Speakers
Gonçalo Silva
University of Évora, Portugal
Expert in CFD and lattice Boltzmann methods.
Gonçalo Silva
University of Évora, Portugal
Goncalo Silva graduated in Mechanical Engineering from Instituto Superior Técnico (University of Lisbon) in 2006 and completed his PhD at the same institution in 2013. He later conducted postdoctoral research at INRA in Paris, France, focusing on the lattice Boltzmann method in collaboration with Dr. Irina Ginzburg. He is currently an Assistant Professor in the Department of Mechatronics Engineering at the University of Évora, where he contributes to the development of the Aerospace Engineering area. His scientific interests are primarily in the field of computational fluid dynamics (CFD), with particular emphasis on the lattice Boltzmann method (LBM). He applies this method to the study of microfluidic and rarefied gas flows relevant to biomedical, energy and aerospace applications. He also investigates LBM from a fundamental perspective, focusing on the analysis of numerical consistency, accuracy, and stability, as well as the development of alternative bulk- and boundary-related models.
Alejandro Luis Garcia
San Jose State University & Berkeley Lab, USA
Expert in microscopic fluid dynamics, DSMC, and fluctuating hydrodynamics.
Alejandro Luis Garcia
San Jose State University & Berkeley Lab, USA
Alejandro Luis Garcia is an emeritus professor at San Jose State University and an affiliate of the Center for Computational Sciences and Engineering at Berkeley Lab. He received his Ph.D. in Physics from The University of Texas at Austin and conducted postdoctoral research at the Université Libre de Bruxelles and at the University of California, Los Angeles. Over the past 40 years, Prof. Garcia’s research has focused on theoretical and numerical formulations for modeling fluid dynamics in microscopic systems. He is best known for his work with Berni Alder, John B. Bell, and Aleksander Donev on Direct Simulation Monte Carlo (DSMC) and fluctuating hydrodynamics (FHD). Prof. Garcia is the author of the widely used textbook “Numerical Methods for Physics” and, more recently, the aide-mémoire “Essentials of Modern Thermodynamics”. In addition to his academic career, he has served as a physics consultant for several companies and studios, including Nike, Electronic Arts, Pixar, and DreamWorks Animation, receiving screen credits on multiple feature animated films.
José Daniel Muñoz Castaño
National University of Colombia, Colombia
Expert in statistical physics, complex systems, and lattice Boltzmann methods.
José Daniel Muñoz Castaño
National University of Colombia, Colombia
Prof. José Daniel Muñoz Castaño is a researcher and professor internationally recognized for his contributions to statistical physics, computational modeling, and lattice Boltzmann methods applied to complex systems. He is affiliated with the National University of Colombia and has also collaborated with the Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg through research activities in multiscale simulation and computational physics. His research interests span a broad range of interdisciplinary topics, including statistical mechanics, granular matter, fracture dynamics, complex fluids, transport phenomena, molecular dynamics, and mesoscale numerical methods. Prof. Muñoz Castaño has made important contributions to the development and application of lattice Boltzmann techniques for hydrodynamics, electrodynamics, wave propagation, and complex transport processes in irregular geometries. A significant part of his work focuses on the theoretical and computational investigation of emergent phenomena in complex systems, combining statistical physics with advanced numerical simulation tools. His studies include granular and particulate systems, fracture and fragmentation processes, self-organization phenomena, anomalous transport, and multiscale dynamics in disordered media. Prof. Muñoz Castaño has also contributed to the advancement of lattice Boltzmann formulations beyond classical fluid dynamics, including three-dimensional lattice Boltzmann models for electrodynamics and wave propagation in curvilinear coordinates. His work has expanded the applicability of kinetic-based computational approaches to increasingly complex physical systems and geometries. Throughout his academic career, he has authored numerous peer-reviewed scientific publications and collaborated with researchers from leading international institutions in the fields of computational physics, soft matter, and multiscale modeling. His interdisciplinary research continues to bridge physics, engineering, and applied mathematics, contributing to the understanding of complex collective phenomena across multiple scientific domains.
José Soares de Andrade Júnior
Federal University of Ceará (UFC), Brazil
Expert in statistical physics, complex systems, and transport phenomena.
José Soares de Andrade Júnior
Federal University of Ceará (UFC), Brazil
Prof. José Soares de Andrade Júnior is Full Professor in the Department of Physics at the Federal University of Ceará (UFC), where he is also a member of the Graduate Program in Physics, one of Brazil’s leading research programs in the field. He is a CNPq Research Productivity Fellow (Level 1A) and a permanent member of the Brazilian Academy of Sciences. He also served as Vice President for International Affairs at UFC between 2017 and 2019. Prof. Andrade earned his degree in Chemical Engineering from the Federal University of Pernambuco in 1984, followed by M.Sc. and Ph.D. degrees in the same field from the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro. He carried out postdoctoral research at the École Supérieure de Physique et de Chimie Industrielles de la Ville de Paris (France) and at the Institut für Baustoffe in Switzerland, strengthening his interdisciplinary expertise in complex systems and transport phenomena. Internationally recognized for his contributions to statistical physics and complex systems, Prof. Andrade’s research spans a broad range of topics including transport phenomena in disordered media, porous materials, percolation, complex networks, anomalous diffusion, socio-economic systems, and fluid transport in irregular geometries. His work combines theoretical physics, computational modeling, and data-driven approaches to investigate emergent phenomena in natural and engineered systems. Throughout his career, he has supervised a large number of doctoral and master’s theses covering subjects such as multiphase transport in porous media, scaling laws in complex networks, explosive percolation, fracture dynamics, anomalous diffusion, and transport in physiological and geological systems. His interdisciplinary research has significantly contributed to bridging physics, engineering, geosciences, and computational social science. Prof. Andrade is also Director of the Center for Artificial Intelligence Reference (CRIA) and serves as Chief Data Scientist for the State of Ceará, contributing to the advancement of artificial intelligence and complex systems applications in science and public policy. His scientific leadership and highly cited contributions have established him as one of the leading Brazilian researchers in statistical and computational physics.
