, University of Hong Kong

2018 John C. Chen Distinguished Lecture, Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Lehigh University

2016 Schlinger Symposium opening plenary address, Chemical Heritage Foundation

2015 SABIC Lectureship Award, Polymer Engineering, University of Akron

2015 Institute of Molecular Engineering Distinguished Lectures, University of Chicago

2014 4^th KAIST CBE Global Distinguished Lectureship, Korea

2014 2^nd Thomas H. Chilton Lecture, du Pont Central Research and Development

2013 Creativity in Science and Society, Symposium Celebrating Niels Bohr, Royal Danish Academy of Sciences and Letters, Copenhagen

2013 Alumni Endowed Lectures in Chemical Engineering, UMass-Amherst

2013 Distinguished Lecture, Chemical Engineering, Syracuse University

2012 Distinguished Research Lecture in Chemical Engineering, Carnegie Mellon University

2012 Eminent Lecturer, National Technical University Singapore

2012 TechniGraphicS Foundation Lecture, IIT Bombay, India

2012 Keynote ASME Design Automation Conference, Chicago

2011 Keynote ASME Dynamics Systems and Control Conference, Washington DC

2008 Otto Laporte Lecture, American Physical Society

2008 Plenary microTAS Lecture (12^th International Conference on Miniaturized Systems for Chemistry and Life Sciences, San Diego).

2007 Pirkey Lecture, University of Texas, Austin

2006 Dean’s Distinguished Lecture, College of Engineering and Mathematical Sciences, University of Vermont

2006 Reilly Lectures University of Notre Dame

2002 Robb Distinguished Lecture in Chemical Engineering Science, Penn State University

2001 Paul J. Flory Lecturer, Stanford University

1999 Danckwerts Memorial Lecture, London, England http://www.journals.elsevier.com/chemical-engineering-science/danckwerts-lecture/danckwerts-lectures-1986-present/

1996 Sigma Xi Distinguished Lecturer (1997-1999)

1996 SON Lecture (Foundation for Chemical Research, The Netherlands)

1994 College of Engineering Centennial Speaker, University of Maryland

1991 Fifth Stanley Corrsin Lectureship in Fluid Mechanics, The Johns Hopkins University

1989 Finalist Scientific Prize, Art for Science, LV-MH, Paris, France

1989 Merck Sharp & Dohme Lecturer, University of Puerto Rico

1987 Allan P. Colburn Memorial Lectureship, Chemical Engineering, University of Delaware

Laboratory for Complex Systems and Nonlinear Dynamics in Fluids and Granular Materials McCORMICK SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING

Ottino Research Group