University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Energy Transport Research Lab
Principal Investigator
Nenad Miljkovic
Founder Professor
Mechanical Science and Engineering
Electrical and Computer Engineering (Courtesy)
Materials Research Laboratory (Courtesy)
Director, Air Conditioning and Refrigeration Center
Deputy Thrust Leader, Center for Power Opt of Electro-Thermal Systems
Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering, MIT, 2013
M.S. in Mechanical Engineering, MIT, 2011
BASc in Mechanical Engineering, University of Waterloo, 2009
Phone: (617) 981-9247
Email: nmiljkov@illinois.edu
Address: 105 South Mathews Avenue, MEL 2125, Urbana, IL 61801
Postdoctoral Scholars
Dr. Evgeny Shatskiy
Evgeny Shatskiy received his PhD in Thermal Physics and Theoretical Thermal Engineering from the Kutateladze Institute of Thermophysics in 2018. Following his PhD, he worked as a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Lorraine (LEMTA), where he developed optical diagnostics for sprays. From 2022 to 2024, he held a postdoctoral position at Trinity College Dublin, focusing on the development of cutting-edge cooling systems for telecom applications. His primary research interests include heat transfer in single and multiphase flows, capillary effects, and optical techniques in thermophysical characterization. Outside of his scientific pursuits, Evgeny enjoys snowboarding, windsurfing, and playing the guitar.
Email: shatskiy@illinois.edu
Dr. Vishwanath Ganesan
Vish Ganesan received his M.S. and Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from Purdue University under the leadership of Prof. Issam Mudawar working in the Boiling and Two-Phase Flow Laboratory. At Purdue, he also held joint appointments with NASA-GRC as a Visiting Researcher and with the School of Mechanical Engineering as a Ward A. Lambert Graduate Teaching Fellow. Prior to joining Purdue, he worked as a Junior Research Fellow at the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay. He is currently a Postdoctoral Research Associate in the ETRL working on high-fidelity experiments and computations of transient two-phase flow for understanding cryogenic propellant tank transfer and on holistic rack-to-processor power and thermal co-design for future servers.
Email: vganesa@illinois.edu
Dr. Kai Luo
Kai Luo received his B. S. 2015 and M. S. in 2018, from Zhejiang University, China. He then completed his Ph. D. in 2024 in Mechanical Engineering from the University of South Carolina, under the supervision of Dr. Chen Li. During his doctoral studies, he worked on the enhancement of flow boiling in micro/mini channels, and the application of dropwise condensation in two-phase heat spreading. He joined the ETRL in June 2024 and is currently working on immersion cooling, thermal design for cryogen-free superconducting motors, and a Navy Decarbonization project. In his free time, he enjoys painting, swimming, and homemade food.
Email: kailuo@illinois.edu
Dr. Siyan Yang
Siyan Yang received one PhD in Mechanical Engineering from City University of Hong Kong in 2023 and another in Chemical Engineering from the Dalian University of Technology in 2022. She then continued as a postdoctoral fellow in the Hong Kong Polytechnic University under the supervision of Prof. Zuankai Wang. Her doctoral research focused on anti-frosting and defrosting on functional surfaces. She also worked on bionic fabrication and energy harvesting from water. She is currently a postdoctoral fellow in the ETRL. Besides research, she enjoys participating in various sports, such as hiking, mountain climbing, badminton, and basketball.
Email: siyan@illinois.edu
Dr. Jung Bin Yang
Jung Bin received his BS in 2017 and PhD in 2023 in Mechanical Engineering from Hanyang University, South Korea. After that, he worked as a postdoctoral associate in the same departments at Hanyang University. His research has focused on two main areas: the design, fabrication, and characterization of functional surfaces and materials to enhance heat and mass transfer, and the experimental and numerical analysis of heat transfer devices. He is currently working as a postdoctoral scholar in the ETRL. Besides research, he enjoys walking, hiking, and traveling.
Email: jungbin@illinois.edu
Dr. Seungyeon Lee
Seungyeon Lee received her Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from Seoul National University (SNU), South Korea, and then worked as a postdoctoral fellow at SNU. Her research interests include environmentally friendly HVAC systems and performance enhancement using experimental and numerical approaches, with a focus on carbon dioxide systems and magnetocaloric refrigeration. In the ETRL, she is working on frosting characterization of cold climate heat pumps, as well as elastocaloric system development. Outside of research, she enjoys yoga, spending time with friends, and watching TV shows.
Email: sl271@illinois.edu
Dr. Fengqi Zhou
Fengqi Zhou received his Ph.D. in Mechatronic Engineering from Zhejiang University in December 2023. After that, he continued his postdoctoral research at the State Key Laboratory of Fluid Power & Mechatronic Systems, Zhejiang University. His doctoral thesis focused on the foundation of fluid transmission and control and the configuration and control of electro-hydraulic actuators. He is currently a postdoctoral fellow in the ETRL. In addition to his research, he also enjoys participating in various sports, such as hiking and badminton, as well as cooking homemade meals.
Email: fengqiz@illinois.edu
Visiting Scholars
Takanori Tanaka
Takanori received his PhD in Engineering at Kyushu Institute of Technology in March 2021. His doctoral thesis focused on the study of fundamental heat transfer processes of pool boiling, and boiling bubble nucleation phenomena. He is a full time research and development engineer in the power electronics cooling field at Fuji Electric. He is currently working on visualization inside high heat flux vapor chambers. In his free time, he enjoys watching baseball games, walking, and playing video games.
Email: takanori@illinois.edu
Takeru Tabata
Takeru is a visiting student in the ETRL and is currently staying at UIUC as a part of the exchange program. He is a senior undergraduate student majoring in Aerospace Engineering at Kyushu University in Japan. His bachelor’s thesis focuses on the relationship between slip length and wettability of fluids. At the ETRL, his research focuses on the heat transfer. Outside of research, he enjoys watching sports and listening to EDM.
Graduate Students
Jalal Inanlu
Jalal received his B.S. degree in Mechanical Engineering in 2020 from The University of Tehran with a focus on interfacial science. In the ETRL, he is studying fundamental mechanisms governing flow boiling heat transfer of refrigerants as well as infrared microscopy techniques. In his spare time, he enjoys reading, watching movies, cooking, and hanging out with friends.
Email: minanlu2@illinois.edu
Sujan Dewanjee
Sujan received his B.Sc in 2017 and M.Sc in 2020, both in Mechanical Engineering from the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET), Dhaka, Bangladesh. His research interests focus on micro/nano structure fabrication and thermal-system performance enhancement. Presently he is working on nanostructure development using holography technique to achieve specific wickability and thermo-physical property. Besides research, he likes to sketch, watch movies, meet new people, read and travel to new places. Sujan is co-advised by Professor Paul Braun of MatSE.
Email: sujand2@illinois.edu
Vivek Garimella
Vivek received his B.S. in Mechanical Engineering with Highest Honors from the Georgia Institute of Technology in 2021. His topics of interest include waste heat recovery, energy storage, refrigeration, and two-phase heat transfer. In the ETRL, his work focuses on thermal management and energy storage using Phase Change Materials. Outside of the lab, Vivek served for two years as the President of MechSE's graduate student association (GraMS) and as the Instructor of Record for MechSE's ME 200 - Thermodynamics course. In his free time, Vivek enjoys watching and playing tennis and discovering new ways to brew coffee.
Email: viveksg2@illinois.edu
Jiayi Zhang
Jiayi Zhang received his B.S. in Energy and Environment Systems Engineering from Zhejiang University in 2018 and his M.E. in Power Engineering from Zhejiang University in 2021. In the ETRL, he is working on flow boiling and pool boiling heat transfer enhancement as well as the scalable tube-fin joining techniques.
Email: jiayiz19@illinois.edu
Tarandeep Singh Thukral
Tarandeep received his bachelor's degree (BTech) in Mechanical Engineering from IIT Delhi, India in 2021. He is interested in working on microscale thermo-fluidic phenomena involving fouling and corrosion, wetting, and droplet transport. Apart from academics, he likes to read about human history, try out new recipes and play cricket.
Email: thukral3@illinois.edu
Wentao Yang
Wentao received his B.S. degree in Mechanical Science and Engineering from UIUC in 2021. When he was an undergraduate, he worked with Dr. Xiao Yan in the ETRL on the prediction of liquid bridge formation between surfaces with wettability contrast. Now, he is a Ph.D. student in the ETRL and works on surface durability during condensation. During his leisure time, he likes to go to the gym, or play video games with his friends.
Email: wentaoy3@illinois.edu
Alireza Bakhshi
Alireza received his B.S. in Chemical Engineering and Aerospace Engineering in 2021 at the Sharif University of Technology in Iran. In the ETRL, he is working on his PhD which focuses on refrigerant flow boiling and heat transfer enhancement techniques. He is also studying machine learning as it applies to flow boiling research. In his free time, he plays volleyball and reads novels and history books.
