Raisa Achiriloaie
I am a PhD Student at the University of Pennsylvania in the department of Mechanical Engineering and Applied Mechanics, advised by Prof. Arratia. My research objective is to experimentally measure stress in polymeric flows. Prior to starting at Penn, I was an undergraduate researcher in Prof. Janet Sheung’s physics lab at Scripps College. I graduated with a Physics and a Mathematics BA from Scripps College in 2024.
Current Projects
Measurements of Stress Fields in Viscoelastic Fluids. Dilute solutions of polymers can exhibit nonlinear instabilities and turbulence under flow conditions in which a Newtonian fluid would be well within the laminar regime. We are interested developing experimental methods to measure stress fields in polymeric flows to further elucidate flow characteristics in the purely elastic and elastoinertial turbulence regimes.
Previous Experience
- Undergraduate Researcher, Sheung Lab, Scripps College, 2020-24
- REU in Nonlinear Dynamics, Dan Lathrop Lab, University of Maryland College Park, 2023
- Head Mentor, Murty Sunak Quantitative Computing Lab, Claremont McKenna College, 2022-24
Certifications and Awards
- Presidential PhD Fellowship, 2024
- McClintock Science Award, 2024
- Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship, 2022
Papers
- Topological Distinctions Govern the Presence and Timescale of Anomalous DNA transport across cytoskeletal networks. D.P. McCuskey, R.E. Achiriloaie, C.E. Benjamin, J. Kushen, I. Blacklow, S. Rossman. J.Y. Sheung. Under Review, PRX Life. (2024)
- Avalanching Behavior of Ferromagnetic Granular Mixtures. C.M. Sunday, C. Pett, A. Ben Youssef, R.E. Achiriloaie, C. Churko, D.P. Lathrop, C.M Hartzell. Accepted, PRE. (2024)
- Design and Build of a Customizable Light-Sheet Microscope for Visualization of Cytoskeleton Networks. N. Felcher, R.E. Achiriloaie, B.Y. Lee, R.J. McGorty, J.Y. Sheung. Journal of Visualized Experiments. (2024)
- Reconstituting and Characterizing Actin-Microtubule Composites with Tunable Motor-driven Dynamics and Mechanics. M. Sasanpour, R.E. Achiriloaie, G. Lee, G. Leech, C. Currie, K.A. Lindsay, J.L. Ross, R.M. McGorty, R.M Anderson. Journal of Visualized Experiments. (2022)
- Motor-Driven Restructuring of Cytoskeleton Composites Leads to Tunable Time-Varying Elasticity. J.Y. Sheung, R.E. Achiriloaie, C. Currie, K. Peddireddy, A. Xie, J. Simon-Parker, G. Lee, M.J. Rust, M. Das, J.L. Ross, R.M. Anderson. ACS Macro Letters. (2021)
Presentations
- Chaos on Elliptic Curves: the Lattes Map. Scripps College Capstone Day. Claremont, CA. (2024)
- Self-Regulation of a Minimal Active System. APS March Meeting. Minneapolis, MN. (2024)
- Experimental Investigation of Avalanching Behavior in Magnetic Granular Materials. APS DFD Annual Meeting. Washington D.C. (2023)
- Experimental Investigation of Avalanching Behavior in Magnetic Granular Materials. TREND REU end-of-summer conference. College Park, MD. (2023)
- Measurement of Mechanics and Stress Propagation in Non-Equilibrium Cytoskeleton Composites. Poster Session, Soft Matter Symposium. San Diego, CA. (2022)
- Measurement of Mechanics and Stress Propagation in Non-Equilibrium Cytoskeleton Composites. Keck Science Department Summer Research Symposium. Claremont, CA. (2022)
- Tunable Non-Equilibrium Dynamics of Motor-Driven Cytoskeleton Composites. APS March Meeting. Chicago, IL. (2022).
- Active Restructuring of Actin-Microtubule Composites by Kinesin. APS March Meeting. Chicago, IL. (2022).
- Confocal Microscopy for Characterizing Active Systems. Keck Science Department Summer Research Symposium. Claremont, CA. (2021)
- Probing Active Systems using Confocal Microscopy. SCCUR. Online. (2021)
Contact Information
- Please contact me by email: araisa@seas.upenn.edu