Dr. Ricardo Mejia-Alvarez obtained his BS degree in Mechanical Engineering from The National University of Colombia in 2000 (Summa Cum Laude), and a MSc degree in Thermal Engineering in 2004 from the Universidad de Antioquia - Colombia. He obtained a MSc and a PhD degree in Theoretical and Applied Mechanics from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign as a Fulbright Scholar. Dr. Mejia-Alvarez joined the Physics Division at Los Alamos National Laboratory in 2010, where he conducted research in shock-driven instabilities for the experimental campaign on nuclear fusion of the DOE-National Nuclear Security Administration. In 2016, Dr. Mejia-Alvarez joined the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Michigan State University, where he is currently the director of the Laboratory for the Physics of Living Tissue Under Severe Interactions. At MSU, he studies the mechanics of blast and blunt Traumatic Brain Injury.
Dr. Mejia-Alvarez was the recipient of the 2011 Francois Frenkiel Award for Fluid Dynamics from the American Physical Society.
Specific Research Area:
Laboratory for the Physics of Living Tissue Under Severe Interactions (PLUTSI) uses high-resolution three-dimensional ultrahigh-speed imaging techniques and complex dynamic loading of brain tissue, cell cultures, and surrogate models of the brain to unveil the mechanics of blast-induced and blunt Traumatic Brain Injury, both at the macro- and microscopic levels. The laboratory also uses patient-specific surrogate models of diseased arteries to study the hemodynamics of human aneurysms.
Dr.Mejia-Alvarez's research requires developing challenging, non-conventional, facilities and experimental diagnostics. He is interested in helping enthusiastic students to reach their full potential through solving problems that are relevant to the advancement of science, technology, and society.
