Alejandro Rey, McGill University

Research

biological liquid crystals biological plywood architecture cholesteric liquid crystals computational engineering hierarchical surfaces based on plywood architecture self-assembly and self-ordering of helical plywoods self-assembly and self-ordering of orthogonal plywoods stress wave propagation in cornea-like tissues

Latest papers

Atomistic Modeling of Methane and Carbon Dioxide Structure I Gas Hydrates under Pressure: Guest Effects and Properties.
Journal of chemical theory and computation · 2026 · senior author
Multiscale Interfacial Structure and Organization of sII Gas Hydrate Interfaces Using Molecular Dynamics.
Nanomaterials (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025 · senior author
Wrinkling pattern formation with periodic nematic orientation: From egg cartons to corrugated surfaces.
Physical review. E · 2022 · senior author

All 9 publications

Latest funding

Infrared camera for phase change analysis in motion
NSERC · 2025 · Co-investigator
$150,000
Computational Engineering of Bio-inspired Hierarchical Surfaces and Multi-functional Materials based on the Plywood Architecture
NSERC · 2019 · Principal investigator
$276,000
High-Pressure UV-Curing Rheometer for Investigating Phase Change Flow
NSERC · 2018 · Co-investigator
$150,000

All 21 grants and awards

9 publications.

01

Atomistic Modeling of Methane and Carbon Dioxide Structure I Gas Hydrates under Pressure: Guest Effects and Properties.

Mathews S, Zhu X, Guerra A, Servio P, Rey A

Journal of chemical theory and computation2026Senior author

DOI: 10.1021/acs.jctc.5c01868 PMID: 41801830

02

Multiscale Interfacial Structure and Organization of sII Gas Hydrate Interfaces Using Molecular Dynamics.

Mathews S, Servio P, Rey A

Nanomaterials (Basel, Switzerland)2025Senior author

DOI: 10.3390/nano15060464 PMID: 40137638

03

Wrinkling pattern formation with periodic nematic orientation: From egg cartons to corrugated surfaces.

Wang Z, Servio P, Rey A

Physical review. E2022Senior author

DOI: 10.1103/physreve.105.034702 PMID: 35428159

04

Polymer functionalized nanoparticles in liquid crystals: combining PDLCs with LC nanocomposites.

Allie S, Hegoburu I, Shin MJ, Jung JY, Toader V, Rey A, Soule ER, Reven L

Soft matter2018

DOI: 10.1039/c8sm01192c PMID: 30318545

05

Nanoscale interfacial defect shedding in a growing nematic droplet

Gurevich S, Provatas N, Rey A

Physical Review E20173 citationsSenior author

DOI: 10.1103/physreve.96.022707

06

The twist-to-bend compliance of the Rheum rhabarbarum petiole: integrated computations and experiments.

Faisal TR, Hristozov N, Western TL, Rey A, Pasini D

Computer methods in biomechanics and biomedical engineering2017

DOI: 10.1080/10255842.2016.1233328 PMID: 27626758

07

Hydrogen-Bonded Liquid Crystal Nanocomposites.

Roohnikan M, Toader V, Rey A, Reven L

Langmuir : the ACS journal of surfaces and colloids2016

DOI: 10.1021/acs.langmuir.6b02256 PMID: 27466705

08

Self-assembly via branching morphologies in nematic liquid-crystal nanocomposites

Gurevich S, Soule E, Rey A, Reven L, Provatas N

Physical Review E201414 citations

DOI: 10.1103/physreve.90.020501

09

First-principles density functional theory (DFT) study of gold nanorod and its interaction with alkanethiol ligands.

