Energy related research in Mechanical Engineering at Berkeley encompasses a broad range of science and technology areas spanning a variety of applications that involve storage, transport, conversion, and use of energy. Specific areas of ongoing research include hydrogen energy systems, combustion of biofuels, pollution control in engines, development of next generation compression ignition engine technologies, radiation interaction with nanostructured surfaces, laser processing of materials, nanofabrication using lasers, combustion in microgravity environments, development of nanostructured thermoelectric materials, concentrating photovoltaic solar power, solar thermal combined heat and power systems, energy efficiency and sustainability of data centers, waste energy recovery, high performance thermal management systems for electronics, and ocean energy technologies. Research in these areas ranges from fundamental research, that aims to understand and/or model critically important processes and mechanisms, to applied research that explores new energy technology concepts at the application level.
The Major Field Advisors for each research area are listed here.
Core Faculty:
Faculty with research interests that relate to Energy Science and Technology issues include Professors David M. Auslander, Ravi Prasher, and Vassilia Zorba.
Energy Science and Technology Labs:
Berkeley Fire Research Lab
Bio-Thermal Laboratory
Combustion Fire Processes Laboratory
Combustion Laboratory
Combustion Modeling Laboratory
Energy and Multiphase Transport Laboratory
Laser Thermal Laboratory
Nano/Energy Lab
