Cecilia Huertas Cerdeira
University of Maryland, MD·Engineering·Early-career
Fish and whales swim far more efficiently and nimbly than human-made propellers. Part of their advantage comes from flexible tail fins whose stiffness varies from place to place.
- Fields
Engineering
Biophysics
Biology
- Topics
fluid mechanics
bio-inspired propulsion
caudal fin
- Grants
- 1 known grant, through Nov 2029
What they work on
- Find optimal two-dimensional stiffness patterns for tuna-like caudal fins, for both forward propulsion and maneuvering, by combining soft robotic fins with hardware-in-the-loop optimization.
- Identify the three-dimensional flow features produced by fins with non-uniform stiffness, and explain how these flows make the best-performing stiffness patterns optimal.
- Determine how stiffness distribution, beyond overall stiffness, shapes the bending of a flapping fin and the resulting efficiency, to guide the design of bio-inspired propellers.
More about the research
As the fin flaps, these stiffness patterns make it bend in three dimensions, which creates complex patterns of water flow. Engineers do not yet understand these flows well. Understanding them could lead to better propulsion for underwater robots.
Why it matters
Propulsion systems inspired by fish fins could make unmanned underwater vehicles more efficient and agile, and less costly to operate. That could expand their use in environmental monitoring, maintenance of underwater infrastructure, ocean cleanup, aquaculture and defense.
Known grants
From NIH and NSF research grants. Labs often have other funding we can't see.
Closest labs
Robert Guy
University of California-Davis, CA·Mathematics & Statistics
Measure flow patterns and forces on dynamically similar remotely operated vehicles to test how metachronal rowing, a back-to-front wave of paddle strokes, generates thrust and lift across paddle Reynolds numbers from 0.01 to 10,000.
Aimy Wissa
Princeton University, NJ·Engineering
Identify the anatomical features and force-generating mechanisms that let flying fish taxi with only the tail fin in the water, using a comparative biomechanics approach combined with field and laboratory measurements.
Jianguo Zhao
Colorado State University-Fort Collins, CO·Engineering
Design modular morphing rods that pair a heat-driven artificial muscle with a variable-stiffness shape memory polymer, plus connectors that let the rods be assembled into reconfigurable 2D and 3D structures.
The school
University of Maryland: 49 labs on PI Pages, $1.5B a year on research, 602 research doctorates a year.
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