Jamali Receives 2025 Arthur B. Metzner Early Career Award
MIE Assistant Professor Safa Jamali received the prestigious 2025 Arthur B. Metzner Early Career Award from The Society of Rheology. He was recognized “for contributions to the computational simulation and physical understanding of the rheology of dense suspensions and attractive colloidal systems, and for pioneering the development of machine learning techniques and physics-informed data-driven approaches to rheology and our understanding of complex multicomponent systems.” The annual award is presented to a young researcher who has distinguished themselves in rheological research, rheological practice, or service to rheology.
This article originally appeared on Northeastern Global News. It was published by Cesareo Contreras. Main photo: Safa Jamali, a Northeastern professor of mechanical and industrial engineering, has been awarded the Arthur B. Metnzer Early Career Award. Photo by Matthew Modoono/Northeastern University
Safa Jamali wins Arthur B. Metzner Early Career Award for research on materials between solid and fluid states
Rheology, the science of the deformation and flow of matter, is a relatively new field study, with its origin dating back about 100 years. To put it bluntly, rheologists study materials that exist between a solid or fluid state.
This ranges from the toothpaste you use to brush your teeth to the tissues that make up your body, says Safa Jamali, a Northeastern University professor of mechanical and industrial engineering.
“Arguably, 90% of things we deal with are in the between,” he says.
Safa Jamali, a Northeastern professor of mechanical and industrial engineering, has been awarded the Arthur B. Metnzer Early Career Award. Photo by Matthew Modoono/Northeastern University
As a rheologist himself, Jamali examines the theoretical and computational sides of the field using data-driven research and machine learning technologies. Jamali has worked at Northeastern since 2017 in the mechanical and industrial engineering department, working in the thermal and fluid mechanical sciences.
“We try to better understand, for example, how materials form,” he says. “What is it that gives a piece of jello its properties? It’s jiggly. It’s solid and doesn’t easily flow but if you squish it, it does. … What is inside the material that gives its properties, and if you understand that connection, can you design better materials?”
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