Email: bakhshi3@illinois.edu
Pouya Kabirzadeh
Pouya received his B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Sharif University of Technology in 2021. In the ETRL, he is working on his PhD which focuses on thermo-fluid science and renewable energy systems. Currently, he is working on condensation heat transfer on micro/nano-structured surfaces and immersion cooling techniques for electronics and batteries. In his spare time, he enjoys listening to different types of music, working out in the gym, and hiking.
Email: pouyak2@illinois.edu
Haoyun (Aaron) Qiu
Aaron received his B.S. in Mechanical Engineering with a minor in Electrical Engineering from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 2022 with summa cum laude and University Honors. In the ETRL, his PhD research focuses on energy-efficient data center cooling strategies as well as functional surface development. In his spare time, Aaron enjoys watching TV shows, reading history, and playing mini golf.
Email: haoyunq2@illinois.edu
Kaushik Chettiar
Kaushik received his B.Tech. and M.Tech. Degree in Mechanical Engineering from Indian Institute of Technology, Madras (IIT Madras). His MS Thesis involved the simulation of Vapor Compression Refrigeration Systems, and he has a strong background in the fundamentals of thermal engineering. Kaushik graduated as a first rank holder in his class at IIT Madras. In the ETRL, Kaushik is working on the design and manufacturing of metal additive manufactured liquid-to-air heat echangers as well as high power density permanent magnet motor cooling architectures.
Email: kc63@illinois.edu
Shayan Aflatounian
Shayan received his B.S. in Mechanical Engineering in 2021 at the Sharif University of Technology in Iran. In the ETRL, he is working on the immersion cooling of electronics, as well as heat spreading architectures. In his spare time, he loves watching movies, cooking, listening to music, and he is a sports geek
Email: shayan3@illinois.edu
Reihaneh Jahedan
Reihaneh received her B.S. degree in Mechanical Engineering in 2019 from Sharif University of Technology in Iran. She is currently working on the optimal 3D multiphysics spatial packaging (SPI2) design of thermal management systems (TMS) for Battery Electric Vehicles (BEVs). She is co-advised by Dr. James Allison of ISE. Apart from research, she loves hiking, camping, and other outdoor activities.
Email: jahedan2@illinois.edu
Alex Solecki
After receiving her B.S. in mechanical engineering at Marquette University, Alex earned her M.S. at the University of Illinois studying sustainable aviation fuels. There, she gained an appreciation for the importance of energy efficient, sustainable practices across the industrial landscape, particularly in bio-feedstock conversion. In the ETRL, she is working on high efficiency electro-thermal pulse de-icing for electrified aircraft and PV’s. Outside of work, you can find Alex making new friends at the bookstore or losing herself in Wikipedia rabbit holes.
Email: solecki4@illinois.edu
Woo Young Park
Woo Young received his B.S. in Mechanical Science and Engineering from UIUC in 2019. Prior to joining the ETRL, he worked on several projects in the semiconductor package industry with Samsung Electronics for 3 years. In the ETRL, Woo Young is working on electronics cooling research, with a focus on interconnects and data centers. He is co-advised by Professor Bill King of Mechanical Science and Engineering.
Email: wypark2@illinois.edu
Yiyang Chen
Yiyang Chen received dual Bachelor's degrees in Mechanical Engineering from Zhejiang University and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 2022. Currently, in the ETRL, he is actively engaged in research focused on refrigerant pool boiling heat transfer enhancement and the development of an innovative fin manufacturing method. Apart from his academic pursuits, Yiyang enjoys playing soccer in his leisure time, which happens to be his favorite sport.
Email: yiyangc5@illinois.edu
Mostafa Olyaei
Mostafa received his B.S. in mechanical engineering from Shiraz University in 2018, and his M.S. in mechanical engineering from Sharif University of Technology in 2021. In the ETRL, he is working on applying simulation tools to the design and optimization of electrothermal systems for electric vehicles. In his spare time, he likes to hike, go to the gym, and watch TV shows.
Email: molyaei2@illinois.edu
Sarath Subramaniyan
Sarath completed his B.E. degree in Mechanical Engineering at Anna University - College of Engineering, Guindy, Tamil Nadu, India. He has a deep fascination for thermal systems and materials engineering. In the ETRL, he is explorin distinct coatings for heat exchangers, aiming to enhance their efficiency and longevity. He is also conducting system level modeling of thermal architectures.
Email: ssubra52@illinois.edu
Muntasir Alam
Muntasir received his B.Sc. in 2016 and M.Sc. in 2019, both in Mechanical Engineering, from the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET), Dhaka, Bangladesh. His research interests include micro/nano scale phase change heat transfer, heat transfer enhancement through different techniques, and refrigeration technologies. Currently, he is working on the utilization of ejector technologies in HVAC&R applications. In his spare time, he loves watching and playing soccer (an avid “Manchester United” supporter from childhood), traveling to new places, and hanging out with friends.
Email: mmalam3@illinois.edu
Jiazheng Liu
Jiazheng received his M.S. in Engineering Thermophysics at Shanghai Jiao Tong University in 2023, where he focused on microscale flow and heat transfer. He has a strong interest in studying physical phenomena using both experimental and theoretical methods. He joined the ETRL in the Fall of 2023. In the ETRL, Jiazheng is working on heat exchanger design, liquid/air side heat transfer and etching, as well as frosting physics. In his spare time, Jiazheng is crazy about table tennis and also enjoys reading.
Email: jl266@illinois.edu
Valentin Belosludtsev
Valentin received his B.S. in Physics and M.S. in Mechanics and Mathematical modeling from Novosibirsk State University in 2020 and 2022, respectively. During his studies he was working in the Kutateladze Institute of Thermophysics conducting experimental investigations of flow boiling and shear-driven liquid film heat transfer and hydrodynamics in mini- and microchannels. He also has research experience in industry that he obtained during his internship in the Novosibirsk Technology Center of Schlumberger. In the ETRL, Valentin is conducting research on the flow boiling of refrigerant blends using conventional and advanced IR thermography methods. During his spare time, he likes to watch NBA basketball, cook, and hanging out with friends and play videogames.
Email: vb23@illinois.edu
Harsh Tyagi
Harsh received his B. Tech in Mechanical Engineering from the Indian Insttute of Technology Madras (IIT Madras) in 2020. He worked as an ePowertrain Engineer at Jaguar Land Rover India where he worked on thermal design and analysis of PMSM and IM tracton motors. He is interested in thermal engineering and its utlizaton for the advancement of sustainable energy technologies. In his spare time, he likes to play football, sim racing, and read thriller fiction novels.
Email: harsht2@illinois.edu
Robert Stavins
Robert received his B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign in 2020. His current research focuses on additive manufacturing, microfluidics, and thermal management. He is co-advised by Dr. William P. King, also in MechSE. Outside of research, he enjoys playing tennis, watching football and soccer, and mentoring a local high school robotics team.
Email: stavins@illinois.edu
Saptarshi Joshi
Saptarshi received his B.Tech in Mechanical Engineering with Honours from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT Bombay) in 2023. In his Bachelor’s thesis, he conducted experimental and numerical studies on the use of rib turbulators to enhance heat transfer in pin-fin channels for gas turbine blade cooling. In the ETRL, he is working on developing cooling strategies for batteries as well as non-cryogenic superconducting motors. In his free time, he enjoys listening to music, playing the guitar, and playing tennis.
Email: syjoshi2@illinois.edu
Radhe Jha
Radhe received his Bachelors in mechanical engineering from IIT Kharagpur in 2021. Since then, he worked in a multinational company as a producton engineer and modelling and simulaton scientst. In the ETRL, he is working on dynamic system modeling of HVAC&R systems.
Email: radhebj2@illinois.edu
Saif Al Afsan Shamim
Shamim received his B.Sc in Mechanical Engineering degree from Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET) in 2019. He later completed his M.Sc in Mechanical Engineering in 2023 from the same university. His research interests focus on Thermal Management and Electronic Cooling. Shamim is a passionate soccer player and enjoys watching movies in his leisure hours.
Email: sshamim2@illinois.edu
Nusrat Chowdhury
Nusrat received her B.Sc. in 2021 from the Bangladesh University of Engineering & Technology (BUET) in Mechanical Engineering. She completed her M.Sc. in the Material Tribology Laboratory in UIUC in 2023 under the supervison of Professor Alison C. Dunn on surface and structural properties of physically and chemically crosslinked hydrogels. She has worked on soft material tribology and mechanics of the click beetle mechanism. She has had internship experience in Trane Technologies which grew her interest in thermal transport properties. Her PhD is focused on the thermal conductivity of vitrimer polymers. She is co-advised by Professor David Cahill of MatSE. In her spare time, she loves hiking, listening to music, hanging out with friends, and cooking.
