Alain Goriely facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Alain Goriely
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| Born |
Brussels, Belgium
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| Alma mater | Université libre de Bruxelles (1989 – 94) |
| Occupation | Mathematician |
| Spouse(s) | Nita Goriely |
| Children | 3 |
| Awards | Engineering Medal from the Society of Engineering Science (2024) Cozzarelli Prize (US National Academy of Sciences) (2019) Fellow of the Society of Industrial and Applied Mathematics (2018) Royal Society Wolfson Research Merit Award (2010) Alfred P. Sloan Fellow (1999) |
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| Institutions | University of Oxford University of Arizona Université libre de Bruxelles |
| Thesis | Integrability and Nonintegrability of Dynamical Systems: A Singularity Analysis Approach. |
| Doctoral advisor | Radu Bălescu |
Alain Goriely is a Belgian mathematician who uses math to understand the world around us. He holds a top teaching position in mathematical modelling at the University of Oxford. This means he creates mathematical explanations for how things work in science and engineering.
Goriely is the director of several important research groups, including the Oxford Centre for Industrial Mathematics. He is also a Fellow at St Catherine's College, Oxford. In 2022, he was elected to the Royal Society, a famous group of the world's best scientists.
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Education and Career Journey
Alain Goriely was born and grew up in Brussels, the capital of Belgium. He studied at the Université libre de Bruxelles, where he earned his first degree in 1989 and his Ph.D. in 1994. A Ph.D. is the highest university degree a person can get.
After finishing his studies, he moved to the United States to work at the University of Arizona. He started as a researcher and worked his way up to become a full professor. In 2010, he moved to the University of Oxford in England. There, he took on the new role of Chair of Mathematical Modelling.
Throughout his career, he has also been a visiting professor at famous universities in France, Switzerland, and the United States, sharing his knowledge with students and researchers around the world.
What Does He Research?
Goriely is an expert in applied mathematics. This is a type of math that solves real-world problems. He is curious about many different topics and uses math to find answers. His work covers everything from how plants grow to how the human brain works.
The Mathematics of Shapes and Growth
One of Goriely's main interests is how things get their shape. He helped develop a theory called morphoelasticity. This theory uses math to explain how living things grow and form their shapes, like how a seashell gets its ridges or how a plant grows toward the light.
He also studied thin, flexible objects like wires, ropes, and plant tendrils. Have you ever seen a twisted phone cord or a vine that suddenly curls in the opposite direction? Goriely figured out the mathematical reasons for this twisting behavior. He also used math to understand:
- How vines twine around objects.
- How plants shoot their seeds out.
- The shapes of proteins, which are tiny building blocks in our bodies.
- How plant stems grow and bend.
Understanding the Human Brain
Since 2012, Goriely has used math to study the human brain. He and his teammates have created models to understand how brain tissue behaves. This is very important for studying brain injuries and diseases.
His research has helped explain:
- How the brain swells after an injury.
- Why the brain's folds, called gyri and sulci, have different thicknesses.
- How brain diseases can spread and affect a person's memory and thinking.
Improving Technology
Goriely's work isn't just about nature and biology. He has also used his math skills to help improve technology. He has worked on projects related to:
- Solar Cells: He worked with scientists to create better perovskite solar cells. These are a new type of solar cell that can turn sunlight into electricity very efficiently. His math models helped figure out the best way to make them.
- Batteries: He has studied how lithium-ion batteries, the kind in your phone and laptop, work.
- New Materials: He has researched ionic liquids and tiny materials called nano-particles.
Books and Publications
Goriely has written three books to share his knowledge:
- Integrability and nonintegrability of dynamical systems (2001)
- The mathematics and mechanics of biological growth (2017)
- Applied Mathematics: A very short introduction (2017)
He has also written hundreds of scientific papers. Some of his most important papers are about creating high-quality solar cells, understanding how living tissues grow, and studying the mechanics of the brain.
