Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
Thermal and Transport Sciences
Research in this area encompasses energy generation and harvesting, environmental impacts, and heat transfer. The topic of combustion addresses the chemical mechanisms governing combustion in diverse settings. Fuel-cell research encompasses the development of fuel-cell technology, hybrid engines and thermionic devices. Activities cover the thermodynamics of energy systems, the controls associated with advanced energy systems and systems analyses. Thermal solutions for emerging areas of nanotechnology are being developed where heat conduction is critical to performance. Areas of specific interest include:
- Combustion and Emissions
- Fuel Cell Technologies
- Advanced Energy Systems
- Renewable Energy
- Heat Transfer
- Atomization and Sprays
- Reaction Kinetics
- Nanomaterials
Participating Faculty
Jacob Brouwer, Ph.D.
Professor and Chancellor's Fellow of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering; Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering; Civil and Environmental Engineering; Director of the Advanced Power and Energy Program
Research Interests: Fuel cells, energy systems dynamics, electrochemical systems design and analysis, chemical kinetics, reacting flows
Email: jbrouwer@uci.edu
Donald Dabdub, Ph.D.
Professor Emeritus of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering; Civil and Environmental Engineering
Research Interests: Mathematical modeling of urban and global air pollution, dynamics of atmospheric aerosols, secondary organic aerosols, impact of energy generation on air quality, chemical reactions at gas-liquid interfaces
Email: ddabdub@uci.edu
Research Lab
Derek Dunn-Rankin, Ph.D.
Professor Emeritus of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering; Civil and Environmental Engineering; Environmental Health Sciences
Research Interests: Combustion, optical particle sizing, particle aerodynamics, laser diagnostics and spectroscopy
Email: ddunnran@uci.edu
Research Lab
Jaeho Lee, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
Research Interests: Heat transfer, thermal management, thermoelectrics, phononics, nanomaterials
Email: jaeholee@uci.edu
Research Lab
Vince McDonell, Ph.D.
Adjunct Professor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
Research Interests: Combustion, alternative fuels, gas turbines, sprays, diagnostics, combined heat and power, emissions, autoignition/flashback
Email: vgmcdone@uci.edu
Research Lab
Bihter Padak, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering; Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering; Associate Director of UCI Combustion Laboratory
Research Interests: Combustion, reaction kinetics, emission control technologies, catalysis
Email: bpadak@uci.edu
Research Lab
Xian Shi, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
Research Interests: Energy conversion and propulsion, high-speed reacting flows, detonation and shock, chemical kinetics, renewable fuels, carbon materials, nanoparticle synthesis and dynamics
Email: xianshi@uci.edu
Research Lab
William Sirignano, Ph.D.
Distinguished Professor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
Research Interests: Combustion theory, multiphase flows, turbulent reacting flows, computational methods; rocket and jet propulsion, gas turbine and internal combustion engines
Email: sirignan@uci.edu
Research Lab
Yun Wang, Ph.D.
Professor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
Research Interests: Fuel cells, computational modeling, thermo-fluidics, two-phase flows, electrochemistry, CFD, turbulent combustion
Email: yunw@uci.edu
Research Lab
Yoonjin Won, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
Research Interests: Multi-scale structures for thermal and energy applications, in particular fabrication, characterization, and integration of structured materials
Email: won@uci.edu
Research Lab