Dr. Chris Lai

Assistant Professor

Build a Statement of Purpose

Generate a tailored SOP for Dr. Chris Lai. Improve your application with a focused, well-structured draft.

Biography

Chris Chungkei Lai, a native of Hong Kong, received his Bachelor of Engineering and Master of Philosophy degrees in Civil Engineering from the University of Hong Kong. He pursued his PhD research in oil spill modeling at Texas A&M University, where he was awarded his degree in December 2015. Between 2016 and 2019, he worked as a postdoctoral research associate with the Extreme Fluids Team at Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico. In November 2019, Chris joined the Georgia Institute of Technology as an assistant professor in the Water Resources group. His research focuses on understanding the role of fluid turbulence in environmental processes and their applications. His prior work includes marine outfall designs for treated domestic wastewater and brine discharges from desalination plants, modeling accidental oil spills for disaster management, and studying the influence of large fluid density gradients on turbulent flows relevant to inertial confinement fusion. His current research interests are centered on turbulence mediation in mass transport and exchange within coastal vegetation, mixing of flow structures in the hyporheic zone, and mixing within stratified water bodies.

Research Interests

Experience

Postdoctoral Research Associate

2016-01-01 — 2019-01-01

Los Alamos National Laboratory • New Mexico

Conducted research on fluid turbulence related to environmental applications.

Assistant Professor

2019-11-01 — Present

Georgia Institute of Technology • Atlanta, GA

Research focus on fluid turbulence and its environmental applications.

Requirements for Georgia Institute of Technology

Doctorate Program
Requirements
GPA Requirement
Required:3.5
TOEFL
Listening
Required:19
Reading
Required:19
Writing
Required:19
Speaking
Required:19
Total
Required:100
IELTS
Listening
Required:6.5
Reading
Required:6.5
Writing
Required:5.5
Speaking
Required:6.5
Overall
Required:7.5
Prerequisites
Undergraduate degree in computer science or related field
Application Checklist
  • Online application
  • Official transcripts
  • Three letters of recommendation
  • Statement of Purpose
Specialization Notes

Department of Computer Science: GRE scores are optional for Fall 2026.