Assistant Professor
Email: vortex@berkeley.edu
Phone:
Lab Webpage: https://ornithopterus.com/
Research Description
My research focuses on the effect produced by perturbed flows, static electricity, and capillary forces on organismal dynamics. I study animals moving in such complex flows as rain, waterfalls, turbulent flows, thermal convection, and fluid interfaces. I am also interested in the effects produced by electrical and capillary forces on small animals. This multidisciplinary area combines physiology, fluid dynamics, mathematics, and engineering, and has deep biological implications on ecological processes, and evolutionary biology. Moreover, its applications in technology include the design of bio-inspired robots with the capacity to move over unpredictable and multicomponent environments.
Selected Publications
Ortega-Jimenez V. M., Challita E. J., Kim B., et al. 2022. Directional Takeoff, Aerial Righting and Adhesion Landing of Semiaquatic Springtails. PNAS 119 (46) e22112831.
Ortega-Jimenez, V. M., Herbst E. C., Leung, S. M., Dudley, R. 2020. Natural Barriers: Waterfall Transit by Small Flying Animals. R. Soc. Open Sci. 7: 201185.
Ortega-Jimenez, V. M., Combes S. A. 2018. Living in a trash can: Turbulent convective flows impair Drosophila flight performance. J. Roy. Soc. Interface . J. R. 15: 20180636.
Ortega-Jimenez, V. M., Alcantara-Martin A., Fernandez-Feria R., Dudley, R. 2017. On the autorotation of animal wings. J. Roy. Soc. Interface 14:20160870.
Ortega-Jimenez, V. M., Sapir, N., Wolf, M., Variano, E., Dudley, R. 2014. Into turbulent air: size-dependent effects of von Kármán vortex streets on hummingbird flight kinematics and energetics. Proc. R. Soc. B. 281: 2014018.
Ortega-Jimenez, V. M., Mittal, R., Hedrick, T. L. 2014. Hawkmoth flight performance in tornado-like whirlwind vortices. Bioinspir. Biomim. 9: 025003.
Ortega-Jimenez, V. M., Dudley, R.. 2013. Spiderweb deformation induced by electrostatically charged insects. Sci. Rep. 3: 2108.
Ortega-Jimenez, V. M., Dudley, R. 2012. Flying in the rain: hovering performance of Anna's Hummingbirds under varied precipitation. Proc. R. Soc. B. 279:3996–4002.
Ortega-Jimenez, V. M., Dudley, R. 2012. Aerial shaking performance of wet Anna's Hummingbirds. J. Roy. Soc. Interface 9:1093–1099.