Email: nusratc2@illinois.edu
Omar Zaki
Omar received his BSc with High Honors from Cairo University in 2019 while being the valedictorian of his class. He also received his MSc from Cairo University in Mechanical Engineering with a focus on heat transfer and air conditioning. Omar worked on research projects with entities such as ORNL, KAUST, and UNIDO related to HVAC&R applications. His research mainly focuses on heat transfer and air conditioning applications both on a component level and on a system level. His research at UIUC is concerned with applying additive manufacturing technology in heat transfer applications to achieve higher performance when compared with conventional heat exchanger technologies. He is co-advised by Professor Bill King.
Email: omarz2@illinois.edu
Behnood Bazmi
Behnood received his B.S. degree in Mechanical Engineering in 2023 at the Sharif University of Technology in Iran. In the ETRL, he is pursuing his Ph.D. and working on single phase heat transfer in electronics cooling applications. In his free time, he enjoys doing and following sports, reading, and watching movies.
Email: bbazmi2@illinois.edu
Ilan Pinkus
Ilan received his B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in 2023. His current research focuses on topology optimization for thermal management applications. He is co-advised by Professor William P. King of MechSE. In his free time, he enjoys rock climbing, hiking, and photography.
Email: ipinkus2@illinois.edu
Rahat Khan
Rahat received his B.S. In Mechanical Engineering from Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET) in 2018. After serving as a lecturer for 2.5 years in his home country, he came overseas to join the graduate school at UIUC and earned his M.S. in MechE in 2023 with Professor Allison Dunn. He then joined the ETRL where his current research interests include energy systems, thermal management, and frosting-defrosting of heat transfers. In his spare time, he enjoys playing soccer, driving to random new places, and sometimes cooking.
Email: rmkhan2@illinois.edu
Asif Ahmed
Asif received his B.Sc. in Mechanical Engineering from Military Institute of Science and Technology (MIST), Dhaka, Bangladesh, in 2020. In the ETRL, his current research focuses on the development of elastocaloric-based lightweight refrigeration systems and novel shape memory alloys for spaceflight applications. In his spare time, he enjoys watching TV shows, playing cricket, and hiking.
Email: asifa3@illinois.edu
Md Rakib Hossain
Rakib received both his B.Sc and M.Sc in Mechanical Engineering from the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET), Dhaka, Bangladesh. He is interested in phase change heat transfer, CFD, refrigeration and air-conditioning. Currently he is working on the development of a novel cascade heat exchanger for ultra-high temperature heat pumps.
Email: mh102@illinois.edu
Tayfur Rahman Maruf
Tayfur Rahman Maruf is a Ph.D. student at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. He earned his B.Sc. in Mechanical Engineering from the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET) in 2023. He joined ETRL in January 2024. He is currently working on a continuous bending-mode elastocaloric composite refrigeration system. In addition, he is involved in a project focused on data center connector cooling. Tayfur has prior research experience in heat transfer, fire dynamics, and control systems. He enjoys gaming, watching movies and anime, cycling, and traveling in his free time.
Email: tmaruf2@illinois.edu
Parsa Faghihi
Parsa joined the Energy Transport Research Laboratory (ETRL) in the Fall of 2023. He earned his Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Tehran in 2021. During his senior year, Parsa delved into the field of energy systems, where he conducted numerical simulations and worked on the multi-objective optimization of reverse electrodialysis cells. Currently, Parsa's research centers on the fundamental aspects of flow condensation heat transfer in mini-microchannels and fabrication of micro-nanostructures for enhancing phase-change heat transfer. As a free time hobby, he enjoys playing soccer, traveling, listening to music, and spending time with friends.
Email: parsaf2@illinois.edu
Yutao Chen
Yutao Chen received her bachelor’s degree in Integrative Biology with a minor in World literature from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) in 2022 with university honors. She then received her master’s degree in Ecology, Evolution and Conservation Biology from UIUC in 2024. She is working on bio-inspired surface engineering of polymers and metals for antibacterial functionality. She is co-advised with Dr. Marianne Alleyne of Entomology.
Email: yutaoc4@illinois.edu
Yining Ding
Yining received her B.E. in Energy and Power Engineering from Xi'an Jiaotong University, China, in 2023. She is interested in studying phase change heat transfer and investigating energy-saving techniques for mechanical equipment. In her spare time, she enjoys swimming, hiking, and watching movies.
Email: yining28@illinois.edu
Daniel Farhat
Daniel received his bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering from the American University of Beirut. He currently works on a novel technology to cool high power chips through flow boiling. Daniel has a keen interest in translating theoretical results into practical solutions for industry. Besides academics, \ he enjoys traveling, trying different cuisines and connecting with nature.
Email: dfarhat2@illinois.edu
Omar Abdelhamid
Omar received his B.Sc. in Mechanical Engineering from Cairo University in 2024. During his undergraduate studies, he interned and did his thesis at CERN in Geneva, Switzerland, where he was involved in the High-Luminosity Large Hadron Collider (HL-LHC) project and the Thermal Management of the Gas Electron Multiplier (GEM) Detector in the CMS experiment. He also participated in the Formula Student Team where he was responsible for designing several parts and systems in an Electric Vehicle (EV) to compete in Silverstone, U.K. Following his graduation, he joined UIUC as a PhD student, where his current research focuses on utilizing state-of-the-art CFD and manufacturing in designing novel low-charge heat exchangers to achieve efficient cooling and refrigeration in systems with low environmental impact.
Email: oma5@illinois.edu
Mohamed Shalaby
Mohamed received his B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Benha University, Egypt, in 2021 with High Honors. He joined UIUC as part of the Fulbright program to pursue a master’s degree. His research interests are directed towards enhancing the performance of mechanical systems through modeling and performing studies to identify and address the problems that limit efficiency.
Email: shalaby3@illinois.edu
Tianxiao Liu
Tianxiao received his M.S. in Power Engineering from Zhejiang University in 2022. Following that, he gained one year of experience as a software development engineer. In the ETRL, he is focusing on the fundamental study of refrigerant flow boiling heat transfer using visualization techniques. In his free time, he enjoys listening to music, watching movies, and playing board games.
Email: tl73@illinois.edu
Prasanth Subramaniyan
Prasanth received his B.Tech in Mechanical Engineering and Interdisciplinary M.Tech in Computational Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology Madras in 2024. His research interests include phase change heat transfer, sustainable energy efficient solutions, design, and optimization of energy systems. At the ETRL, he works on 3D topology optimization approaches for advanced heat exchanger development. Outside research work and academics, Prasanth enjoys playing badminton and football, and loves to go for a hike.
Email: ps105@illinois.edu
Wonjun Jung
Wonjun received his B.S. degree with summa cum laude in Mechanical Engineering from Seoul National University in 2024. In the ETRL, he is working on machine learning and machine vision techniques to study two-phase heat transfer. He is co-advised with Professor William P. King of MechSE. In his free time, Wonjun enjoys swimming and watching soccer.
Email: wonjunj2@illinois.edu
Bertug Celebi
Bertug Celebi received his B.S. in Mechanical Engineering as a salutatorian in 2022 and his MS in 2024 from the Middle East Technical University (METU). His master’s research focused on hybridizing concentrated solar thermal, geothermal, and biomass. His PhD research is on electronics cooling using phase change materials and heat exchangers. Bertug is co-advised by Professor William P King of MechSE. In his free time, Bertug is a forever DM on DnD games and likes watching movies and traveling.
Email: bcelebi2@illinois.edu
Kelly Chicas
Kelly Chicas received her B.S. in Mechanical Engineering in 2024 at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV), and is currently pursuing her M.S. in Mechanical Engineering at UIUC. Kelly's research will focus on the heat transfer of phase change materials with fin geometries. She is also co-advised by Dr. William P. King of MechSE. In her free time Kelly enjoys listening to music and visiting museums.
Email: kchicas2@illinois.edu
Ali Salehi
Ali earned his Bachelor and Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Tehran in 2024. During his Master’s, Ali focused on water treatment applications using UV radiation and worked on household refrigerators. His current research revolves around flow visualization in plate heat exchangers and oil retention in refrigeration cycles. In his free time, Ali enjoys listening to music, watching movies, and spending time with friends.
Email: asalehi2@illinois.edu
Mantaka Taimullah
Mantaka received his B.Sc. in 2018 and M.Sc. in 2022, both in Mechanical Engineering from Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET), Dhaka, Bangladesh. His areas of interest in research are fluid dynamics, HVAC&R, phase change heat transfer, and turbulence. His current research is related to the oil circulation in the compressor of vapor compression systems. Mantaka in his free time enjoys cooking, meeting new people, trying new foods, and exploring new places.
