The Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering is proud to announce that Dr. Yanxing Wang, Assistant Professor at New Mexico State University, has been awarded the National Science Foundation (NSF) CAREER Award, one of the most prestigious honors in support of early-career faculty. The award includes a $570,583 grant to support Dr. Wang’s innovative research over the next five years.
Dr. Wang’s project, titled “Multiscale Mixing and Transport in the Human Small Intestine”, addresses one of the most complex challenges in physiological and fluid dynamics research: understanding how the human body manages digestion and nutrient absorption. The small intestine is a highly dynamic and intricate environment, where food particles, enzymes, and nutrients interact across microscopic to macroscopic scales.
Through a combination of high-fidelity numerical simulations, advanced theoretical modeling, and machine learning techniques, Dr. Wang’s work aims to build a mechanistic framework that reveals how mixing and transport processes in the intestine are regulated by human physiology. This research integrates cutting-edge fluid mechanics topics such as fluid-structure interaction, non-Newtonian fluids, and the dynamics of irregularly shaped particles—pushing the boundaries of current understanding in both engineering and biomedical sciences.
The potential impact of this research is wide-reaching. Beyond its implications for human digestion, Dr. Wang’s findings could shape advancements in drug delivery, disease diagnosis, artificial organ development, and personalized medicine.
As part of the NSF CAREER program’s educational mission, Dr. Wang is also launching new efforts to expand interdisciplinary research and improve STEM engagement. These include:
