Brown University Assistant Professor Monica Martinez Wilhelmus and Senior Research Associate Nils Tack, along with Case Western Reserve University Associate Professor Chengyu Li and Research Associate Zhipeng Lou, have been announced as winners of the François Frenkiel Award for Fluid Mechanics, conferred annually by the American Physical Society (APS). This honor is considered one of the premier accolades for early-career researchers in fluid mechanics, awarded to a single exceptional paper published during the prior year.
The paper, “Edge vortex interaction minimizes drag in shrimp swimming,” was published in Physical Review Fluids in April 2025. The research builds on work from the Wilhelmus Lab investigating how shrimp swim by paddling five pairs of small swimming legs called pleopods. Instead of beating them all at once, they paddle them in a wave-like sequence from back to front. Combined with biologically derived data, a high-fidelity 3D computer model identifies a novel drag-reduction mechanism in which swirling water currents along the edges of adjacent legs merge, trapping and stabilizing water between them. This lowers the water pressure in front of the legs, reducing resistance during the beat and conserving energy. This fluid mechanics principle could be applied more broadly to designing more efficient underwater robots.
The selection of the winner is determined by the Frenkiel Award Committee, includes a stipend, and is formally presented each year at APS’ Division of Fluid Dynamics Annual Meeting in November.