Nature Inspired Fluids & Elasticity lab
Jean-François Louf
Principal Investigator, CV
Jean-François is an Assistant Professor at Auburn University in the Chemical Engineering department. He did both his undergraduate and graduate work in France (Nice - Lyon - Marseille). Later on, he worked as a postdoc at Virginia Tech with Sunny Jung, at CNRS Grenoble (France) with Philippe Marmottant, at the Technical University of Denmark with Kaare H. Jensen, and at Princeton University with Sujit S. Datta.
Jean-François is French and, as a result, loves red wine (be careful! he's picky) and food. He also loves thrills and doesn't hesitate to go very high to sky dive/hike the highest mountains, or also very deep to scuba dive in the seven seas.
Tori Phillips
Graduate student
Tori Phillips is a graduate student in chemical engineering at Auburn University. She graduated with her bachelor’s in chemical engineering from the University of Alabama in Huntsville in spring of 2021. She has a particular interest in materials engineering and botany. She enjoys seeking answers to many different “why” questions and feels that curiosity is very important to research.
Tori is often found on the weekends hanging out with her elderly dog Maggie while tackling new art projects. She has a vast collection of houseplants that fill all corners of her apartment. She loves visiting new places, especially if she is able to come home with a good story from her adventure. In her free time, she loves planning fun outings with her friends, trying new restaurants, and searching the clearance sections at stores for good deals.
Tofayel Ahammad Ovee
Graduate student
Tofayel is a graduate student (Phd) of Chemical Engineering, Auburn University. He had 09 years of industrial Experience with different organisations. He worked for Chevron Corporation as Operations Specialist (oil & gas), for Krisenergy Ltd. as control Room Specialist (oil & gas), lead acid battery manufacturering and polymer processing industry. He completed his bachelor in chemical engineering and polymer science from Shahjalal University of Science and technology, Bangladesh. During his bachelor he did his research with wastewater characterization.
He was involved with Chevron Diversity and inclusion committee during his job. He loves traveling, swimming, and cricket, movie, TV series.
Joshua Green
Graduate student
Joshua is an undergraduate student in Chemical Engineering at Auburn University and plans to graduate in 2023. Joshua enjoys working problems and finds interest in the medical field. He has worked in compounding pharmacy for six years and is a member of the Auburn Chapter of the Biomedical Engineering Society.
Joshua grew up in north Alabama living on the river he enjoys fishing and swimming. In his free time likes to read, as well as spend time with friends playing pickleball or racquetball. Joshua also enjoys hiking and gardening.
Nicolas Ulrich
Graduate student
Nicolas is a graduate student in Chemical Engineering at Auburn University. He has Co-op experience as a Process Engineer at Argos Cement LLC. He is also currently working part-time at a startup called Automation Media Group.
Nicolas is from Athens, AL and grew up spending most of his time in the outdoors. These days camping, hiking, working on his car, reading and playing soccer are his favorite hobbies.
Carson Williams
Undergraduate student
Carson Williams is an undergraduate student in chemical engineering at Auburn University class of 2025. He has experience working in the water treatment industry for Veolia Water Technologies and Solutions at various different plants that produce plastic films all the way to the new 2023 Hyundai Santa Fe. Over the years he has acquired some self-taught programming skills and is always looking for new projects to improve them. I enjoy problem-solving in various fields, specifically exploring physics phenomena.
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Carson is from Daphne, AL, where he grew up playing soccer, which has partly led to his enjoyment of exercise and nutrition. Whenever he gets the chance, he loves traveling to new places and exploring the different cultures around the world. He helps others when he can and challenges himself in the areas where he cannot. He also appreciates all kinds of music and loves spending time with his family.
Ryan Duerr
Undergraduate student
Ryan Duerr is an undergraduate student in chemical engineering at Auburn University and is planning to graduate in 2026. He is also currently taking his prerequisite classes for medical school. He is interested in biological applications of chemical engineering and its applications in the medical field.
In his recreational time, Ryan enjoys music production, audio engineering, and anything else he can apply his creativity to. He also enjoys watching sports, mainly college football.
Alexis Florit
Undergraduate student
Alexis is an undergraduate student majoring in Chemical Engineering at Auburn University, with plans to graduate in 2027. She loves research and has an interest in Process Engineering with hopes to integrate the two to develop new techniques and applications for Chemical Engineering. She loves problem solving and working to create something from scratch and carries this passion into all her work.
Alexis grew up moving around, and has lived in 7 different cities, including Santiago, Chile, Montreal, and Fairfax, VA right outside DC. She loves to travel and completed her Business Minor abroad during Summer 2024 which gave her the opportunity to travel all over Europe. In Auburn, she loves swimming, running, and going on hikes with her friends.
Katie Sorensen
Undergraduate student
Katie Sorensen is an undergraduate student studying Chemical Engineering at Auburn University, where she plans to graduate in May 2027. She has a strong interest in applying Chemical Engineering principles to solve complex problems, particularly in optimizing processes and enhancing efficiencies. Problem-solving is what first drew her to engineering, and she looks forward to continuing to develop these skills throughout her studies and research.
Originally from Atlanta, Georgia, Katie spent much of her time growing up swimming for and coaching the local swim team. Now in Auburn, she enjoys learning new music on her guitar and spending time with friends during her free time.
Joshua Lake
Undergraduate student
Joshua is an undergraduate student in Chemical Engineering at Auburn University with a minor in Business and plans to graduate in 2027. Joshua enjoys combining the knowledge and skills he has developed in his engineering courses to solve problems and formulate innovative solutions to research matters. In addition to research, Joshua is an engineering co-op student and works for Colonial Pipeline Co.
Joshua grew up in Auburn, AL, and enjoys spending time outdoors when not in the classroom or laboratory. Joshua also likes spending time with his family, who all live in Auburn, reading, and spending time with his dog.
Past members
Setareh Heidari - grad student
Taylor Sorell - undergrad student
Molly McNair - undergrad student
Jebril Toumi - intern student
Jacob Thornton - undergrad student
Jay Griggs - undergrad student
Fiona Gambin - intern student
Samantha Banas - intern student
Kevin Label - intern student
Colin Lainey - intern student
Eloise Khouzamy - high school student
Shankar P. Kharal - postdoctoral associate
Tori McDermott - undergrad student
Clay Williams - undergrad student
Will Johnson - undergrad student
Bennett Milton - undergrad student
Ethan Wavra - undergraduate student
Isabella Perez - undergrad student
Gavin Johnson - undergrad student
Mari Miles Dempsey - undergrad student
Yunseo Ha - high school student