Alexandra Alicke is an Assistant Professor in the Processing and Performance group at the Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e). With a background in both Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science, she aims at investigating the relationship between structure and mechanical (rheological) properties, and how these are affected by processing conditions in Soft Materials. Her strong expertise in experimental bulk (3D) and interfacial (2D) rheology is highly relevant to study both fundamental and applied problems, which are important for different areas such as biomedical, food, and energy industry.

Specifically for multiphase materials, such as emulsions and foams, the properties of the liquid-liquid or gas-liquid interface govern their stability. Depending on the application, stability can be either desired or can be a hindrance. On the one hand, by appropriately designing the interfacial properties stability can be imparted, for example to guarantee shelf-life stability in food products or contrast agents resisting specific physiological conditions. On the other hand, the understanding of the mechanical properties of the interface can provide insights into efficient destabilization mechanisms to be employed e.g. in targeted drug delivery or electrocoalescence applications.

Different BSc and MSc thesis projects are available (ranging from fundamental rheology problems to experimental set-up design), so please contact me directly for more info.

Alexandra studied Petroleum Engineering at the Pontificia Universidade Catolica do Rio de Janeiro (PUC-Rio) in Brazil. After receiving three academic excellence awards during her studies, she graduated in 2011 with a B.Sc. project on the rheological properties of gelled waxy crude oils. She obtained her M.Sc. in Mechanical Engineering at the same university in 2013 under the supervision of prof. Paulo R. de Souza Mendes with a thesis entitled “LAOS rheological characterization of an elastoviscoplastic material”. At the same time, she also held a position as research engineer in the Rheology Group at PUC-Rio, working in both fundamental science as well as in collaboration projects with industry, such as Statoil and Petrobras. Then, in 2016 started her doctoral studies under the supervision of prof. Jan Vermant in the Department of Materials at ETH Zürich. Part of her PhD was funded by a consortium to study electrocoalescence, where she worked in collaboration with different academic and industrial partners. In 2021 she obtained her D.Sc. with a thesis entitled “Elastoviscoplastic interfaces and their role in the stability of multiphase materials”. She joined the Processing and Performance of Materials group as Assistant Professor (tenure track) in September 2022.