Education
Brief Bio
Dr. Walker is a Professor in the Karen M. Swindler Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering at South Dakota Mines, and he is affiliated with the Materials Engineering and Science and the Biomedical Engineering Graduate Programs. He also serves as the campus liaison for SD INBRE and oversees the Tissue Engineering and Cell Culture (TECCL) Core and the Soft Matter (SoMa) Characterization Facility. Prior to joining South Dakota Mines, Dr. Walker was an Assistant Professor in the School of Chemical, Biological, and Environmental Engineering at Oregon State University from 2013-2017. Dr. Walker serves on multiple committees with the American Institute of Chemical Engineers and the Society of Rheology. He is also co-founder of multiple startup companies that have spun out of his research group. Dr. Walker enjoys volunteering with Scouting America and local youth sports.
Research Expertise
Dr. Walker is a transport-phenomena engineer who works to develop both theoretical and experimental methods that can be applied to the study of complex fluids, soft solids, miscible fluid interactions, and biological systems. He is interested in multiphase systems and the mechanics of materials. His ultimate goal is to provide new detailed insights into the macroscopic characteristics of materials and processes through an in-depth understanding of the fundamental physics active at the molecular level.
Teaching
Dr. Walker enjoys teaching at all levels and in a variety of atmospheres from the classroom to the laboratory. He strongly believes in promoting undergraduate research. He has successfully taught core undergraduate courses in programming, numerical analysis, mass and energy balances, fluid mechanics, mass transfer, and design, as well as an elective course on the design of coffee. He has successfully taught core graduate courses in chemical engineering analysis, fluid flow, and mass transfer, as well as an elective course in colloids and interfaces and in polymer science and engineering. He is also interested in creating new courses at both the undergraduate and graduate levels in topics including rheology, complex fluids, capillarity, low-Reynolds number (Stokes) flow, and applied mathematics, as well as courses in hands-on learning.