We’re thrilled to welcome Dr. SeungYeon Kang as a new Assistant Professor in our Department of Mechanical Engineering. Prof. Kang obtained her PhD in Applied Physics from Harvard University.
Her current research interests include nanofabrication with ultrafast lasers, fundamental principles and application of light-matter interaction, 3D printing, additive manufacturing and energy harvesting through unconventional phenomenon such as piezoelectrochemistry.
Prof. Julian Norato has received a new ARPA-E grant to study Topology Optimization and Additive Manufacturing for Performance Enhancement of High Temperature and High Pressure Heat Exchangers.
High-temperature, high-pressure heat exchangers can substantially increase heat transfer efficiency and reduce the size and weight of the heat exchangers. In this project, the group will consider counterflow plate heat exchangers, in which the cold and hot fluids flow in between alternate parallel plates and in opposite directions. The plates have flow structures (such as fins) that increase turbulence in the flow and improve mixing, which in turn improves the heat transfer rate.
The computational topology optimization techniques that will be advanced by this project will find highly optimal designs of these fin structures to maximize the heat transfer efficiency while guaranteeing the structural integrity of the plates at the high operating temperatures. The designs obtained by this project will be additively manufactured and tested by Michigan State University’s (MSU) Scalable and Expeditious Additive Manufacturing (SEAM) process, which can efficiently 3D-print parts that are fully dense and free of residual stresses. These characteristics substantially increase the strength of the 3D-printed metal plates at high temperatures.
The topology optimization framework will be coupled with the computational fluid dynamics (CFD) and finite element analysis (FEA) solvers by Altair Engineering, the leading vendor in topology optimization software and one of the leading makers of simulation tools.
Two ME professors received the 2020 National Science Foundation’s CAREER award, which is the Foundation’s most prestigious award in support of early-career faculty.
Prof. Xinyu Zhao’s 500k CAREER award focuses on developing a fundamental understanding of flame extinction, which plays a central role in promoting energy security, environmental sustainability, air-travel safety and opportune fire suppression. Droplets, such as fuel sprays in aeronautical combustors and water droplets in pollutant reduction or fire suppression, are ubiquitous in practical combustion systems. When interacting with an established gaseous flame, droplets introduce additional mechanisms to extinguish a flame, through physical processes such as vaporization, dilution, subsequent reactions, modulation of turbulence, and radiative heat transfer. Through this project, Prof. Zhao will investigate the fundamental understanding and develop quantitative descriptions of key factors governing the flame extinction process in presence of droplets.
The 592k CAREER award received by Prof. Ying Li will support fundamental research to understand complex mechanical behaviors of thermoplastic elastomers (TPEs). Biodegradable TPEs have the great potential to be used as protective coatings for cell phones, artificial muscles for soft robotics, and polymer electrolytes for batteries. This research project aims to understand and quantify the link between synthesis, microstructure, and mechanical property of TPEs, with the help of multi-scale computational modeling, machine learning, and experimental validation. With tailored mechanical properties, these biodegradable and environment-friendly TPEs can be widely used further to enable an array of novel structural and device applications, alleviating the plastic pollution crisis.
We are happy to welcome Dr. Farhad Imani as a new Assistant Professor in our Department of Mechanical Engineering. Prof. Imani obtained his PhD from Penn State in 2020 and brings to UConn his expertise in advanced manufacturing, and specifically in Industrial Engineering and Operations Research.
His research interests focus on data analytics, machine learning, statistical learning, and decision theory for process monitoring and control, system diagnostics and prognostics, quality and reliability improvement with applications in advanced manufacturing
By: Alexandra Meropoulos, Student Written Communications Specialist, UConn School of Engineering
Art and science are two fields that appear to be worlds apart at first glance, but according to George Matheou, assistant professor of mechanical engineering, the intersection between the two are actually extremely important. This notion became the inspiration behind his art exhibit called Fluid Dynamics in Art and Nature at the William Benton Museum of Art.
Read more by following this link.
by Kassidy Manness
ME Communications
kassidy.manness@uconn.edu
During the 45th Annual Design Automation Conference, held by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) this past summer, Mechanical Engineering Professor Julián Norato has been awarded the prestigious Design Automation Young Investigator Award.
This award is given once each year “to recognize an outstanding young investigator who is making noteworthy contributions in the area of design automation, including research in design representation, design optimization, design evaluation, and/or design integration.” The award was presented at the ASME’s Design Automation Conference, which was held on August 18-21, 2019 in Anaheim, California. This conference brings together every year international experts in the field of design automation.
Norato was given this award based on the work and research he has done in topology optimization. Topology optimization is a computational methodology to automatically design parts to maximize structural strength with minimal amounts of material in the most efficient and effective way. A major focus of Norato’s research group is to do the topology optimization employing exclusively certain shapes, like bars or plates, that make manufacturing with conventional processes easier.
Prof. Christopher Mattson presented the award to Prof. Norato “in recognition of his expertise in topology optimization, specifically his advances in stress-based topology optimization and development of the geometry projection method” and to “recognize his continuous and dedicated service to the Design Automation Conference and his outreach to the community.”
Our own Prof. Lee Langston helped Apollo 11 make history by being part pf the team designing the fuel cells that powered Apollo 11 to the moon and the return trip to Earth.
Read more in the Hartford Courant’s article.
Our own Prof. Lee Langston helped Apollo 11 make history by being part pf the team designing the fuel cells that powered Apollo 11 to the moon and the return trip to Earth.
Read more in the Hartford Courant’s article.
Through our Senior Design Program, industrial sponsors put the bright UConn ME undergraduate students to work on a real-world problem that they are interested in researching, while reaping the benefits of our faculty’s experience and expertise. For students, this program is an opportunity to synthesize and apply the classroom engineering knowledge they have acquired. They delve further into various aspects of product development process, and are experiencing first hand how ethics affect engineering decisions, how professionals communicate ideas and the day-to-day implications of design decisions and of intellectual property.
Here is a podcast, part of Simsbury Bank’s “Manufacturing Matters” initiative, in which CEO Martin Geitz discusses a UConn Engineering Senior Design partnership with EDAC Technologies that has provided a mechanism to hire some of our talented engineering graduates while providing solutions to one of the company’s major challenges.
From left to right in the video: Kenneth Osborn (Engineering Manager, EDAC), Emily Sweeney (UConn senior), Martin Geitz (CEO, Simsbury Bank) and Prof. Vito Moreno (UConn).