Id Photo
Clément Moreau

CNRS Researcher in Applied Mathematics

CNRS    LS2N    Centrale Nantes    IMT Atlantique

Welcome to my webpage!

Since January 2024, I am a CNRS researcher (Chargé de recherche CNRS) affiliated with the Laboratoire des Sciences du Numérique de Nantes.

My research revolves broadly around control theory and optimisation, mathematical modelling, fluid dynamics and microscopic swimming. Please find more details below, and contact me if you would like to chat!

A short bio:

From 2020 to 2023, I was working as a JSPS Postdoctoral Fellow at the RIMS in Kyoto University, hosted by Prof. Kenta Ishimoto.

I have obtained my PhD in June 2020. It took place both at Inria Sophia-Antipolis and Université Paris Dauphine-PSL, under the supervision of Laetitia Giraldi, Pierre Lissy and Jean-Baptiste Pomet.

During year 2016-2017, I was invited at University of York by Dr Hermes Gadêlha, who is now Senior Lecturer at University of Bristol (UK).

I am a former student at Ecole Normale Supérieure de Cachan (France).

For more details, here is my CV in English (updated Dec. 2023) and in French (updated Dec. 2023).

What's new

PhD position available!

Detailed offer

Masters project available!

Detailed offer

Research Interests

My research deals with mathematical control theory and optimization, and various applications in the fields of robophysics and biofluid mechanics, especially micro-swimming -- the motion of micro-organisms and micro-robots in a fluid.

Controllability, systems control

STLC   Staircase method   Controllability

I am interested in control of nonlinear systems. In particular, I have worked on local controllability conditions for nonlinear control-affine systems in finite dimension, which usually involves to look at underlying Lie algebra structures. For both finite and infinite dimensional systems, I also take interest in the state-constrained controllability and sliding mode control.

Micro-swimming and control theory

Control of two particles   3-link swimmer   Odd elastic swimmer

I study the motion of swimming micro-organisms through modelling, controllability analysis and numerical simulations. I use the tools of control theory on various models to better understand, predict or influence related phenomena. In particular, I have worked on models of magnetically controlled elastic robots, and on control of particles with external fluid interactions.

Bio-inspired robotic locomotion of slender bodies

Artificial cilium   Optimal shapes   Differential stiffness

I develop models and numerical simulations to study the motion and dynamics of slender, flexible continuous structures in complex media (fluids, non-Newtonian fluids, granular media). One of my goals is to cast this class of complex dynamics as (infinite-dimensional) control systems.

Modelling and optimisation for fluid dynamics

Resistance problem   Chiral shape classification   Yawing swimmers

I am broadly interested in fluid mechanics at low Reynolds number and fluid-structure interactions. I use various mathematical tools such as functional analysis, shape optimisation and multiscale analysis to investigate questions related to fluid dynamics, mostly at Stokes regime, with applications to micro-swimming, biofluids and robotics.

Publications

Preprints

  • C. Moreau, K. Ishimoto, Y. Privat, Shapes optimising grand resistance tensor entries for a rigid body in a Stokes flow, submitted.
    arXiv
  • K. Ishimoto, C. Moreau, J. Herault, Robust undulatory locomotion via neuromechanical adjustments in a dissipative medium, submitted.
    arXiv

2024

  • C. Moreau, B. J. Walker, R. N. Poon, D. Soto, D. I. Goldman, E. A. Gaffney, K. Y. Wan, Minimal design of a synthetic cilium, accepted in Physical Review Research.
  • M. P. Dalwadi, C. Moreau, E. A. Gaffney, B. Walker, K. Ishimoto, Generalised Jeffery's equations for rapidly spinning particles. Part II: Helicoidal objects with chirality, Journal of Fluid Mechanics 979, no. A2.

    DOI arXiv
  • M. P. Dalwadi, C. Moreau, E. A. Gaffney, K. Ishimoto, B. Walker, Generalised Jeffery's equations for rapidly spinning particles. Part I: Spheroids, Journal of Fluid Mechanics 979, no. A1.
    DOI arXiv
  • L. Giraldi, P. Lissy, C. Moreau, J.-B. Pomet, A necessary condition for local controllability of systems with two scalar controls, ESAIM:COCV 30, no. 4.
    DOI hal

2023

  • K. Ishimoto, C. Moreau, K. Yasuda, Odd elastohydrodynamics: non-reciprocal living material in a viscous fluid, Physical Review X Life 1, no.2, Oct 2023.
    DOI
  • C. Moreau, Controllability and optimal control of microswimmers: theory and applications, Journal of the Physical Society of Japan 92, no 121005, Oct 2023.
    DOI

