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Soft Matter Engineering Lab
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The lab uses simulation to study the motion of soft materials and living systems.
AboutAbout the lab
Modeling soft matter and living systems through theory
The Soft Matter Engineering Lab (the Yamamoto Lab) works on theoretical modeling of soft matter and biological phenomena.
The lab has studied various transport phenomena in complex fluids and soft matter such as polymers and colloids, mainly through computer simulation.
In microscopic simulations such as molecular dynamics, handling the mesoscale and macroscale phenomena that matter in soft matter requires enormous computation time.
The lab therefore aims to draw on new advances in theory to develop original methodologies useful for chemical engineering.
Key terms
- Soft matter
- A general term for soft, easily deformable materials such as polymers, colloids, and liquid crystals
- Microswimmer
- A tiny particle that swims by itself in a liquid, like a microorganism
- Multiscale simulation
- A computational method that combines the microscopic motion of molecules with the macroscopic motion of flow
ResearchResearch themes
The lab studies transport phenomena in complex fluids and soft matter such as polymers and colloids, mainly through computer simulation. Chemical engineering has long relied heavily on empirical methods to analyze transport phenomena, but the lab aims to build original methodologies useful for chemical engineering by using new advances in theory.
*Illustrative imageCollective Motion of Swimming Microorganisms
Microswimmers show organized collective motion even without any mechanism for aligning their orientations. The lab has developed an original method that computes the motion of swimming particles and the surrounding fluid simultaneously, with high efficiency and accuracy, and uses it to study this motion.
*Illustrative imageDirectly Computing Colloid Dynamics
The lab developed a simulation method for colloidal dispersions and released it as KAPSEL. It has extended the method to the electrophoresis of charged colloids and to particle motion in fast flows, and also simulates self-propelled particles that mimic microorganisms.
*Illustrative imagePredicting the Flow of Polymers
The orientation and entanglement of polymer chains strongly affect the flow of molten polymers. The lab has established multiscale simulation that combines microscopic and macroscopic models, and applies it to various molding and processing methods.
*Illustrative imageCell Populations That Move and Proliferate
When cells moving on a substrate gather, they show curious collective motion, which is also linked to wound healing and tumor growth. The lab built a mechanical model of self-propelled cell populations and explored the mechanisms behind the motion of populations that self-replicate and self-organize.
MembersFaculty
The members of the Soft Matter Engineering Lab consist of faculty members, master's students, and undergraduate students.As of 2026
- ProfessorRyoichi Yamamoto
- Associate ProfessorTakashi Taniguchi
- Assistant ProfessorMOLINA LOPEZ John Jairo
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Report an errorAbout the images
The top and research theme images are illustrative and were not taken at the lab. They are cropped from Wikimedia Commons images. Cropped CC BY-SA images are provided under the same CC BY-SA license as the original (version shown on each line).
- Top image: “Diverse Blue Phase Liquid Crystal Droplets” Aecohen64 / CC BY 4.0 (cropped)
- Collective Motion of Swimming Microorganisms: “Bacillus subtilis swarm” Adrian Daerr / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Directly Computing Colloid Dynamics: “ColloidCrystal 40xBrightField GlassInWater Connectivity” Zephyris / CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped)
- Predicting the Flow of Polymers: “Injection molding machine” 384 / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Cell Populations That Move and Proliferate: “Epithelial-cells” John Schmidt (user:JWSchmidt). / CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Polymer Properties and Functions Lab): “Natural latex collected” Vis M / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Advanced Biomedical Engineering Lab): “PET MRI Scanner (NIH BioArt )” Courtesy of NIAID Malcolm Houston / Public domain (cropped)
- Related lab (Energy Process Engineering Lab): “Solar panels - geograph.org.uk - 5893008” Alan Hughes / CC BY-SA 2.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Quantum Molecular Science Lab): “Cesium hexachlorotellurate(IV) under UV light” Timesand2333 / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
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