Dr Monica Oliveira

Senior Lecturer

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering

Personal statement

Mónica Oliveira is Senior Lecturer in the Department of Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering. She has a PhD in Chemical & Process Engineering from Heriot-Watt University (Edinburgh, UK), and a first degree in Chemical Engineering from the Faculty of Engineering of the University of Porto (Portugal). She held a postdoc position in the Non-Newtonian Fluid Dynamics Research Group at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Cambridge MA, USA), after which she returned to the University of Porto to join CEFT (Transport Phenomena Research Centre) where she held a research position until 2012. Her research focuses on fluid flows and transport phenomena, in particular the rheology of complex fluids, non-Newtonian fluid dynamics and microfluidics. Mónica publishes her research results in leading international journals including Physical Review Letters, Physics of Fluids, Microfluidics & Nanofluidics, Soft Matter and Journal of Fluid Mechanics. She is a member of both the Society of Rheology, the European Society of Rheology and the British Society of Rheology.

Expertise

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Prize And Awards

Chaires Paris-Science 2024 Invited Professorship Award – ESPCI, Paris.: Recipient; 2024
Secretary of the European Society of Rheology: Recipient; 2023
Honorary Membership Secretary: Recipient; 2022
Teaching Excellence Award Nomination: Recipient; 2019
Strathclyde Team Medal: Recipient; 2019
FEUP Scientific Incentive Prize in recognition of excellence in research outcomes: Recipient; 2012

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Publications

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Publications

PLGA fibre formation by wet and microfluidic spinning in conventional and green solvents: Garcia Bernal Itzia Maria, Bimbo Luis M, Liggat John, Oliveira Monica; MAE Summer Celebration (2026)
Microfluidic channels for complex fluid applications: McColgan Kiera, Garcia Bernal Itzia Maria, Chaparian Emad, Oliveira Monica; MAE Summer Celebration (2026)
Single-molecule DNA dynamics in heterogeneous microfluidic flows : from conformational response to length-based separation: Khakpour Arezoo, Li Zhibo, Robinson Samatha, du Roure Olivia, Lindner Anke, Chaparian Emad, Oliveira Monica; 39th Scottish Fluid Mechanics Meeting (2026)
Particle migration in Poiseuille flow of a viscoplastic fluid: Malcolm James, Oliveira Monica, Chaparian Emad; 39th Scottish Fluid Mechanics Meeting (2026)
PLGA fibre formation by wet and microfluidic spinning in conventional and green solvents: Garcia Bernal Itzia Maria, Bimbo Luis M, Liggat John, Oliveira Monica; 39th Scottish Fluid Mechanics Meeting (2026)
PLGA fibre formation by wet and microfluidic spinning in conventional and green solvents: Garcia Bernal Itzia Maria, Bimbo Luis M, Liggat John, Oliveira Monica; Annual European Rheology Conference 2026 (2026)

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Research

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Research Interests

Mónica is interested in fluid flows and transport phenomena. Currently, a major part of her research focus on rheology and flow of complex fluids in microscale devices, taking advantage of the unique conditions provided by these small-scale platforms. She has been focusing on the fundamental flow physics of complex fluids in both rheometric and microfluidic devices, but also exploring the distinctive characteristics of complex fluid flows at the micro-scale to design new microfluidic components for extensional rheometry, to develop synthetic biofluid analogues, and to enhance and control microscale mixing.

Keywords: Newtonian and non-Newtonian fluid dynamics, Rheology, Viscoelasticity, Elastic Instabilities, Experimental characterisation of complex fluid flows, CFD, Biofluid analogues, Red blood cell deformation, Aneurysm flows, Microfluidics, Microdevice optimisation.