Jack-William Barotta

Jack works on experimental tabletop systems to study questions in soft matter physics and fluid mechanics. He obtained his B.S. in mathematics from MIT and most recently a Ph.D. in Engineering from Brown University. He is interested in studying collective behavior of interacting particles, where phenomena such as synchronization and swarming, can spontaneously emerge. Jack has focused on wave-mediated interactions, where small wavemakers are able to "communicate" through their mutually-generated wavefield, exhibiting a large set of interactions. He hopes to use these tabletop setups to both more generally understand non-reciprocal interactions between interacting agents and also share such curiosity-based, low-cost, science with the broader public.

Outside of research, Jack enjoys developing project-based coursework and strives to demonstrate both the breadth and depth of applications of mathematical techniques across disciplines. 

In his free time, Jack enjoys bowling, lawn games, mini-golf, and the board game Wingspan.