Email: mantaka2@illinois.edu
Jun Sang Park
Junsang received his B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Texas at Austin. After graduation, he worked at Samsung for two years, where he was involved in mechanical design for VR/AR projects. He then pursued his M.S. in Mechanical Engineering at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) in laboratory of Professor Lili Cai, where his research focused on developing a novel phase change material based on a polyethylene oxide-lignin composite for battery thermal management systems. In the ETRL, he is working on enhancing condensation heat transfer performance in high-pressure and high-velocity steam applications in energy systems. In his free time, he enjoys watching movies and cooking.
Email: junsang5@illinois.edu
Bryan Liu
Bryan received his B.S. in Mechanical Science and Engineering from the University of Illinois-Urbana, Champaign in 2025. He then joined the ETRL for his PhD where he is currently researching back side imaging techniques for dropwise condensation to resolve local heat transfer effects. He is also conducting research on battery electro-thermal modeling.
Email: bryanl@illinois.edu
Younes Heidari
Younes received his B.S. degree in Mechanical Engineering in 2024 from The University of Tehran. In the ETRL, he is working on his PhD with a focus on thermal management and heat flux sensors. In his spare time, he enjoys reading books and watching movies.
Email: heidari3@illinois.edu
Brian Lee
Brian received his B.S. in Mechanical Engineering with a minor in Computer Science from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 2024. He is currently pursuing his M.S. in Mechanical Engineering at UIUC. His research interests lie at the intersection of electronics cooling and thermal management. Outside of research, he enjoys working out, playing golf, visiting museums and galleries, and watching musicals.
Email: kjl3@illinois.edu
Chengyan Li
Chengyan received his Master’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 2025. He is interested in exploring emerging cooling technologies for electronics. In the ETRL, his research focuses on immersion cooling and two phase heat transfer. Outside of research, Chengyan enjoys hiking, photography and immersing himself in nature.
Email: cli127@illinois.edu
Bassil Anan
Bassil received his B.Sc. in Mechanical Engineering from Cairo University in 2019 with highest honors. Then, he completed his M.Sc. in 2024 from the same university, focusing on refrigeration and thermal system design. His research interests include heat transfer and energy-efficient cooling technologies. During his leisure time, Bassil enjoys fishing, reading, and playing piano.
Email: bmanan2@illinois.edu
Meesam Raza
Meesam earned his B.Sc. degree in 2018 and his M.Sc. degree in 2021, both from Middle East Technical University (METU). His MS research focused on demand-side management, utilizing photovoltaic (PV) systems and focusing on HVAC and R to reduce electricity demand and improve grid efficiency. At the ETRL, his current research centers on charge minimization for highly flammable refrigerants, aiming to enhance the safety of next generation heat pump systems and contributing to the broader transition toward sustainable and low-GWP refrigerants. He is co-advised by Dr. Craig Bradshaw of MechSE and ACRC. Outside the lab, you will either find him at the gym, performing as a DJ, traveling, or spending time with friends.
Email: smraza3@illinois.edu
Alumni
Graduate
Dr. Patricia B. Weisensee
Patty completed her PhD in the ETRL in December of 2016 while being co-advised by Professor William P. King, working on micro- and nanostructured omniphobic surfaces for droplet-based heat transfer applications. Read her PhD thesis here. She is currently an assistant professor of Mechanical Engineering at the Washington University in Saint Louis.
Email: p.weisensee@wustl.edu
Address: Green Hall, Office 3156, 1 Brookings Drive, St. Louis, MO 63130-4899
Jesus Sotelo
Jesus completed his M.S. in the ETRL in June of 2017 working on the development of nanoengineered surfaces to study nucleation-mediated flooding delay during condensation. Read his M.S. thesis here. He is currently a thermal engineer at Boeing in Washington State.
Email: sotelojesus2@gmail.com
Hanmesh Gunnam
Hanmesh received his M.S. in the ETRL in July 2018 working on the development of enhanced brazing techniques using micro/nanostructured surfaces. Read his M.S. thesis here. He is currently working for Skorpios Technologies in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
Email: gunnam2@illinois.edu
Alex Wu
Alex received his M.S. in the ETRL in June 2018 working on fundamental dropwise condensation problems on smooth surfaces. Read his M.S. thesis here. He is currently working for Samsara in San Francisco, California.
Email: alexwu2@illinois.edu
Keith Coulson
Keith received his M.S. in the ETRL in December 2018 working on flexible heat pipes and nanoengineered surfaces intended to improve condensation. Keith wa co-advised by Professor Sanjiv Sinha. Read his M.S. thesis here. He is currently working for NASA as a Propulsion Systems Engineer in Houston, Texas.
Email: keithcoulson12@gmail.com
Dr. Patrick Birbarah
Patrick received his B.E. in Mechanical Engineering from the American University of Beirut (Lebanon) in 2014 with High Honors, and his M.S. in Mechanical Science and Engineering from UIUC in 2016. He received his PhD in Mechanical Science and Engineering in 2019 doing work in the ETRL on improving condensation heat transfer on nanomanufactured superhydrophobic surfaces. Read his M.S. thesis here and his PhD thesis here. In August 2019, he started his career as a Research Scientist for Trane in La Crosse, WI, a Subsidiary of Ingersoll Rand. In December 2021, he moved to Honeywell in Buffalo NY as an Advanced Research and Development Scientist in their refrigerants division. In Fall of 2025, he moved to Daikin in Virgina in their data center cooling division.
Email: p.birbarah@gmail.com
Dr. Shreyas Chavan
Shreyas received his B.Tech in Mechanical Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay (IIT-B), India, and his M.S. in Mechanical Science and Engineering from UIUC in 2016. He received his PhD in Mechanical Science and Engineering in 2019 doing work in the ETRL on development and characterization of micro/nanostructured surfaces for anti-frosting. Read his M.S. thesis here and his PhD thesis here. In July 2019, he started his career as a Consultant working for McKinsey and Company in Chicago, IL. In July of 2021, he left McKinsey and joined DataRobot as AI Success Manager. DataRobot is a late-stage startup that enables organizations to leverage the transformational power of AI (Artificial Intelligence) and help them rapidly turn data into value. His role sits at the intersection of two areas of passion – machine learning and solving business problems.
Email: sac.iitb@gmail.com
Dr. Alperen Gunay
Alp received his B.S. degree in Mechanical Engineering from the Middle East Technical University (Ankara, Turkey) in 2014 with High Honors, and his M.S. in Mechanical Science and Engineering from UIUC in 2016. He received his PhD in Mechanical Science and Engineering in 2019 doing work droplet evaporation dynamics. Read his M.S. thesis here and his PhD thesis here. In July 2019, he started a Postdoctoral Scholar position at the University of Tokyo in Japan. In January of 2021, he started his faculty career as Assistant Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the Middle Eastern Technical University (METU). In January 2023, he moved to the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Bilkent University as an assistant professor.
Email: agunay@bilkent.edu.tr
Dr. Moonkyung Kim
Moonkyung received his B.S. with summa cum laude honors in Mechanical Engineering from Hanyang University in 2014, and his M.S. in Mechanical Science and Engineering from UIUC in 2016. He received his PhD in Mechanical Science and Engineering in 2019 doing work fabrication of superhydrophobic surfaces using various techniques and materials. Read his M.S. thesis here and his PhD thesis here. In July 2019, he started his career as a Research Scientist position at Samsung Global Research in Seoul, South Korea.
Email: mksteven.kim@samsung.com
Dr. Junho Oh
Junho received his B.S. in Mechanical Engineering in 2013, and M.S. in 2015, both from Sungkyunkwan University (Seoul, Korea). He received his PhD in Mechanical Science and Engineering in 2019 doing work on nature-inspired wetting phenomena and electronics cooling. Read his PhD thesis here. In August 2019, he started a Postdoctoral Scholar position at University College London under the guidance of Dr. Manish K. Tiwari. In August 2021, he started as a tenure track assistant professor at Hanyang University in South Korea.
Email: junhooh@hanyang.ac.kr
Dr. Hyeongyun Cha
Hyeongyun received his B.S. in Mechanical Science and Engineering from UIUC in 2014, his M.S. in Mechanical Science and Engineering from UIUC in 2016, and his PhD in June of 2020. Read his M.S. thesis here and his PhD thesis here. In March of 2020, he started a postdoctoral associate position with the DRL at MIT under the guidance of Professor Evelyn Wang. In August of 2023, he began his faculty career as an Assistant Professor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at the State University of New York (SUNY) Buffalo.
