Sunghwan (Sunny) Jung

Professor and Director of Graduate Studies, Biological and Environmental Engineering

Dr. Sunghwan (Sunny) Jung is a Professor in the Department of Biological and Environmental Engineering and Director of Graduate Studies. He received his Ph.D. in physics at the University of Texas at Austin, and then became a postdoctoral researcher at the Courant Institute at NYU & a math instructor at MIT.

Dr. Jung’s research interest is to investigate various physics and biology problems emerging from the interaction of biological systems with surrounding environments. His group has integrated mathematical modeling, fluid dynamics, and physical & biological experiments to understand animal behaviors and plant physiology for better functions and performance. Some examples include how animals drink, how birds dive into water, how animals jump out of water, how plant spores are dispersed, how raindrops impact biological surfaces, and more.

Dr. Jung has trained students with diverse backgrounds to acquire knowledge and skills integrate and perform multidisciplinary research rather than learning skills in narrow fields of interest.

Education

2005 Ph.D. University of Texas at Austin. Physics

2001 M.S. Pohang University of Science and Technology. Physics

1999 B.A. Sogang University. Chemical Engineering

Recent Research

Dr. Jung’s research interest is to investigate mechanics problems emerging from the interaction of deformable interfaces with surrounding fluids. Dr. Jung has established his own research group to investigate both experiments and theory at the interface of physics, mathematics, and biology. Specifically, his group focuses on two areas: biofluid and nonlinear dynamics. Research efforts are dedicated (1) to better understand how biological systems interact with and harness fluidic surroundings, (2) to explore the nonlinear dynamics of interactions through various interfaces, and (3) to shed light on optimal engineering design using our understanding. To explore and understand the underlying physics of these problems, Dr. Jung has sought to develop and utilize various mathematical models and new experimental designs.

Awards & Honors

NSF Mid-Career Award (2021)

ASME-FEDSM Video Presentation award (2021)

College of Engineering Faculty Fellow, Virginia Tech (2017)

APS-Division of Fluid Dynamics: Milton Van Dyke Award (2015)

Leader in Research, BEAM department, Virginia Tech (2015)

Dean’s Award for Excellence in Teaching, Virginia Tech (2015)

Visiting Professorship, ESPCI, France (2013)

ACS - Doctoral New Investigator Award (2012)

APS-Division of Fluid Dynamics: Milton Van Dyke Award (2011)

Visiting Professorship, ESPCI, France (2013)

Outstanding Dissertation Award, Physics Department, University of Texas at Austin (2005)

Donald D. Harrington Endowment Fellowships, University of Texas at Austin, (2004)

Courses Taught

Professor Jung teaches students how to design a bio-robot implemented with various sensors and actuators in BEE 3900/5900. The robot that the students build is either inspired by biological systems (e.g., animal movement) or working for biological systems (e.g. monitoring the status of plants). In BEE 4590/5590 he teaches students to identify, formulate, and solve complex bio-engineering problems. He teaches how to integrate and synthesize student knowledge of biology, physics, and chemistry through engineering analysis, and how to use various up-to-date techniques.

His courses include:

BEE 3900/5900 Bio-Robotics
BEE 4590/5590 Physical Design in Biological and Environmental Engineering
BEE 7000 Orientation to Graduate Study

Contact Information

302 Riley-Robb
Ithaca, NY 14853

(607) 255-5798

sj737 [at] cornell.edu

- Bio-Inspired Fluid Lab

Sunghwan (Sunny) in the news

News

October 7, 2025

‘Mist opportunity’ reveals how onions make cooks cry

One solution for preventing pungent aerosols from ejecting into the air: Cut onions slowly with a sharpened blade.

Biological and Environmental Engineering
Food

News

March 11, 2025

Dynamic acoustics of hand clapping, elucidated

With high-speed cameras, researchers measured the physical forces involved in a handclap, with potential applications in bioacoustics and identification, whereby a handclap could be used to identify someone.

Biological and Environmental Engineering
Behavior