close menu
••• Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet. Lorem ipsum.Close Alert
Pedro Reis

More About Pedro

Contact Info

room 1-330

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

77 Massachusetts Avenue

Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139

Download CV
Associated Research Areas

Professor Reis News + Media

The Wonders of Thin Structures

The Wonders of Thin Structures

Assistant Pedro Reis describes the research activity in his Elasticity, Geometry, & Statistics Laboratory, which focuses on the mechanics of large deformations of thin structures, towards devising novel functionalities over a wide range of length scales.

WATCH VIDEO
Untangling the Mechanics of Knots

Untangling the Mechanics of Knots

A new model developed by Professor Pedro Reis predicts the force required to tie simple knots, may provide guidelines for a given load-bearing application.

READ MORE
How Crispy is Your Bonbon?

How Crispy is Your Bonbon?

Pedro Reis develops predictive formula to characterize fabrication of thin shells, such as chocolate, and enable rapid prototyping.

READ MORE

Faculty Details

Education

  • 1999

    UNIVERSITY OF MANCHESTER

    B.Sc.

  • 2000

    UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE

    C.A.S.M. (Part III Math)

  • 2004

    UNIVERSITY OF MANCHESTER

    Ph.D.

Research Interests

  • Mechanics of Solids and Structures
  • Geometric Nonlinearities
  • Fluid-structure interaction
  • Experimental Mechanics

Online Data

Honors + Awards

  • 2014: Gilbert W. Winslow (1937) Chair
  • 2014: 1st Prize in poster competition at NEW.Mech 2014, with Khalid Jawed (graduate student) and Noor Khouri (UROP)
  • 2014: Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Award, National Science Foundation
  • 2013: Brilliant 10, Popular Science Magazine
  • 2013: Ecole Superieure de Physique et de Chimie Industrielles (ESPCI), Paris, France. Visiting Professor
  • 2012: Portuguese American Post-Graduate Society Leadership Award (PAPS-LBC)
  • 2011: Best Poster Prize at the NSF workshop: ``New Frontiers of Solid Mechanics - From Earthquakes to Single Molecules.", Brown University
  • 2010: Esther and Harold E. Edgerton Career Development Chair
  • 2008: Winner, Gallery of Fluid Motion, DFD-APS (poster category)
  • 2008: Winner, Image Gallery, GSNP- APS (video category)
  • 2006: Carl Storm International Diversity Fellowship Gordon Research Conferences

Related Experience

  • 2004-2004: Post-doc, City College of New York.
  • 2005-2005: Post-doc, ESPCI, Paris, France.
  • 2013: Visiting Professor, ESPCI, Paris, France.
     

Memberships

  • American Physical Society
  • American Society of Mechanical Engineers
  • Society of Engineering Science

Professional Service

  • 2014-present, Extreme Mechanics Letters (Journal), Member of the Editorial Board.
  • 2008-present, Focus Session series “Extreme Mechanicsâ€ù March Meeting, APS, Founder and organizer
  • 2012-present, ASME, Technical Committee on "Instability in Solids and Structures", Committee member.
  • 2010-present, NEW.Mech, Organizer of NEW.Mech: New England Workshop of Materials and Structures, Co-founder and organizer.
  • 2014, APS, Sorter of abstracts and program coordinator March Meeting 2015.
  • 2010-2012, ASME, Technical Committee on "Soft Materials", Committee member.

MIT Service

  • 2009-present,  MMEC (Mechanics: Modelling, Mechanics and Computation), Seminar series organizer.
  • 2013-present, CEE Mechanics, Infrastructure and Systems Council.
  • 2012-present, CEE Faculty Search Committee.
  • 2011-2015, CEE Research Speed Dating Event.
  • 2014, CEE Pierce Lab Space Council.
  • 2013, Department Head Search Advisory Committee for Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering, School of Engineering
  • 2011-2012, Taskforce for the Enhancement of Undergraduate Enrollment in CEE.
  • 2011, Mechanical Engineering Strategic Planning Exercise.
  • 2011, DES4 - CEE’s Distinguished Engineering and Science Speaker Seminar Series.
  • 2011, MechE Research Speed Dating Event.
  • 2010, MechE Communications Professional Search Committee.