Email: chah@buffalo.edu
Dr. Thomas Foulkes
Tom received his B.S. degree in Electrical Engineering with a minor in Applied Mathematics from Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology. In 2015 and 2019, he received his M.S. and PhD degrees in Electrical Engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, respectively. As a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellow, his research examined advanced cooling techniques and multilevel switched-capacitor topologies in order to increase the power density of converters for electric vehicle applications. Read his M.S. thesis here and his PhD thesis here. Thomas is currently pursuing a startup company called Aqua Quant Laboratories (AQL).
Email: foulkes@pacergy.com
Dr. Hanyang Zhao
Hanyang received his B.S. in Physics from Harbin Institute of Technology and University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 2014 and 2015, respectively. He then received his M.S. in Mechanical Science and Engineering at UIUC in 2016. He completed his PhD in the ETRL from September 2016 to June 2021. His doctoral research focused on coating development for anti-fouling, anti-corrosion, and reduced pressure drop in HVAC applications. He is currently a thermal engineer at Midea in China. He then moved to Silex Microsystems to become a full time Research Engineer.
Email: hzhao27@illinois.edu
George Popovic
George received his B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from UIUC in 2018. He did his M.S. degree in the ETRL on work focusing on enhanced spray cooling of superhydrophilic nanoengineered aluminum heat exchangers focusing on automotive applications. He is currently a Future Technical Leader - Systems Engineer at Northrop Grumman.
Email: georgepopovic650@gmail.com
Vaibhav Agarwal
Vaibhav received his Bachelors of Engineering degree in Mechanical Engineering from the Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Pilani (India) in the year 2019. His M.S. thesis focused on pulsed electro-thermal deicing technologies for aviation applications. He completed his degree from September 2019 to June 2021. In summer of 2021, he began his career at Tesla. He is currently a Senior Thermal Engineer at Tesla in Fremont, CA, USA.
Email: va15@illinois.edu
Dr. Tianyu Yang
Tianyu received her B.S. in Engineering Mechanics and Aerospace Engineering from Tsinghua University in 2016 and her M.S. in Mechanical Science and Engineering from UIUC in 2018. She completed her PhD in the ETRL from 2018 to 2021 on the development of efficient thermal switches and thermal buffers. Tianyu was co-advised by Professor William P. King. From 2022 to 2024, she was a postdoctoral fellow at Northwestern University under the guidance of Dr. John Rogers. In July 2024, she began her career as an Assistant Professor in the School for Engineering of Matter, Transport and Energy at the Arizona State University in Tempe, AZ.
Email: tianyu.yang@asu.edu
Dr. Jingcheng Ma
Jingcheng received his B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Shanghai Jiao Tong University, China. He completed his PhD in the ETRL from September 2016 to May 2022 on the development of optical pump-probe techniques for thermal conductivity and mechanical property measurements of thin polymer films as well as the analysis of functional surface durability during condensation. Jingcheng was co-advised by Professor David Cahill of MatSE. In 2022, he became a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Chicago under the guidance of Dr. Bozhi Tian in the Department of Chemistry at the University of Chicago. In July 2024, he started his faculty career as an Assistant Professor at the University of Notre Dame in Notre Dame, Indiana.
Email: jma9@nd.edu
Johannes Kohler
Johannes received his B. S. in Mechanical Engineering (summa cum laude) in 2017 from Universidad del Valle, Guatemala. He completed his M.S. in Mechanical Science and Engineering from UIUC from June 2019 to December 2021. His M.S. Thesis focused on flow condensation of hydrocarbons, ammonia, and new low-GWP refrigerants. He also developed additive manufacturing approaches to enhance thermal management of electronic systems. Johannes is currently an engineer in the Disruptive Technologies and Innovation Group at Carrier Corporation.
Ankit Patel
Ankit received his B.S. in Engineering Mechanics with high honors from UIUC in 2017. He completed his M.S. in Mechanical Science and Engineering from UIUC from June 2019 to June 2022. His M.S. Thesis focused on computational modeling of droplet condensation and evaporation. He is currently employed by John Deere Power Systems where he works on development and continuous improvement of internal combustion engines.
Email: apate277@illinois.edu
Dr. Kalyan Boyina
Kalyan received his B.S in Mechanical Engineering from Oklahoma State University-Stillwater in 2014, and his M.S. in Mechanical Science and Engineering from UIUC in 2016. He completed his PhD in the ETRL from September 2016 to August 2022 on fabrication strategies and testing of large scale (> 20 cm) superhydrophobic heat exchangers to study their anti-icing and frosting performance in a variety of conditions (heat pumping, air cycle machines, refrigeration). Kalyan is currently a research engineer at Trane Technologies in LaCrosse, Wisconsin.
Email: boyina2@illinois.edu
Dr. Muhammad Jahidul Hoque
Jahid received his B.Sc in 2013 and M.Sc in 2016, both in Mechanical Engineering from the Bangladesh University of Engineering & Technology (BUET), Dhaka, Bangladesh. He then completed his PhD in the ETRL in March 2022 by conducting research on micro/nano scale phase change heat transfer, and thermal-system performance enhancement. He also worked on thermo-physical property measurement of ultra-thin layer materials and heat transfer enhancement and durability of superhydrophobic surfaces. He stayed in the ETRL as a Postdoctoral Scholar working on electro-thermal pulse deicing and steam condensation. In August 2025, he started a faculty positon as an assistant professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Iowa State University in Ames, Iowa, USA.
Email: mjhoque@iastate.edu
Dr. Mohamed Mousa
Mousa received his B.S. degree in Mechanical Engineering with a minor in Business Administration from The American University in Cairo (Egypt) in 2018 with Highest Honors. He was the recipient of Shell’s Excellence Award 2018 and has research experience at The American University in Cairo and industry. He completed his PhD in the ETRL from August 2017 to August 2022 working on sustainable energy solutions, two-phase flow heat transfer and thermodynamics. Mousa is currently a thermal engineer at ASM International in Phoenix, Arizona.
Email: mousa2@illinois.edu
Dr. Kazi Fazle Rabbi
Kazi received his B.S. (summa cum laude) in Mechanical Engineering from the Bangladesh University of Engineering & Technology (BUET) in 2016. He completed his PhD in the ETRL from January 2017 to August 2022 on phase change heat transfer at the micro/nano scale. Hi thesis focused on studying superhydrophobic surfaces and anti-icing coatings for heat transfer enhancement as well as coating material development to enable slippery surfaces for low surface tension fluids. Kazi is currently a research engineer at Intel Corporation in Portland, Oregon.
Email: kazif2@illinois.edu
Dr. Nithin Upot
Nithin received his B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from College of Engineering Guindy, Anna University, India (2014) and a M.S. in Aerospace Engineering from UIUC (2016). He completed his PhD in the ETRL from September 2016 to December 2022 working on electro-thermal design of smart FPGAs for power electronics, flow boiling of refrigerants on scalable structured metallic surfaces. Nithin is currently a research engineer at Intel Corporation in Chandler, Arizona in their Thermal Systems Group.
Email: upot2@illinois.edu
Dr. Tarek Gebrael
Tarek received his B.E. in Mechanical Engineering with a minor in Applied Mathematics from the American University of Beirut in 2017 with High Honors. Prior to joining the ETRL, he worked on several research projects in the fields of MEMS, energy harvesting and uncertainty quantification. In the ETRL, Tarek completed his PhD from January 2017 to December 2022 working on pool boiling on electronics as well as heat spreading architectures. Tarek is currently a research engineer at Intel Corporation in Chandler, Arizona in their Electronics Packaging Group.
Email: gebrael2@illinois.edu
Sagar Singh
Sagar received his B.Tech degree in Mechanical Engineering with Honors at IIT Bombay, India, in 2021. In the ETRL, he worked on developing thermal system designs for Electric Vehicles using simulation analysis. In May 2023, he completed his M.S. degree in Mechanical Science and Engineering. He joined Tesla's heat pump team as a staff engineer in Fremont, California.
Email: sagars3@illinois.edu
Rizwan Khan
Rizwan received his B.S. in Mechanical Engineering with High Distinction from GIK Institute, Pakistan in 2015. He has four years of experience working in renewable energy (solar and hydroelectric generation facilities). In the ETRL, he completed his M.S. degree in May 2023. His work focused on applying analytics on a vast dataset of dropwise condensation and extracting machine learning insights from it. In June 2023, he returned to Pakistan to start a career in the power generation industry.
Email: rak6@illinois.edu
Dr. Wuchen Fu
Wuchen was in the UIUC ZJU 3+2 program. He spent 3 years in Zhejiang University and 2 years at UIUC, receiving his B.S. in ZJU and M.S. in UIUC. He received his Ph.D. in Mechanical Science and Engineering in 2023, conducting seminal work in the ETRL on dynamic phase change materials and low-GWP refrigerant pool boiling. In October 2023, he joined Zipline in California as a thermal system engineer. In 2024, he moved position to Tesla Dojo as a electronics cooling engineer. In Fall of 2025, he moved from Dojo back to Tesla to be a Senior Thermal Engineer in Fremont, CA, USA.
Email: wuchenf97@outlook.com
Dr. Junyoung Lee
Junyoung received his B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Yonsei University in 2017. He received his PhD in Mechanical Science and Engineering from UIUC in 2023 doing work in the ETRL on the design and development of durable lubricant-infused surfaces for water-shedding applications. In September 2023, he started his career as a Research Scientist at Teledyne Scientific & Imaging in Thousand Oaks, California. In fall of 2025, he moved to Anduril Industries as a Thermal Engineer in Costa Mesa, CA, USA.
Email: jl59@illinois.edu
Dr. Ho Chan Chang
Ho Chan received his B.S. in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering from Seoul National University in 2017. He received his PhD in Mechanical Science and Engineering doing work in the ETRL on thermal characterization and development of ultra-thin high thermal conductivity hydrophobic surfaces, including metal polymer composites and three omega measurement methods. In September 2023, he started his career as a packaging engineer at Samsung Semiconductor Inc, San Jose, California.
Email: hochanc2@illinois.edu
Dr. Aniket Lad
Aniket received his BE (Hons.) from Birla Institute of Technology and Science Pilani (BITS Pilani) in 2018. He received his PhD in Mechanical Science and Engineering doing work in the ETRL on design methods for single phase liquid coolers. In January 2024, he started his career as a thermal systems engineer at Lucid Motors, Newark, California.
Email: aniketl2@illinois.edu
Dr. James Carpenter
James received his B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Missouri-St.Louis/Washington University in Saint Louis (joint degree) in 2015 and his M.S. in Mechanical Science and Engineering from UIUC in 2018. He received his PhD in Mechanical Science and Engineering doing work in the ETRL on two dimensional materials as well as the study of ice-bridge formation on superhydrophobic surfaces. In May 2024, he started his career as a packaging engineer at Intel Corporation, Portland, Oregon.
Email: jscarpe2@illinois.edu
Dr. Yashraj Gurumukhi
Yashraj Gurumukhi received his B.Tech in Mechanical Engineering with Honours from the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay (IIT Bombay) in 2018. He received his PhD in Mechanical Science and Engineering doing work in the ETRL on thermal management and measruement approaches for electric vehicle and battery technologies. In August 2024, he started his career as a battery simulation engineer at Lucid Motors, Newark, California.
Email: yashraj2@illinois.edu
Dr. Majid Linjawi
Majid received his B.Sc. in 2015 and M.Sc in 2018, both in Mechanical Engineering from King Fahd University of petroleum and Minerals (KFUPM), Dhahran, Saudi Arabia. He joined UIUC to pursue his PhD in Mechanical Engineering with a full scholarship from KFUPM. He received his PhD in Mechanical Science and Engineering doing work on biphilic and hybrid surfaces. In September 2024, he started his career as an assistant professor of Mechanical Engineering at KFUPM, Saudi Arabia.
Email: linjawi2@illinois.edu
Dr. Siavash Khodakarami
Siavash received his B.Sc. in Mechanical Engineering at the University of Tehran in 2018 and then joined the ETRL as a Ph.D. student at UIUC. His research focused on two-phase heat transfer characterization on engineered surfaces using data-driven modeling and machine vision techniques to capture and predict the dynamics of droplets and bubbles. He also worked on developing new cost-effective and reliable two-phase heat transfer characterization techniques using machine learning to obtain a better understanding of the surface heat transfer performance on engineered surfaces. In August 2024, he obtained his PhD and started a postdoctoral scholar position in the Applied Math Department at Brown University, Rhode Island.
Email: siavash4@illinois.edu
Dr. Yingyue Zhang
Yingyue received her B.Sc. in Building Thermal Energy Engineering in 2017 from the Harbin Institute of Technology and her M.Sc. in Civil Engineering in 2018 from UIUC. She was a PhD student in the ETRL that was co-advised by Professor Stefan Elbel at TU Berlin. Yingyue's research focused on the mechanics and mitigation of two-phase flow-induced noise near the expansion device.In August 2024, she obtained her PhD and started as a thermal engineer at AO Smith Corporation in Milwaukee, WI.
Email: yingyue2@illinois.edu
Dr. Ishrat Zarin
Ishrat received her B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET) in 2020. Her research in the ETRL focused on interfacial adhesion and energy transfer. She led work on understanding pinhole-initiated blister formation in hydrophobic polymer thin films. In October 2024, she obtained her PhD and started a postdoctoral scholar position in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at UC Berkeley, California.
Email: izarin2@berkeley.edu
Dr. Soonwook Kim
Soonwook received his B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Korea University in 2016. He worked briefly under the guidance of Dr. Gaurav Bahl prior to switching groups to join the ETRL. He worked on high power density electro-thermal system design, thermal switching and routing, and thermal management using phase change materials. He was co-advised with Dr. William P. King in MechSE. In December 2024, he obtained his PhD and started a postdoctoral scholar position in the Materials Science Department at Texas A and M University, Texas.
Email: sk27@illinois.edu
Dr. Yupeng Wang
Yupeng was a PhD student who was co-advised by Prof. Zhao Hui and the late Prof. Pega Hrnjak. He received his B.E from Harbin Institute of Technology, where he studied HVAC principles and technologies. He completed his M.S degree in Mechanical Engineering at UIUC in 2019 and continued to pursue a PhD degree. Yupeng’s research focused on corrosion-induced performance penalty of microchannel heat exchangers. His experience lies in the fusion of heat transfer and heat exchanger material and brazing. He is currently an engineer at Creative Thermal Solutions (CTS) in Urbana, IL, USA.
Email: yupeng2@illinois.edu
Dr. Kevin Uvodich
Kevin graduated from UIUC with his B.S. in Mechanical Engineering in 2019. He then joined the ETRL where he completed his M.S. and PhD in Mechanical Engineering. His PhD focused on emerging additive manufacturing technologies and exploring the implications on heat exchanger design for a variety of applications. In August 2024, he obtained his PhD and started a full time role as a research engineer at Hinetics in Urbana, IL, USA.
Email: kevinu2@illinois.edu
Dr. Bakhshish Preet Singh
Bakhshish received his Dual degree (BTech and MTech) in Mechanical Engineering and specializing in Thermal and Fluid Engineering from IIT, Bombay in 2020. He then joined the ETRL. His doctoral thesis focused on phase change heat transfer and electronics cooling. He also worked on multi-physcis modeling of battery thermal runaway. He completed his PhD in the ETRL in June 2024 and is currently a thermal engineer at ASM International in Phoenix, Arizona.
Email: bpsingh2@illinois.edu
Dr. Arielle Gamboa
Arielle graduated with her B.S. and M.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Rutgers University in 2020. Her background is in hybrid micro- and nanomanufacturing, including electrospray deposition and thermocapillary-based patterning of thin films. In the ETRL, she explored pool boiling, flow boiling, and heat spreading as cooling techniques for electronics. She completed her PhD in the ETRL in June 2025 and is currently a thermal engineer in the Electronics Cooling Division at Honeywell in Buffalo, NY, USA.
Email: agamboa3@illinois.edu
Holton Miller
Holton received his B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from North Dakota State University in 2020. During his MS in the ETRL, he corked at John Deere as an embedded software developer supporting engine interface and HVAC controls. His MS degree focused on research to develop a thermal management system for a variable pole-count induction motor. He completed his MS degree in June of 2025, and is still with John Deere in Moline, IL, USA.
Email: holtonm2@illinois.edu
Ghassan Arissi
Ghassan received his B.E. in Mechanical Engineering with a minor in Applied Energy from the American University of Beirut in 2022. He joined ETRL in 2023 and worked on projects related to corrosion, pinhole initiated blister formation in thin films, self healing coatings, flow boiling on structured surfaces and condensation. His MS thesis focused on developing a robust experimental technique for accurate steam condensation heat transfer measurements. He completed his MS in the ETRL in May 2025 and is currently a thermal engineer at Tesla in Palo Alto, CA, USA.
Email: garissi@illinois.edu
Dr. Syed Angkan Haider
Angkan received his B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET) in 2019. He joined MechSE as a PhD student in 2021, and prior to joining the ETRL, he worked on system-level HVAC&R research at the ACRC. In the ETRL, his research focused be on oil circulation rate (OCR) measurement methods for variable speed systems, oil separation strategies, compressor oil return and quantification of oil-refrigerant properties. He completed his PhD in the ETRL in June 2025 and is currently a thermal engineer at Rheem Manufacturing in Fort Smith, AR, USA.
