Shara Wins Second for Poster Presentation!

We are very pleased to announce that Shara Merril has won second place in the PhD category for her poster presentation at the Meetings of the Minds Conference. This is an exciting achievement. Her project stood out for its originality, clarity, and engaging design, capturing the attention of both the judges and the audience. Through an interactive approach to constructal theory, Shara presented complex ideas in a way that was both accessible and visually compelling. We are thrilled to celebrate her success and to recognize this well-deserved accomplishment.

Constructal Simulations: From Flow to Form

This interactive poster presents a suite of real-time simulations exploring principles from Constructal Theory: the tendency of flow systems to evolve toward configurations that facilitate easier access over time. Rather than presenting static diagrams, the poster functions as a “Constructal Arcade,” allowing viewers to activate, observe and interact with simple rule-based simulations in which complex, branching, and path-dependent structures emerge from simple starting conditions. Using lightweight, game-based modeling tools, the simulations demonstrate how repeated movement, resistance, accumulation, and feedback can generate recognizable patterns such as channels, networks, and hierarchies—without centralized control or optimization. Examples include path formation through repeated use, flow acceleration through worn channels, and branching driven by local constraints. The poster emphasizes constructal principles as a general explanatory framework applicable across physical, biological, and social systems, and invites participants to explore how flow, constraint, and feedback interact to produce stable forms. By making these dynamics visible and interactive, the project aims to demonstrate constructal theory both as an educational tool and as a cross-disciplinary lens for understanding emergence in complex systems.