(3cg) Microbial Biofilm Processes: Multiscale Modeling, Simulation, and Visualization

• Development of a novel computer simulator of biofilm growth dynamics in porous media, which
  combined a continuum-based approach for fluid flow and mass transport with individual-based
  approaches for biofilm growth and detachment. Main publication: Kapellos GE, Alexiou TS,
  Payatakes AC. Hierarchical simulator of biofilm growth and dynamics in granular porous
  materials, Advances in Water Resources 30(6-7):1648-1667 (2007).
  
  
• Development of new theoretical models for interstitial flow and diffusion in cellular biological
  media (tissues, biofilms, etc) through a consistent combination of the spatial averaging method
  for the derivation of upscaled equations, with the particle-in-cell method for the calculation of
  macroscale parameters as functions of microscale system properties. Relevant publication:
  Kapellos GE, Alexiou TS, Payatakes AC. A multiscale theoretical model for fluid flow in cellular
  biological media, International Journal of Engineering Science 51:241-271 (2012).

Current Research Direction

Over the last few years, my research is mainly focused on the formation of microbial biofilms over oily
substrates (hydrocarbons). My interest in this topic was fueled during my research visit at Texas Tech
Univ. (2013-‘14), where I participated in a GoMRI-funded collaborative research program that
investigated the fate of crude oil spilled in the Gulf of Mexico after the Deepwater Horizon blowout. At
present, through a Marie Sklodowska Curie project, I have joined forces with Profs. Patrick S. Doyle
(MIT, USA) and Nicolas Kalogerakis (TU-Crete, Greece) towards understanding the mechanisms and
quantifying the process rates of oil droplet biodegradation via a combination of microfluidics,
biochemical analyses and computational modeling. Relevant publication: Kapellos GE, Paraskeva CA,
Kalogerakis N, Doyle PS. Theoretical insight into the biodegradation of solitary oil microdroplets moving
through a water column, Bioengineering, 5:15 (2018).

Research Interests:

• Biofilm growth and migration in porous media.
• Biofilm formation at liquid-liquid interfaces.
• Transport phenomena in cellular biological media (biofilms, tissues, etc.).
• Multiscale modeling and simulation.
• Experiments with microfluidic/microfabricated devices.

Teaching Interests:

• Transport Phenomena in Poroelastic and Biological Materials
• Computational Modeling of Biological Systems
• Biomechanics

Teaching Experience
At the University of Patras (Greece), Department of Chemical Engineering, for several years:

• Teaching assistant in the undergraduate courses Mass Transfer (with Profs. Alkiviades Payatakes
  and Christakis Paraskeva) and Introduction to Scientific Computing with Fortran (with Prof.
  Dimitrios Mataras).
• Co-supervisor of several diploma projects of undergraduate students (with Profs. Payatakes,
  Pavlou and Paraskeva).