Taehun Lee
City College of New York (CCNY), USA
Expert in CFD, multiphase flows, and advanced lattice Boltzmann methods.
Taehun Lee
City College of New York (CCNY), USA
Prof. Taehun Lee is Associate Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the City College of New York and Core Faculty member of the CUNY Energy Institute. He is internationally recognized for his contributions to computational fluid dynamics, multiphase flow modeling, and the development of advanced lattice Boltzmann methods for complex interfacial transport phenomena. He earned his B.S. and M.S. degrees in Mechanical Engineering from Seoul National University in 1996 and 1998, respectively, and completed his Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering at the University of Iowa in 2004. Prior to joining CCNY, he held research positions at the University of Iowa and at the Argonne National Laboratory, where he continues to collaborate as Guest Faculty in the Mathematics and Computer Science Division. Prof. Lee’s research focuses on high-fidelity numerical methods for multiphase and multicomponent flows, including phase-field and conservative lattice Boltzmann formulations, adaptive mesh refinement techniques, and high-order spectral-element methods. His work has significantly advanced the simulation of interfacial dynamics, boiling phenomena, droplet impact, wetting transitions, bubble-droplet interactions, and heat and mass transfer in complex fluid systems. A major theme of his research is the development of robust and mass-conserving lattice Boltzmann frameworks capable of accurately resolving fluid-fluid interfaces, surface tension effects, and thermodynamic phase transitions in challenging multiphase environments. His studies encompass applications ranging from energy systems and thermal transport to microfluidics and soft matter physics. Prof. Lee has authored numerous influential peer-reviewed publications in leading journals such as Physical Review E, Journal of Computational Physics, Physics of Fluids, Computers & Fluids, and Soft Matter. His interdisciplinary contributions continue to shape the advancement of lattice Boltzmann methodologies and computational multiphase flow research worldwide.
Viswanathan Kumaran
Coastal Engineering Researcher
Expert in coastal and offshore structures.
Viswanathan Kumaran
Coastal Engineering Researcher
He is a Coastal Engineering researcher specializing in the analysis and design of complex coastal and port structures, including breakwaters, seawalls, and coastal protection systems. He holds a Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) in Marine Structures, with strong expertise in computational fluid dynamics (CFD), wave–structure interaction, and mathematical modeling applied to a wide range of coastal and offshore structures. His current research focuses on the development of innovative breakwater concepts aimed at enhancing coastal resilience and promoting sustainable infrastructure solutions aligned with the blue economy and green energy initiatives, representing a forward-looking vision for the next generation of coastal engineering.
Seyed Ali Hosseini
ETH Zürich
Senior scientist in CFD, combustion and quantum computing.
Seyed Ali Hosseini
ETH Zürich
He is a Senior Scientist at ETH Zürich, working across a broad spectrum of topics ranging from fundamental mathematical developments to advanced engineering applications. His research includes discrete velocity kinetic models, with emphasis on the newly introduced concept of asymptotic freedom, as well as the modeling of non-ideal fluids in dense regimes and highly compressible flows. He has strong expertise in combustion simulation, having developed solvers for low-Mach number combustion that have been successfully applied to complex and realistic configurations such as the PRECCINSTA burner and combustion in porous media. His work also encompasses medical flow modeling, with particular focus on cerebral aneurysms and thrombosis kinematics, as well as the application of neural networks to simulations involving complex chemistry, aiming to reduce computational cost or enable reduced kinetic models. Additionally, he is active in quantum computing applied to CFD, focusing on the development of quantum algorithms for numerical simulation. His core competencies include fluid mechanics and thermodynamics, numerical methods for partial differential equations (PDEs), atomistic simulations, statistical and quantum mechanics, and high-performance computing (HPC). He aims to contribute to scientific advancement and innovation in energy and engineering, while fostering interdisciplinary collaboration between natural sciences and engineering.
Xuhui Li
Harbin Engineering University, China
Expert in CFD, lattice Boltzmann method, and GPU parallel computing.
Xuhui Li
Harbin Engineering University, China
Xuhui Li obtained his PhD from Kyushu University, Japan, in 2016. His doctoral research focused on GPU-accelerated lattice Boltzmann methods for complex free surface flows. His oral presentation on multi-GPU parallel computation received the Solid-state Drive Prize at DSFD2016. From November 2016 to October 2017, he conducted postdoctoral research at the Hydrodynamics Institute of École Centrale de Nantes, France, working on GPU porting of an adaptive mesh refinement (AMR) high-order finite volume solver (WCCH). From December 2017 to June 2020, he worked as a principal outstanding postdoctoral fellow under Prof. Xiaowen Shan at the Southern University of Science and Technology, China, focusing on high-order regularized lattice Boltzmann models. In 2020, he became an associate professor at Harbin Engineering University. His main research interests include computational fluid dynamics (CFD), covering the lattice Boltzmann method, finite volume method, and large-scale GPU parallel computing, with applications in wall turbulence, wakes, multiphase flows, and free surface flows.