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, and earth scientists who use mathematical modelling and multi-scale laboratory experiments to study flow, transport, and deformation in porous media and other multiphase systems. Our work has applications in subsurface science and engineering (e.g., water & energy resources, natural fluid migration), soft materials (e.g., gels and foods), and biology and medicine (e.g., tissue mechanics and vascular flows).

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

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.

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.

Janet Botha

Janet graduated from the University of Edinburgh with a BEng in Civil Engineering. Her thesis experimentally evaluated a novel fibre-reinforced powder prepreg system for strengthening concrete structures. She also interned on the RC3 project, developing a risk model to predict cyclone-induced damage to traditional timber buildings in Madagascar, working with Thomas Reynolds, Christopher Beckett, and Yuner Huang. Her undergraduate studies were supported by the MasterCard Foundation Scholars Program.

Janet's DPhil research investigates the impact of climate change on masonry buildings vulnerable to damage from soil subsidence/ heave caused by climate and trees. Through numerical modelling of the damage process, she aims to predict potential risks to buildings in the UK. She is co-supervised by Harvey Burd and Sinan Acikgoz and funded by the Rhodes Trust.

Jessica Johnson

Jessica is an NIH Oxford-Cambridge Scholar and Antarctic Scientist keenly interested in fluid mechanics and aerospace medicine. She graduated from Colgate University in 2022 with a degree in Astrogeophysics (Honors) and German. She has conducted research on Mars's paleoclimate and glacial cycles, Antarctic water tracks, and multidimensional diffusion MRI in the human brain.

Currently, Jessica is studying lymphatic fluid-structure interactions to improve precision medicine for patients with lymphatic anomalies. She is co-mentored by Sarah Sheppard (NIH), Howard Stone (Princeton University), Johannes Weickenmeier (Oxford), and Yoav Dori (Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia).