Andrew Pollett

Student, Computer Science and Physics Joint Honours

Memorial University of Newfoundland

About

I have just completed an undergraduate degree at Memorial University of Newfoundland (MUN), Canada doing a joint degree in computer science and physics. During my undergraduate degree, my research focused on electrohydrodynamic simulations with the department of physics and physical oceanography. Now, my research primarily involves heterogeneous low-Earth orbit storage systems with the department of computer science.

Work Experience

Undergraduate Research

April 2026 – Present

Department of Computer Science, Memorial University of Newfoundland, St John's, NL, Canada

Undergraduate Research

May 2024 – August 2025

Department of Physics and Physical Oceanography, Memorial University of Newfoundland, St. John's, NL, Canada

High School Student Summer Work Experience

March 2019 – August 2022

Verafin, St. John's, NL, Canada

Education

B.Sc. (Hons.)

September 2022 - April 2026

Memorial University of Newfoundland, St. John's, NL, Canada

Thesis: Investigating Electrohydrodynamic Droplet Deformations Using 2D Finite-Volume Simulations (Supervisor: Dr. Joseph Fitzgerald and Dr. Anand Yethiraj)

Research

Low-Earth orbit distributed heterogeneous storage systems

Space-based data centers (SBDCs) provide a promising alternative to traditional terrestrial data centers by reducing carbon emissions and reducing the drain on power grids. Despite this, integrating SBDCs into the IoT still remains an active research area. This work investigates using SBDCs as a layer in a three-tier heterogeneous low-Earth orbit satellite storage system. Using data placement algorithms inspired by hybrid storage systems, the latency of accessing and writing data to this next-generation storage system can be optimized, providing global, low-latency data storage.

Electrohydrodynamic oil-in-oil emulsion simulations

When an electric field is applied to an oil-in-oil emulsion, physical properties such as viscosity, conductivity, and permittivity of the fluids can change, which has applications in material sciences. Using the Basilisk fluid flow solver, simulations of droplets in an oil-in-oil emulsion subjected to an external, uniform electric field are developed. Using these simulations, the limitations involved with many common simulation assumptions of this problem, such as assuming a 2D domain, can be investigated. This can be used to quantify the discrepancy between simulations and corresponding real-world experiments.

Awards

NSERC USRA undergraduate research

April 2026

Department of Computer Science, Memorial University of Newfoundland, St. John's, NL, Canada

Dean's Book Prize

October 2025

Department of Physics and Physical Oceanography, Memorial University of Newfoundland, St. John's, NL, Canada

NSERC USRA undergraduate research

April 2025

Department of Physics and Physical Oceanography, Memorial University of Newfoundland, St John's, NL, Canada

Dean's List

2023–2025

Faculty of Science, Memorial University of Newfoundland, St John's, NL, Canada