Bo Zhu
Assistant ProfessorAssistant Professor of Computer Science
I develop computational approaches to study complex natural systems and make novel robotic systems. By combining numerical algorithms, applied mathematics, and 3D printing techniques, I investigate and develop physical systems that are fluidic, soft, multi-scale, mixed-dimensional, and computation-driven. In particular, I seek to create computer algorithms to unveil the connections between geometry, topology, material, and dynamics of these complex systems.
The problems I study are visual and tangible, ranging from complex fluid phenomena that exhibit visually appealing characteristics to fabricated physical objects that can be grasped in one's hands. I create novel computational infrastructures to simulate phenomena observed in fluid mechanics experiments, such as “water bell,” “fishbone,” and “membrane catenoid,” and those seen in daily life, such as paint, soap bubbles, and pizza cheese. On another front, I build large-scale topology optimization algorithms to develop functional, printable, and microstructural soft systems, such as a soft robotic gripper, with a particular focus on bridging the gap between the printing hardware and computer software.
Selected Publications
Desai Chen, Melina Skouras, Bo Zhu, Wojciech Matusik. 2018. Computational Discovery of Extremal Microstructure Families. Science Advances 4(1), 2018.
Bo Zhu, Melina Skouras, Desai Chen, Wojciech Matusik. Two-scale Topology Optimization with Microstructures. ACM Transactions on Graphics, 36(5):164, 2017.
Adriana Schulz, Jie Xu, Bo Zhu, Changxi Zheng, Eitain Grinspun, Wojciech Matusik. Interactive Design Space Exploration and Optimization for CAD Models. ACM Transactions on Graphics (SIGGRAPH 2017), 36(4):157, 2017.
Tao Du, Adriana Schulz, Bo Zhu, Bernd Bickel, Wojciech Matusik. Computational Multicopter Design. ACM Transactions on Graphics (SIGGRAPH Asia 2016), 35(6):227, 2016. Bo Zhu.
Bo Zhu, Minjae Lee, Ed Quigley, Ronald Fedkiw. Codimensional Non-Newtonian Fluids. ACM Transactions on Graphics (SIGGRAPH 2015), 34(4):115, 2015.
Wen Zheng, Bo Zhu, Byungmoon Kim, Ronald Fedkiw. A New Incompressibility Discretization for a Hybrid Particle MAC Grid Representation with Surface Tension. Journal of Computational Physics, 280:96-142, 2015.
Bo Zhu, Ed Quigley, Matthew Cong, Justin Solomon, Ronald Fedkiw. Codimensional Surface Tension Flow on Simplicial Complexes. ACM Transactions on Graphics (SIGGRAPH 2014), 33(4):111, 2014.
Bo Zhu, Wenlong Lu, Matthew Cong, Byungmoon Kim, and Ronald Fedkiw. A New Grid Structure for Domain Extension, ACM Transactions on Graphics (SIGGRAPH 2013), 32(4):63, 2013.
Bo Zhu, Michiaki Iwata, Ryo Haraguchi, Takashi Ashihara, Nobuyuki Umetani, Takeo Igarashi, Kazuo Nakazawa. Sketch-based Dynamic Illustration of Fluid Systems. ACM Transactions on Graphics (SIGGRAPH Asia 2011), 30(6):134, 2011.