Teaching

  • Mechanics and Materials II (2.002)
  • Introduction to Civil and Environmental Engineering Design I (1.101)
  • Nonlinear Dynamics II: Continuum Systems (18.354)
  • Undergraduate Seminar in Physical Applied Mathematics (18.384)
  • Multivariable Calculus (18.02)

Publications

  • Stoop N., Lagrange R., Terwagne D., Reis P.M. and Dunkel J. "Curvature-induced symmetry breaking determines elastic surface patterns" Nature Materials, 14, 337 (2015).
  • Miller J.T., Mulcahy C.G., Pabon J., Wicks N., Reis P.M., "Extending the Reach of a Rod Injected into a Cylinder Through Distributed Vibration" J. App. Mech., 82, 021003 (2015).**
  • Brojan M., Terwagne D., Lagrange R. and Reis P.M., "Wrinkling crystallography on spherical surfaces" Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A., 112, (1), 14-19 (2015).
  • Lazarus A., and Reis P.M. "Soft Actuation of Structured Cylinders through Auxetic Behavior" Adv. Mater. DOI:10.1002/adem.201400433 (2015).
  • Su T. , Liu J., Terwagne D., Reis P.M. and Bertoldi K. "Buckling of an elastic rod embedded on an elastomeric matrix: planar vs. non-planar configurations" Soft Matter 10, 6294 (2014).
  • Miller J.T., Lazarus A., Audoly B.  and Reis P.M. "Shapes of a Suspended Curly Hair", Phys. Rev. Lett., 112 068103 (2014)**.
  • Jawed M.K., Reis P.M., "Pattern morphology in the elastic sewing machine" Extreme Mechanics Letters, DOI:10.1016/j.eml.2014.12.004 (2014)**.
  • Jawed M.K., Da F., Joo J., Grinspun E., and Reis P.M., “Coiling of elastic rods on rigid substratesâ€ù Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A., 111, (41), 14663-14668 (2014).**
  • Nasto A. and Reis P.M., "Localized Structures in Indented Shells: a Numerical Investigation" J. App. Mech., 81, 121008-121015 (2014).**
  • Miller J.T., Mulcahy C.G., Pabon J., Wicks N. and Reis P.M., "Extending the Reach of a Rod Injected into a Cylinder Through Distributed Vibration" J. App. Mech., 82, 021003-021008 (2014).**
  • Terwagne D., Brojan M., and Reis P.M. "Smart Morphable Surfaces for Aerodynamic Drag Control" Adv. Mater. 26, (38), 6608 (2014).
  • Lazarus A., Miller J.T. and Reis P.M., "Continuation of equilibria and stability of slender elastic rods using an asymptotic numerical method" J. Mech. Phys. Solids 61 1712 (2013). **
  • Lazarus A. , Miller J.T., Metlitz M.  and Reis P.M. "Contorting a heavy and naturally curved elastic rod", Soft Matter, 9 8274-8281, Special themed issue on "Geometry and Topology of Soft Materials" (2013).**
  • Nasto A., Ajdari A., Lazarus A., Vaziri A, and Reis P.M., "Localization of deformation in thin shells under indentation" Soft Matter 9, 6796-6803. Special Themed Issue on "Emerging Investigators in Soft Matter" (2013).**
  • Lazarus A., Florijn H.C.B. and Reis P.M., "Geometry-induced rigidity in non-spherical pressurized elastic shells" Phys. Rev. Lett. 109, 144301, 1-5 (2012).**
  • Shim J., Perdigou C., Chen E.R., Bertoldi K. and Reis P.M., "Buckling induced encapsulation of structured elastic shells under pressure" Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 109, 5978, 1-6 (2012).**
  • Vandeparre H., Pineirua M., Brau F., Roman B., Bico J., Gay C., Bao W., Lau C.N., Reis P.M. and Damman P., "Wrinkling Hierarchy in Constrained Thin Sheets from Suspended Graphene to Curtains" Phys. Rev. Lett. 106, 224301, 1-4 (2011).
  • Akono A-T., Reis P.M., and Ulm F-J., "Scratching as a Fracture Process: From Butter to Steel", Phys. Rev. Lett. 106, 204302, 1-4 (2011).**
  • Stocker R., Jung S., Aristoff J. and Reis P.M., "Response to Comments on 'How Cats Lap: Water Uptake by Felis Catus'", Science 334, (6054), 311-c (2011).**
