Arezoo Ardekani, professor and associate head of Faculty Affairs of Mechanical Engineering at Purdue University, is renowned for pioneering contributions to fluid dynamics and biofluid mechanics. She earned her master’s degree and doctorate from UCI and was awarded the prestigious Shapiro Postdoctoral Fellowship at MIT. After her postdoctoral work, she joined the University of Notre Dame and was appointed the Rev. John Cardinal O’Hara Assistant Professor in Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering. Since moving to Purdue in 2024, Ardekani has developed innovative computational models and experimental techniques that have led to discoveries in biopharmaceutical research and sustainable engineering, addressing key global challenges in health and environmental sustainability.

Ardekani has been recognized with many prestigious awards throughout her career. She is a fellow of the American Physical Society, the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering and the American Society of Mechanical Engineers. In 2016, she received the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers for her “research aimed to fundamentally understand, model and control bacterial biofilm formation through imaginative computations and elegant experiments,” as well as for her dedication to increasing minority participation in STEM research. She received an NSF CAREER Award in 2012, followed by several other accolades, including the Society of Rheology’s Arthur B. Metzner Early Career Award (2020), the Society of Engineering Science Young Investigator Medal (2020), the Sigma Xi Mid-career Research Award (2020), the National Academy of Engineering Grainger Grants for Advancement of Interdisciplinary Research (2021) and the American Physical Society Outstanding Referee Award (2023).

At Purdue, she was recognized with the College of Engineering Faculty Excellence Award for Graduate Student Mentorship in 2020 and the Award of Excellence in Early Career Research in 2019. Her early accomplishments include receiving the Schlumberger Foundation Faculty for the Future Award in both 2009 and 2010, the Society of Women Engineers Fellowship and the Zonta International Amelia Earhart Award in 2007.

Ardekani’s leadership in research and professional service is evident through her extensive involvement in editorial boards, advisory committees and diversity initiatives. She is an associate editor of Physical Review Fluids and ASME Applied Mechanics Review and an Editorial Advisory Board Member of the International Journal of Multiphase Flow and the Journal of Non-Newtonian Fluid Mechanics. Her contributions also include organizing key conferences, such as co-chairing the 75th Annual Meeting of the APS Division of Fluid Dynamics in 2022 and serving on prestigious award committees like the APS Stanley Corrsin and SOR Metzner award committees.