School of engineering and applied science

Insect swarms reveal group dynamics

The first large-scale quantitative study of an insect mating swarm is part of a larger effort to understand how local, spontaneous interaction among living things leads to the organization of complex, dynamic, but coherent systems. Nicholas T. Ouellette, assistant professor of mechanical engineering and materials science, and colleagues used synchronized high-speed cameras and other tools developed for turbulent flow studies to measure the three-dimensional positions, velocities, and accelerations of the swarms’ individual members, as well as those of the whole swarms. Ouellette found that the swarms form hierarchal sub-flocks, and also that some internal force binds them to their swarm. The results, published in Scientific Reports, have implications for analyses of collective motion in birds, fish, and humans.

Mechanobiologist is named professor

Jay D. Humphrey, a researcher of vascular mechanics and mechanobiology, has been appointed the inaugural John C. Malone Professor of Biomedical Engineering. By using both experimental and advanced computational methods, Humphrey’s research seeks to understand mechanisms of vascular disease progression, particularly aortic aneurysms that result from genetic mutations and diverse risk factors including hypertension.

The Yale researcher is the author of three textbooks, including Cardiovascular Solid Mechanics and An Introduction to Biomechanics, and more than 190 journal articles. He was the 2011 recipient of the H. R. Lissner Medal (Highest Divisional Award) from the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME). An invited lecturer at many colleges and universities, he has been recognized as a fellow of both the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering and the ASME.

The John C. Malone Professorship in biomedical engineering is one of ten Malone Professorships established at the School of Engineering & Applied Science through the generosity of John C. Malone ’63E.

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