  • Aristoff J.M., Stocker R., Reis P.M. and Jung S., "On the water-lapping of felines and the water-running of lizards: a unifying physical perspective" Communicative & Integrative Biology 4, (2), 213-215 (2010).**
  • Reis P.M., Jung S., Aristoff J. and Stocker R., "How Cats Lap: Water uptake by Felis catus" Science 330, 1231-1234 (2010).**
  • Raux P.S., Reis P.M., Bush J.W.M., and Clanet C., "Rolling Ribbons" Phys. Rev. Lett. 105, 044301, 1-4 (2010).**
  • Buchak P., Eloy C. and Reis P.M., "The Clapping Book: wind-driven oscillations in a stack of elastic sheets" Phys. Rev. Lett. 105, 194301, 1-4 (2010).**
  • Reis P.M., Hure J., Jung S., Bush J.W.M. and Clanet C., "Grabbing Water" Soft Matter 6, 5705-5708 (2010).
  • Sen D., Novoselov K., Reis P.M. and Buehler M.J., "Tearing of graphene sheets from adhesive substrates produces tapered nanoribbons" Small 6, (10), 1108-1116 (2010).**
  • Bertoldi K., Reis P.M., Willshaw S. and Mullin T., "Negative Poisson's ratio behavior induced by an elastic instability" Adv. Mater. 22, issue 3, 361-366 (2009).
  • Reis P.M., Corson F., Boudaoud A. and Roman B., "Localization through surface folding in solid foams under compression" Phys. Rev. Lett. 103, 045501, 1-4 (2009).
  • Vella D., Bico J., Boudadoud A., Roman B. and Reis P.M., "Delamination of thin elastic sheets adhered to an elastic substrate" Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 106, 10901-10906 (2009).
  • Jung S., Reis P.M., James. J., Clanet C. and Bush J.W., "Capillary Origami in Nature" Phys. Fluids 21, 091110, 1 (2009).
  • Hamm E., Reis P.M., LeBlanc M., Roman B., Cerda E., "Tearing as a test for mechanical characterization of thin adhesive films" Nature Materials 96, Vol.7, 386-390 (2008).
  • Reis P.M., Audoly B., Roman B., "Cracking sheets: Oscillatory fracture paths in thin elastic sheets" Chaos 18, 041108, 1 (2008).
  • Reis P.M., Kumar A., Shattuck M.D. and Roman B., "Unizip Instabilities: straight to oscillatory transitions in the cutting of thin elastic sheets" Europhys. Lett. 82, 64002, 1-6 (2008).
  • Reis P.M., Ingale R.A. and Shattuck M.D., "Forcing independent velocity distributions in an experimental granular fluid" Phys, Rev. E 75, 051311, 1-14 (2007).
  • Reis P.M., Ingale R.A. and Shattuck M.D., "Caging dynamics in a granular fluid" Phys. Rev. Lett. 98, 188301, 1-4 (2007).
  • Reis P.M., Sykes T. and Mullin T., "Phases of granular segregation in a binary mixture" Phys. Rev. E 74, 051306, 1-13 (2006).
  • Reis P.M., Ingale R.A. and Shattuck M.D., "Crystallization of a quasi-two-dimensional granular fluid" Phys. Rev. Lett. 96, 258001, 1-4 (2006).
  • Audoly B., Roman B. and Reis P.M., "Comment on The Cycloidal Wake of a cylinder Tearing Through a Thin Sheet" Phys. Rev. Lett. 94, 129601, 1 (2005).
  • Audoly B., Roman B. and Reis P.M., "Cracks in Brittle thin Sheets: When Geometry Rules the Fracture Path" Phys. Rev. Lett. 95, 025502, 1-4 (2005).
  • Ehrhardt G., Stephenson A. and Reis P.M., "Segregation Mechanisms in a Numerical Model of a Binary Granular Mixture" Phys. Rev. E 71, 041301, 1-11 (2005).
  • Reis P.M., Ehrhardt G., Stephenson A. and Mullin T., "Gases, Liquids and Crystals in Granular Segregation" Europhys. Lett. 66 (3), 357-363 (2004).
  • Roman B., Reis P.M., Audoly B., de Villiers S.,  Vignie V. and Vallet D., "Oscillatory fracture paths in thin elastic sheets" C.R. de Mecanique 331, 881, 811-816 (2003).
  • Reis P.M. and Mullin T. , "Granular Segregation as a Critical Phenomenon", Phys. Rev. Lett. 89, 244301, 1-4 (2002).