Email: shaider4@illinois.edu
Dr. Purav Patel
Purav received his B.E. in Mechanical Eng. and M.E. in Thermal Science and Eng. from the Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur (IIT Kharagpur) in 2019. For his PhD, he worked on a storage heat pump system design for improving the operating range of heat pump systems. He also studied the performance of different types of heat exchanger designs for heat pump systems. He completed his PhD in the ETRL in June 2025 and is currently an Assistant Manager of Research and Development at Ice Make Refrigeration in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India.
Email: purav.patel@icemakeindia.com
Dr. Xin Wang
Xin received her B.S. in Renewable Energy from Zhejiang University in 2020. Then she received her M.S. degree in Mechanical Science and Engineering from UIUC in 2022. In the ETRL, Xin completed her Ph.D. by studying transient oil migration at compressor suction and discharge, with the goal of improving oil return and reducing oil retention. She completed her PhD in the ETRL in June 2025 and is currently a thermal engineer at Lennox in Atlanta, GA, USA.
Email: xinw8@illinois.edu
Luke Markuson
Luke received his B.S. degree in Mechanical Science and Engineering at UIUC in June of 2023. As a senior, he worked on electronics immersion cooling with a graduate student in the ETRL. As an MS student, he continued his work on electronics cooling as well as looking into sustaniability and renewable energy technologies. He completed his PhD in the ETRL in December 2024 and is currently a thermal engineer at Ferric in New York, NY, USA.
Email: lukerm3@illinois.edu
Simran Singh
Simran received her B.Tech in Aerospace Engineering from Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur (IIT Kanpur, India) in 2022. She specializes in Thermal and Fluid Engineering. Simran received her M.S. thesis in Mechanical Engineering in May 2024, doing work in ETRL on heat transfer and boundary layer theory for single phase flows over structured surfaces. Following her M.S. degree, she continued working in ETRL as an Academic Researcher. In January, 2025 she started her career as a thermal engineer at A.O. Smith Corporation in Nashville, TN, USA.
Email: simrans9illinois@gmail.com
Ana Coloma Guzman
Ana Coloma Guzman received her B.S. in mechanical engineering from Escuela Superior Politécnica del Litoral (Ecuador) in 2020. She completed her MS degree in the ETRL working on oil circulation in HVAC&R systems. She completed her MS in the ETRL on June 2025, and is continuning her PhD in MechSE at UIUC in the lab of Dr. Sophie Wang in MechSE.
Email: anac2@illinois.edu
Sanbera Piuly
Sanbera received her BS in Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering from the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET) in 2018. Her MS research focused on post-CHF heat transfer of water in downward flow. She was co-advised by Professor Caleb Brooks of NPRE. She completed her MS in the ETRL in December 2024 and is currently an Equipment Engineer working for TSMC in Phoenix, AZ, USA.
Email: spiuly2@illinois.edu
David Libes
David received his B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 2024. David’s research interested mechanical design, heat transfer and robotics, and his MS focused on solid-state refrigeration. He completed his MS in the ETRL in August 2025 and is currently a thermal engineer at Sargent and Lundy in Chicago, IL, USA.
Email: dlibes2@illinois.edu
Donggun Lee
Donggun received B.S. in Biosystems Engineering with minor in Computer Science from University of Wisconsin-Madison in 2022. He worked on several thermal system projects throughout his undergraduate career. His MS research interests were electronics cooling and thermal management. His MS thesis focused on system analysis for data center liquid cooling systems. He completed his MS in the ETRL in August 2025 and is currently a thermal engineer in South Korea.
Email: donggun2@illinois.edu
Dr. Dalia Ghaddar
Dalia received her B.S and M.S in mechanical engineering from the American University of Beirut (Lebanon) in 2018 and 2020, respectively, with high honors. Before joining the ETRL in January of 2021, she worked on several research projects in the field of personalized ventilation, phase change materials, and fluid dynamics. In the ETRL, Dalia worked on is working on testing different types of coated heat exchangers to study their anti‐icing and frosting performance. She developed industry guidelines for anti-frost coatings. In Fall of 2025, she defened her PhD and began a role as an Advanced Research and Development Scientist/Engineer in the Refrigerants Team at Honeywell, in Buffalo, NY, USA.
Email: ghaddar2@illinois.edu
Dr. Mohammed Jubair Dipto
Dipto received his B.S in Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering from Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology in 2018. He was a PhD student in the ETRL from 2020 to 2025, graduating in December of 2025. In the ETRL, he worked on Manufacturing and Recycling of High Energy Density Li-ion Battery Cells. In January fo 2026, he joined the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor, MI, USA as a Postdoctoral Scholar working under the guidance of Dr. Solomon Adera.
Email: mdipto2@illinois.edu
Dr. Md Rakibul Hasan Roni
Rakib received his B.Sc and M.Sc in Mechanical Engineering from the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET) in 2017 and 2019 respectively. He joined the ETRL in 2020 and worked on water flow boiling heat transfer on structured surfaces. He gradued with his PhD in Fall of 2025. He then joined the faculty of the Mechanical Engineering Department as an Assistant Professor in the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET) in Dhaka, Bangladesh.
Email: mroni2@illinois.edu
Dr. Joshua Feldman
Josh Feldman He received his B.S. in mechanical engineering in 2019 and M.S. in electrical engineering in 2021 from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Josh completed his PhD in Electrical and Computer Engineering in January of 2026. He was co-advised with Professor Kiruba Haran of ECE. His research focus was on flow boiling of hydrogen for cooling of superconducting motors.
Email: jmfeldm2@illinois.edu
Jessica Nicholson
Jessica received her B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) in 2022. She completed her M.S. in Mechanical Engineering at UIUC in January of 2026. She currently works as a full time Research Mechanical Engineer at the U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center. Her research in the ETRL involved computational modeling to forecast the reliability and resilience of proposed microgrids with a high proportion of renewable energy. Her MS thesis explores how phase change materials can be incorporated into concentrated solar power systems to improve their power output and benefit microgrids that contain these systems.
Email: jjn3@illinois.edu
Haoshen Yang
Haoshen obtained his bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Valparaiso in 2024. He joined the ETRL as an MS student in fall of 2024. He conducted research on electronic cooling, with a focus on fluid development for single-phase immersion cooling. He completed his MS thesis in early 2026.
Email: haoshen8@illinois.edu
James Wills
James received his B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Iowa in 2018. After completing his bachelor’s degree, James was employed with Daikin Applied for 5 years where he worked in several positions supporting product design at various stages of the product lifecycle. James primarily focused on commercial heat pumps and natural gas heating systems. In the ETRL, from August 2024 to December 2026, James’s research focus was investigating the benefits associated with incorporating thermal energy storage into a residential heat pump system, particularly in cold climates. James completed MS in the ETRL in December of 2026, and started as a Senior Server Thermal Engineer at Amazon AWS in Seatlle, WA, USA.
Email: wills6@illinois.edu
Lauren Mah
Lauren received her B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Illinois-Urbana, Champaign in 2022. During her senior year, Lauren moved to Minnesota to work for Daikin Applied as an intern where she completed various projects including her senior design. After finishing her degree, she continued on with Daikin Applied where she worked on designing and validating vapor compression refrigeration systems. In the ETRL, from August 2024 to December 2026, Lauren's research focus was investigating the effects of latent load on heat echanger performance and design guidelines. Lauren completed her MS in the ETRL in December of 2026, and started as a Senior Engineer at Boeing in Seatlle, WA, USA.
Email: lmah2@illinois.edu
Postdocs
Dr. Jiaqi Li
Jiaqi Li received his PhD in Mechanical Engineering from the institute of Thermal Science and Power Systems, School of Energy Engineering, Zhejiang University, China. His doctoral thesis focused on the pool boiling heat transfer on micro/nano-structured surfaces during quenching. Jiaqi worked in the ETRL from January 2019 to July 2022 on a wide variety of projects mainly focusing on evaporation and boiling heat transfer enhancement on superhydrophilic surfaces. In September 2022, he joined the School of Energy and Power Engineering, Nanjing University of Science and Technology, as an Assistant Professor.
Email: lijiaqi@illinois.edu
Dr. Xiao Yan
Xiao Yan received his PhD in nuclear engineering from the Institute of Nuclear and New Energy Technology (INET), Tsinghua University, China. His doctoral thesis focuses on the condensation heat transfer on micro/nano-structured surfaces. Xiao worked in the ETRL form January 2018 to September 2021 on a wide variety of projects mainly focusing on condensation heat transfer and nanofabrication. In October 2021, he joined the group of Dr. Shuhuai Yao at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology as an postdoctoral fellow.
