Wim Associate van Rees

Wim M. van Rees is an Associate Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. His research focuses on developing and applying advanced numerical simulations to address challenges in bio-inspired propulsion, vortex dynamics, and shape-shifting structures. His vision is to explore biologically inspired active and passive deformation of flexible structures in fluid flows for applications in actuation, locomotion, and renewable energy harvesting. He joined the MIT faculty in 2017 after completing postdoctoral research at Harvard University.

Willem (Wim) M. van Rees is a researcher in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. His work focuses on incompressible fluid mechanics, vortex dynamics, flow-structure interaction, optimal swimming, and shape-shifting materials. His research explores the simulation of complex fluid flows, including vortex dynamics and periodic vortical flows, as well as the mechanics of self-propelled swimmers and biomimetic structures. He investigates the behavior of shape-shifting materials and their applications in 4D printing and soft robotics. His studies also include the analysis of flow patterns and the development of numerical methods for fluid-structure interactions.