Hu H, Reven L, Rey A

The journal of physical chemistry. B2013Senior author

DOI: 10.1021/jp4028589 PMID: 24083822

Infrared camera for phase change analysis in motion

Co-investigatorNSERC2025Research Tools and Instruments

Principal investigators: Kietzig, Anne-Marie

Keywords: phase change; drop impact; icing; laser micromachining; additive manufacturing; nanofluids; heat transfer; energy conversion and storage; polymer curing; electrochemistry

$150,000

Computational Engineering of Bio-inspired Hierarchical Surfaces and Multi-functional Materials based on the Plywood Architecture

Principal investigatorNSERC2019Discovery Grants Program - Individual

Principal investigators: Rey, Alejandro

Keywords: biological liquid crystals; biological plywood architecture; cholesteric liquid crystals; computational engineering; hierarchical surfaces based on plywood architecture; self-assembly and self-ordering of helical plywoods; self-assembly and self-ordering of orthogonal plywoods; stress wave propagation in cornea-like tissues; stress wave propagation in helical plywoods; tribological and optical surface properties of plywoods

$276,000

High-Pressure UV-Curing Rheometer for Investigating Phase Change Flow

Co-investigatorNSERC2018Research Tools and Instruments

Principal investigators: Servio, Phillip

$150,000

Computational engineering of advanced materials and devices based on functional, structural and biological liquid crystals

Principal investigatorNSERC2013Discovery Grants Program - Accelerator Supplements

Principal investigators: Rey, Alejandro

$120,000

Computational engineering of advanced materials and devices based on functional, structural and biological liquid crystals

Principal investigatorNSERC2013Discovery Grants Program - Individual

Principal investigators: Rey, Alejandro

$285,000

Computational modeling of functional, structural and biological materials and processes

Principal investigatorNSERC2008Discovery Grants Program - Accelerator Supplements

Principal investigators: Rey, Alejandro

$120,000

Computational thermodynamics of multicomponent compressible polymer solutions

Principal investigatorNSERC2008Collaborative Research and Development Grants

Principal investigators: Rey, Alejandro

$39,583

Computational modeling of functional, structural and biological materials and processes

Principal investigatorNSERC2008Discovery Grants Program - Individual

Principal investigators: Rey, Alejandro

$210,000

Computational material and biomaterial science

Principal investigatorNSERC2006Research Tools and Instruments - Category 1 (<$150,000)

Principal investigators: Rey, Alejandro

$24,509

Computational thermodynamics of multicomponent polymer solutions

Principal investigatorNSERC2005Collaborative Research and Development Grants

Principal investigators: Rey, Alejandro

$118,749

From CIHR, NSERC and SSHRC funding decisions: CIHR since 2008, NSERC since 1991 and SSHRC since 1998, including their latest published competition results.

Frequent collaborators

Chemical Engineering
Materials Science and Engineering
Mechanical Engineering

Co-authors at McGill University, colored by department. Thicker lines mean more shared papers; select anyone to open their profile and their own map.

Phillip Servio

Chemical Engineering

3 shared papers, latest 2026

Nikolas Provatas

Materials Science and Engineering

2 shared papers, latest 2017

Damiano Pasini

Mechanical Engineering

1 shared papers, latest 2017

Write to this professor

A short, specific email works best. This draft uses one of their recent papers; replace the parts in brackets with your own details before sending.

Applying for

Paper to mentionMention their NSERC grant from 2019

Subject: Prospective PhD student: biological liquid crystals Dear Professor Rey, My name is [your name], and I am a [your current degree or role] at [your institution]. I am applying for a PhD position starting in [term and year]. I read your paper "Atomistic Modeling of Methane and Carbon Dioxide Structure I Gas Hydrates under Pressure: Guest Effects and Properties." (2026), and it connects closely to my own work on [your research topic]. [One or two sentences on what you did and what you learned.] I also saw your NSERC-funded project "Computational Engineering of Bio-inspired Hierarchical Surfaces and Multi-functional Materials based on the Plywood Architecture" (2019), and I would be glad to contribute to work in that direction. Are you accepting new PhD students for [term and year]? I have attached my CV and transcripts, and I would be glad to talk at a time that suits you. Thank you for your time. Kind regards, [your name]