P. Amy Tsai, University of Alberta

Dr. Peichun Amy Tsai holds the position of Canada Research Chair (Tier 2) in Fluids and Interfaces at the University of Alberta. She completed her Ph.D. at the University of Toronto in November 2007. After her doctoral studies, Dr. Tsai worked as a postdoctoral researcher with Prof. Detlef Lohse at the Physics of Fluids Group at the University of Twente, The Netherlands, and later with Prof. Howard Stone at Princeton University, focusing on complex fluids. She was an Assistant Professor at the University of Twente from 2012 to 2014 before joining the University of Alberta in 2015. Her current research includes wetting, microfluidics, complex fluids, drop impact, porous media flow, and machine learning for applications in energy, environment, and technology.

Complex Wetting, Drop Impact, and Viscous Fingering 

Liquid-surface interactions are crucial in many natural processes and industrial applications, including coating, spraying, cooling, additive manufacturing, and more. In this talk, I will explore several aspects of these interactions with complex fluids. I'll begin by examining how surfactant concentrations influence the wetting and evaporation of complex drops on superhydrophobic surfaces. Next, I will discuss the dynamics of ionic liquid droplets impacting heated surfaces and how these can mitigate the Leidenfrost effect. Finally, I will demonstrate control over viscous fingering in shear-thinning fluids through flow geometry. Our findings highlight the profound impact of surfactant concentration, thermal stability, and flow geometry on drop wetting, impact dynamics, and viscous fingering, respectively.