Dr. Alexander Hoover, Cleveland State University
Abstract: Many biomechanical systems are activated by a nervous system that initiates and coordinates muscular contraction. In these systems, there are a number of intrinsic time scales, such as the speed and firing frequency of an action potential or the natural vibrational frequency of an elastic appendage or body, that influence the performance of these systems. In this talk, we explore the dynamics that neuromuscular activation has in fluid pumping systems and use numerical simulations to describe the interplay between active muscle contraction, passive body elasticity, and fluid forces. This model is then used to explore the interplay between the speed of neuromechanical activation, fluid dynamics, and the material properties of systems. The investigation of the interplay of these timescales then leads to discovery of a phenomenon known as neuromechanical wave resonance. This phenomenon is an important design principle for the actuation of tissue-engineered pumps and soft-bodied robotics.
Bio: Prof. Alexander Hoover is an assistant professor in the Department of Mathematics and Statistics at Cleveland State University. He received his PhD from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and was a postdoctoral fellow at Tulane University in New Orleans. His research area is broadly in applied and computational mathematics, with a focus on mathematical biology, computational fluid dynamics, and biomechanics. Much of his work involves developing fluid-structure interaction models of organismal systems, using in-silico HPC models to understand the fundamental physics driving these biomechanical systems.
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