Email: yanx23@cqu.edu.cn
Dr. Jin Yao Ho
Jin Yao Ho received his PhD from the School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering (MAE) at the Nanyang Technological University (NTU) in 2019. He performed his PhD studies under the supervision of Professors Kai Choong Leong and Teck Neng Wong. His PhD research focused on the enhancement of natural and forced convection condensation using novel structures fabricated by additive manufacturing (AM) techniques. Jin Yao worked in the ETRL form January 2020 to December 2021 on a variety of projects mainly focusing on the condensation of low surface tension fluids and the development of AM fabricated structures for enhancing heat transfer. In January 2022, he joined the School or Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at the Nanyang Technological University (NTU) as an assistant professor.
Email: jyho@ntu.edu.sg
Dr. Sungmin Hong
Sungmin Hong received his PhD in Electrical Engineering from Texas AandM University in 2012 and joined the ETRL from July 2021 to February 2022 as a Visiting Research Engineer to collaborate with the Army Corps of Engineers Construction Engineering Research Laboratory (CERL) on advanced water purification which uses contactless ion concentration. In February 2022, he joined CERL in Champaign, Illinois as a staff scientist.
Email: sungmin.cerl@gmail.com
Dr. Allison Mahvi
Allison Mahvi received her PhD in Mechanical Engineering from Georgia Tech in 2018 where she worked under the guidance of Dr. Srinivas Garimella. Her doctoral thesis focused on the hydrodynamics of two-phase flows in microchannel heat exchanger manifolds. She also investigated the use of heat transfer enhancement devices in air-cooled condensers to improve the efficiency and reduce the fresh-water requirements of base load power plants. She worked in the ETRL from October 2018 to October 2019 on a variety of projects related to integrating novel surfaces engineered at the micro- and nanoscale into phase-change heat exchangers. In October 2019, she joined National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) as a postdoctoral research scientist. In the fall of 2022, she started a faculty position as assistant professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Wistconsin-Maddison
Email: allison.mahvi@wisc.edu
Dr. Donald Docimo
Donald Docimo received his PhD in Mechanical Engineering from the Pennsylvania State University in 2017 under Dr. Hosam Fathy. His doctoral thesis focused on the modeling and control of battery packs and building energy systems. He worked in the ETRL from October 2017 to December 2019 in collaboration with the Alleyne Research Group on control of electro-thermal energy systems and our group on advanced thermal management. In Jamuary of 2020, he started a faculty position as assistant professor at Texas Tech University.
Email: donald.docimo@ttu.edu
Dr. Soumyadip Sett
Deep received his PhD in Mechanical Engineering from University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) in 2016 where he worked under the guidance of Dr. Alexander Yarin. His doctoral thesis focused on dynamics of thin surfactant films and aqueous foam. He also worked on fabricating nonwoven nanomaterials from biopolymers and their applications as self-healing composites, filtration membranes, and scaffolds. He worked in the ETRL from September 2016 to June 2021 on several projects related to micro/nanoscale surface engineering for phase change heat transfer enhancements. Primarily, his work at ETRL focused on enhancing heat transfer during condensation of low surface tension fluids on lubricant-infused surfaces (LIS). He is currently an assistant professor of Mechanical Engineering at IIT Gandhinagar in India.
Email: soumyadipsett@iitgn.ac.in
Dr. Longnan Li
Longnan Li received his PhD in Mechanical Engineering from Sogang University in South Korea in 2017 where he worked under the guidance of Dr. Daejoong Kim. His doctoral thesis focused on the performance of oscillating heat pipes (OHPs) for low grade energy harvesting. He holds a Bachelor's degree in Water Supply and Sewerage Engineering from the Northeast Petroleum University, China. Longnan worked in the ETRL from 2016 to 2021 where he studied enhanced anti-icing performance of superhydrophobic coatings for air-source heat pump applications. He is currently an associate professor within the GPL Photonics Laboratory at Changchun Institute of Optics, Fine Mechanics and Physics (CIOMP), Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS).
Email: longnanli@ciomp.ac.cn
Dr. Chi Wang
Chi Wang received his PhD in Nuclear Science and Engineering from MIT in 2022 where he worked under the guidance of Prof. Matteo Bucci. His doctoral thesis focused on the boiling heat transfer enhancement on micropillar surfaces. He worked in the ETRL from November 2022 to November 2023 on a variety of projects related to IR thermometry applicatons in condensaton, chilldown and other heat transfer processes. In December 2023, he started a faculty positon as an assistant professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the University of New Mexico.
Email: chiw@unm.edu
Dr. Bo Wang
Bo Wang received his M.S. degree in Control Theory and Engineering from the University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China, in 2018. He received his PhD degree in Mechanical Engineering (dynamics and control) from Villanova University, Villanova, PA, USA, in 2022. After receiving his Ph.D., he worked in the ETRL as a postdoc from January to August 2023 on a wide variety of projects mainly focusing on modeling and optmizaton of heat pump systems. In September 2023, he joined the City University of New York as an Assistant Professor.
Email: bwang1@ccny.cuny.edu
Dr. Seungtae Oh
Seungtae Oh received his PhD in Mechanical Engineering from Kyung Hee University in 2021, where he worked under the supervision of Professor Youngsuk Nam. After earning his PhD, he worked at the Korea Institute of Industrial Technology (KITECH) as a postdoctoral researcher from September 2021 to April 2023. His research has focused on surface engineering for solar/thermal energy conversion and storage, as well as thermal management of electronics. He has also been investigating pollution prevention technologies to address environmental challenges posed by fossil fuels. He was a postdoctoral fellow in the ETRL working on liquid metal TIMs as well as energy storage technologies from September 2023 to May of 2024. In June 2024, he joined the Department of Mechanical and Automotive Engineering at the Cheonan Campus of Kongju National University, South Korea as an Assistant Professor. His personal website is: drstoh.com.
Email: stoh@illinois.edu
Dr. Ruben Andres Salas
Ruben Andres Salas obtained his Mechanical Engineering BS degree from Universidad del Valle, Colombia (2008). He then obtained his MS in Mechanical Engineering (2012) and PhD in Sciences (2017) in the Control and Mechanical Automation area from the University of São Paulo, Brazil. He has experience in the development of algorithms for the optimization of Multiphysics systems in dynamic regimes, especially in transient regimes by using topology optimization methods (TOMs). He has worked on optimization problems applied to piezoelectric and composite materials, eletrothermomechanical systems, inverse seismic problems, and design considering stress constraints. In addition, he has performed computational cost estimations of TOM-based algorithms and proposed methods for the efficient application of absorbing boundary conditions to model infinite and semi-infinite media. In the ETRL, Ruben worked on the application of projection methods for Multiphysics modeling and gradient-based optimization in SPI2 (Spatial Packaging of Interconnected Systems with Physical Interactions). He was co-advised by Dr. James Allison of ISE.
Email: ruansava@illinois.edu
Dr. Muhammad Jahidul Hoque
Jahid received his B.Sc in 2013 and M.Sc in 2016, both in Mechanical Engineering from the Bangladesh University of Engineering & Technology (BUET), Dhaka, Bangladesh. He then completed his PhD in the ETRL in March 2022 by conducting research on micro/nano scale phase change heat transfer, and thermal-system performance enhancement. He also worked on thermo-physical property measurement of ultra-thin layer materials and heat transfer enhancement & durability of superhydrophobic surfaces. He stayed in the ETRL as a Postdoctoral Scholar working on electro-thermal pulse deicing and steam condensation. In August 2025, he started a faculty positon as an assistant professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Iowa State University in Ames, Iowa, USA.
Email: mjhoque@iastate.edu
Dr. Donghyeon Yoo
Donghyeon Yoo received his PhD in Mechanical Engineering in Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH), South Korea. He then continued as a Postdoctral Fellow at POSTECH. His research interest are the surface structure engineering of polymers and metals and their applications in liquid-solid contact electrification phenomena and energy harvesting. He was a postdoctoral fellow in the ETRL from 2023 to 2025 where he conducted seminal research on the effect of nanostructures on pool boiling of water and dielectric liquids. In December of 2025, he moved to South Korea as a Senior Researcher at Samsung Electronics.
Email: yoo91@illinois.edu
Dr. Xuzhi Du
Xuzhi Du received his PhD in Automotive Engineering at Tongji University in June 2019. He then continued as a postdoctoral associate in the Shanghai Automotive Wind Tunnel center (SAWTC) at Tongji University. His doctoral thesis focused on the study of fundamental icing physics, deicing/defrosting and impinging jet flow structure evolution and heat transfer. He conducted research in the ETRL as a Postdoctoral Scholar working on the development of models and carrying out experiments on agrivoltaic systems (co-location of photovoltaics and agriculture) as well as data center architecture. He joined the lab in 2022, and left in January of 2026 in order to start a cerrer as a Senior Thermal Architect at SwirlX, a cooling startup in Dan Siego, CA, USA.
Email: xuzhidu@illinois.edu