The research in the lab focuses on the study of insect flight behavior. Even though such everyday phenomenon is more likely to elicit annoyance than wonder, careful inspection reveals wonderful links between fundamental physical and biological processes: neuronal signaling within brains, the dynamics of unsteady fluid flow, the structural mechanics of composite materials, and the behavior of complex nonlinear systems. The aim of our research is to elucidate the means by which flies accomplish their aerodynamic feats. A rigorous mechanistic description of flight requires an integration of biology, engineering, fluid mechanics, and control theory. The long term goal, however, is not simply to understand the material basis of insect flight, but to develop its study into a model that can provide insight to the behavior and robustness of complex systems in general.
Peter Weir's work on polarization vision was featured in ScienceDaily and PhysOrg, great job!
Congrats to Dr. Andrew Straw on his new position as Research Fellow at the Research Institute of Molecular Pathology [strawlab]
Congrats to Alice Robie (PhD '10) on her new position as Post-doctoral Scholar at HHMI's Janelia Farm Research Campus in Dr. Kristin Branson's group.