2022

  • B. J. Walker, K. Ishimoto, C. Moreau, E. A. Gaffney, M. P. Dalwadi, Emergent rheotaxis of shape-changing swimmers in Poiseuille flow, Journal of Fluid Mechanics 944, R2.
    DOI
  • K. Ishimoto, C. Moreau, K. Yasuda, Self-organized swimming with odd elasticity, Physical Review E 105, no. 064603.
    DOI
  • B. J. Walker, K. Ishimoto, E. A. Gaffney, C. Moreau, The control of particles in the Stokes limit, Journal of Fluid Mechanics 942, A1.
    DOI
  • E. A. Gaffney, M. P. Dalwadi, C. Moreau, K. Ishimoto, B. J. Walker, Canonical orbits for planar microswimmers in shear flow, Physical Review Fluids 7, no. L022101.
    arxiv
  • B. J. Walker, K. Ishimoto, E. A. Gaffney, C. Moreau, M. P. Dalwadi, The effects of rapid yawing on simple swimmer models and planar Jeffery orbits, Physical Review Fluids 7, no. 023101.
    arxiv

2021

  • C. Moreau, K. Ishimoto, Driving a microswimmer with wall-induced flow, Micromachines 12, no. 9:1025, 2021.
    DOI.
  • C. Moreau, K. Ishimoto, E. A. Gaffney, B. J. Walker, Control and controllability of microswimmers by a shearing flow, Royal Society Open Science, 8:211141, 2021.
    DOI
  • P. Lissy, C. Moreau, State-constrained controllability of linear reaction-diffusion systems, ESAIM:COCV 27, pp. 70-91, 2021.
    DOI

2018-2020

  • C. Moreau, Local controllability of a magnetized Purcell's swimmer, IEEE Control Systems Letters 3, pp. 637-642, 2019.
    DOI hal
  • C. Moreau, L. Giraldi, H. Gadêlha, The asymptotic coarse-graining formulation of slender-rods, bio-filaments and flagella. J. R. Soc. Interface 15: 20180235, 2018.
    DOI arxiv
  • L. Giraldi, P. Lissy, C. Moreau and J.-B. Pomet, Addendum to ''Local Controllability of the Two-Link Magneto-Elastic Micro-Swimmer'', IEEE Transactions on Automatic Control 63, 2303-2305, 2018.
    DOI arxiv

PhD

My PhD thesis, entitled, Controllability in finite and infinite dimension and applications to life-inspired nonlinear systems , is available here. I was supervised by: Laetitia Giraldi, Pierre Lissy, and Jean-Baptiste Pomet.

Communications

Upcoming

  • March 16-21, APS Global Summit, Anaheim, USA

Past

2024

2023

2022

2021

2020

2019

  • Dec 11-13, Local controllability of a magnetized Purcell's swimmer, 58th Conference on Decision and Control (CDC), Nice, France
  • Jul 8-12, Necessary Condition for Local Controllability, 2019 Equadiff Conference, Leiden, Netherlands
  • May 20-24, Une condition nécessaire de contrôlabilité locale pour une classe particulière de systèmes à deux contrôles, Colloque Inter'Actions, Bordeaux, France
  • May 13-17, Une condition nécessaire de contrôlabilité locale pour une classe particulière de systèmes à deux contrôles, Congrès SMAI, Guidel, France

2018

2017

  • Nov 13-14, Controllability of a Magneto-Elastic Micro-Swimmer, PGMO Days 2017, EDF Lab Paris-Saclay, France

Teaching

2022-2025

  • Invited lecturer (4h) on "Mathematical approaches to micro-swimming" for the Mathematics module of the Cell Physics Master "Analyse 3" at Université de Strasbourg.

Below is the teaching I did while I was a PhD student.

2019-2020

  • TD "Analyse 3" at Université Paris-Dauphine (2nd-year Mathematics and Economics uncergrad). Teacher: Jacques Féjoz
  • Mini-course: "An easy-to-use fluid-structure simulator for active/passive rods/filaments" for graduate students of the Department of Engineering Mathematics at University of Bristol

2018-2019

  • TD "Statistiques" at ISEM Nice (1st-year Economics undergrad).
  • TD "Statistiques descriptives" at Université de Nice-Sophia Antipolis (2nd-year Mathematics and Computer Science undergrad). Teacher: Roland Masson

2017-2018

  • TD "Mathématiques 2" at ISEM Nice (1st-year Economics undergrad). Teacher: Claire Chavaudret

Miscellaneous

New Scientist

Our paper Odd elastohydrodynamics: non-reciprocal living material in a viscous fluid catched the attention of the media! The story in New Scientist magazine was the most read in 2023 in the physics category and the headline made the cover.

I was representing the PhD students at the CEREMADE lab council from November 2019 to September 2020. I was also part of the CEREMADE's "Comité parité" from March 2019 to September 2020.

Since October 2018, I am a writer for the press review section of the Images des Mathématiques website.

I participated to the JSPS Science Dialogue program by giving lectures in English to Japanese high school students (in Nagoya on February 9th, 2021, in Obama on January 31st, 2023; next time in Kobe in November 2023!).

In March 2018, I was invited to talk about my research in four minutes in the show "La Méthode Scientifique" on the France Culture radio channel. The podcast is available here.

Contact

Email

clement /dot/ moreau /at/ cnrs /dot/ fr

Address

Office n° 402 - Building S
LS2N - Laboratoire des Sciences du Numérique de Nantes
Ecole Centrale de Nantes
1 rue de la Noë, 44321 Nantes Cedex 3

(or sometimes here:)

Office n° B120
IMT Atlantique
4 rue Alfred Kastler, 44300 Nantes