UvA assistant professor Mazi Jalaal receives Physics2Market subsidy for research

Mazi Jalaal – assistant professor at the Institute of Physics at the University of Amsterdam – has received a Physics2Market subsidy to work out his idea on a new technique to measure the mechanical properties of soft materials, based on image processing and artificial intelligence.

The goal is to develop a cheaper and simpler rheometer, which can be used for applications in food (f.i. foams, emulsions, colloids), cosmetics (f.i. gels, creams, foams), constructions engineering (concrete), petroleum (waxy oil), coating (paints), bioengineering (bioprinters, saliva testing), etc.

Starting the research
Jalaal and his team are working on the project for only two weeks now: ‘Our group will use the discoveries of the past eight years on the spreading of rheological materials, and will design software that uses a physics-informed Machine Learning algorithm to measure the rheological properties of liquids (elasticity, plasticity, and viscosity) only with imaging. The goals for this project have been set together with companies active in these application areas. ’

Work at universities
Before being an assistant professor at the University of Amsterdam, Jalaal did work and research at different universities, such as the University of Cambridge, University of Twente and the University of British Columbia. Jalaal started working at the University of Amsterdam in January 2021. Activities in his lab can be found at fluidlab.nl.

Physics2Market
The IXAnext Physics2Market Grant is a grant meant for physics related projects, up to 10-35k€. With this, IXA stimulates the receiver to validate physics related research towards exploitation in cooperation with an industrial partner. The subsidy is eligible for researchers (permanent staff, incl. tenure track) of the IXA partner organizations: HvA, UvA, VU, Amolf, Nikhef and Amsterdam UMC.