Sara Zahedi (born 1981 in
Tehran
Tehran (; , ''Tehrân'') is the capital and largest city of Iran. It is the capital of Tehran province, and the administrative center for Tehran County and its Central District (Tehran County), Central District. With a population of around 9. ...
)
is an
Iranian
Iranian () may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to Iran
** Iranian diaspora, Iranians living outside Iran
** Iranian architecture, architecture of Iran and parts of the rest of West Asia
** Iranian cuisine, cooking traditions and practic ...
-
Swedish
Swedish or ' may refer to:
Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically:
* Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland
** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...
mathematician
A mathematician is someone who uses an extensive knowledge of mathematics in their work, typically to solve mathematical problems. Mathematicians are concerned with numbers, data, quantity, mathematical structure, structure, space, Mathematica ...
who works in
computational fluid dynamics
Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) is a branch of fluid mechanics that uses numerical analysis and data structures to analyze and solve problems that involve fluid dynamics, fluid flows. Computers are used to perform the calculations required ...
and holds a professorship in
numerical analysis
Numerical analysis is the study of algorithms that use numerical approximation (as opposed to symbolic computation, symbolic manipulations) for the problems of mathematical analysis (as distinguished from discrete mathematics). It is the study of ...
at the
Royal Institute of Technology
KTH Royal Institute of Technology (), abbreviated KTH, is a public research university in Stockholm, Sweden. KTH conducts research and education in engineering and technology and is Sweden's largest technical university. Since 2018, KTH consist ...
(KTH) in
Sweden
Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...
. She is one of ten winners and the only female winner of the
European Mathematical Society
The European Mathematical Society (EMS) is a European organization dedicated to the development of mathematics in Europe. Its members are different mathematical societies in Europe, academic institutions and individual mathematicians. The curren ...
Prize for 2016 "for her outstanding research regarding the development and analysis of
numerical algorithms for
partial differential equations
In mathematics, a partial differential equation (PDE) is an equation which involves a multivariable function and one or more of its partial derivatives.
The function is often thought of as an "unknown" that solves the equation, similar to how ...
with a focus on applications to problems with dynamically changing
geometry
Geometry (; ) is a branch of mathematics concerned with properties of space such as the distance, shape, size, and relative position of figures. Geometry is, along with arithmetic, one of the oldest branches of mathematics. A mathematician w ...
". The topic of Zahedi's EMS Prize lecture was her recent research on the CutFEM method of solving
fluid dynamics
In physics, physical chemistry and engineering, fluid dynamics is a subdiscipline of fluid mechanics that describes the flow of fluids – liquids and gases. It has several subdisciplines, including (the study of air and other gases in motion ...
problems with changing boundary geometry, such as arise when simulating the dynamics of systems of two immiscible liquids.
[Prize laureates](_blank)
7th Eur. Congress of Mathematics, July 18–22, 2016, retrieved 2016-07-26. This method combines
level set method
Level or levels may refer to:
Engineering
*Level (optical instrument), a device used to measure true horizontal or relative heights
*Spirit level or bubble level, an instrument designed to indicate whether a surface is horizontal or vertical
*Ca ...
s to represent the domain boundaries as cuts through an underlying uniform grid, together with numerical simulation techniques that can adapt to the complex geometries of grid cells cut by these boundaries.
When Zahedi was ten years old, with her father having been killed by the regime after the
Iranian Revolution
The Iranian Revolution (, ), also known as the 1979 Revolution, or the Islamic Revolution of 1979 (, ) was a series of events that culminated in the overthrow of the Pahlavi dynasty in 1979. The revolution led to the replacement of the Impe ...
, her mother sent her on her own as a refugee to Sweden, and only rejoined her some years later.
[.][.] She was drawn to mathematics in part because she understood mathematics better than the Swedish language,
and to
fluid mechanics
Fluid mechanics is the branch of physics concerned with the mechanics of fluids (liquids, gases, and plasma (physics), plasmas) and the forces on them.
Originally applied to water (hydromechanics), it found applications in a wide range of discipl ...
because of its real-world applications.
She earned a master's degree from KTH in 2006, and a doctorate in 2011;
her dissertation, ''Numerical Methods for Fluid Interface Problems'', was supervised by
Gunilla Kreiss.
''Numerical Methods for Fluid Interface Problems''
dissertations.se, retrieved 2016-07-26. After postdoctoral studies at Uppsala University
Uppsala University (UU) () is a public university, public research university in Uppsala, Sweden. Founded in 1477, it is the List of universities in Sweden, oldest university in Sweden and the Nordic countries still in operation.
Initially fou ...
, she returned to KTH as an assistant professor in 2014.
Selected publications
*.
*.
References
External links
Home page
*
Blood, oil, and water
{{DEFAULTSORT:Zahedi, Sara
1981 births
Living people
Iranian emigrants to Sweden
21st-century Swedish mathematicians
Women mathematicians
KTH Royal Institute of Technology alumni
Academic staff of the KTH Royal Institute of Technology
Swedish women academics