Chris MacMinn

Chris is a Professor of Engineering Science at Oxford. He is an engineer and applied scientist with an interest in physical mathematics, fluid and solid mechanics, and interfacial phenomena. He leads the Poromechanics Lab, an interdisciplinary team of engineers, physicists, mathematicians who use modelling and high-resolution experiments to study flow, transport, and deformation in porous media and other multiphase systems. Their work has applications in subsurface science and engineering, soft materials, and biology and medicine.

Chris's background is in mechanical engineering, with a specialization in fluid mechanics from the interdisciplinary perspectives of engineering, hydrology, and applied mathematics. He earned his PhD, SM, and SB from the Department of Mechanical Engineering at MIT, where he worked with Ruben Juanes on the fluid mechanics of geological carbon dioxide sequestration. He was then a Postdoctoral Associate at Yale University, where he worked with John Wettlaufer and Eric Dufresne on the deformation of porous and granular materials. His postdoc was funded by the Yale Climate & Energy Institute.

Contact: christopher.macminn@eng.ox.ac.uk

Liam Morrow

Liam graduated from the Queensland University of Technology, Australia in 2015 with a bachelor of mathematics (first class honours). He joined the group in February 2020 as a postdoctoral research assistant, and is funded by the EPSRC project FRIICFLOW: Frictional Flow Patterns Shaped by Viscous and Capillary Forces. In particular, Liam is responsible for developing continuum models and computational tools used to better understand the development of patterns in multiphase frictional flows.

Liam’s research interests involve investigating problems relating to computational physics, with an emphases of developing and utilising novel numerical techniques to study moving boundary problems. A list of Liam’s publication’s can be found here.

Callum Cuttle

Callum joined the group in May 2020 as a postdoc, conducting experiments in flow through deformable porous media.

He received his doctoral training at the Manchester Centre for Nonlinear Dynamics (MCND) in Anne Juel’s group. His work focussed on highly sensitive benchtop experiments, examining multiphase flows and fluid-structure interaction problems. He is particularly interested in pattern formation and other nonlinear behaviour in shallow, elastic-walled channels, as well as the spreading dynamics of perfectly wetting immiscible liquids.

Matilde Fiori

Matilde graduated from ETH Zurich in November 2018 with an MSc in Biomechanics. She then worked as research assistant in the Impact Engineering Laboratory at the University of Oxford for about one year before joining the Poromechanics Lab as a DPhil student in October 2019. She completed her DPhil in early 2024 and is now a postdoctoral researcher in the group.

Having a research background focussed on the application of the principles of nonlinear continuum mechanics to characterize the behaviour of human soft tissue, Matilde's current work aims at the theoretical description and experimental observation of soft porous materials, their mechanical properties, and the transport of fluid through their structure. Her research is funded by the ERC DEFTPORE project.

Luke Kearney

Luke graduated from the Department of Earth Science and Engineering at Imperial College London in 2020 with a bachelor's in Geophysics (first class) and master's in Petroleum Engineering (distinction). He also spent the summer of 2019 as an exchange student at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology with the Juanes Research Group. Luke joined the Poromechanics Lab as a DPhil student in October 2020. His project is co-supervised by Prof. Richard Katz and funded by NERC through the Doctoral Training Partnership in Environmental Research.

Luke's research is focused on developing theoretical models for the mechanics of localised fluid venting from the subsurface. Specifically, he is investigating the formation of fluid escape pipes that transport fluid through kilometres of impermeable rock. This project is motivated by processes such as carbon dioxide and radioactive waste sequestration.

Joe Fishlock

Joe graduated from the University of Cambridge in 2020 with a bachelor's in Mathematics (first class) and an MMATH. He joined the Poromechanics Lab as a DPhil student in 2021. He is co-supervised by Prof. Andrew Wells in Atmospheric and Oceanic Physics and funded by NERC through the Doctoral Training Partnership in Environmental Research.

Joe's research is focused on multiphase flows in reactive porous media. Joe uses both theoretical and numerical techniques to investigate the impact of a gas phase on the physics of mushy layers. The project is motivated by observations of gas bubble nucleation and transport in sea ice. The presence of these gases impacts the local polar biogeochemistry and atmospheric chemistry.

Hangkai Wei (韦航凯)

Hangkai graduated from Xi'an Jiaotong University in June 2023 with a BEng in Energy and Power Engineering (Qian Xuesen Class) and an MEng in Power Engineering and Engineering Thermophysics (Distinction), where he worked with Professor Li Chen on multiphase reactive flow in porous media. Hangkai joined the Poromechanics Lab as a DPhil student in October 2023.

Hangkai's research focuses on gas-producing multiphase flow in soft porous media. Specifically, he is using experimental methods to investigate the growth-connection-migration-emission of gas bubbles in soft porous media. This research is motivated by processes like methane venting from seabed sediments.