University of California, Berkeley Mechanical Engineering

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Thomas Schutzius

Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering

6107 Etcheverry Hall
University of California, Berkeley
Berkeley, CA 94720
tschutzius@berkeley.edu

For more information see:

Dr. Thomas Schutzius is starting as an assistant professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at UC Berkeley in January 2023. Previously, he was an Assistant Professor at ETH Zurich where he led the Laboratory for Multiphase Thermofluidics and Surface Nanoengineering. His research intersects the multidisciplinary fields of energy, surface science and engineering, and thermofluidics, and his experimental work captures the fundamental dynamics of a vast array of interfacial and micro-nanoscale transport phenomena. Dr. Schutzius received the prestigious ERC Starting Grant, which supported his research on understanding the fundamentals of limescale formation on surfaces (scaling) and using this knowledge to rationally engineer “scale-​phobic” surfaces. In 2020 he received the ETH “Golden Owl” Award for excellent teaching and was a nominee for the KITE Award 2022 recognizing innovation in teaching. During his graduate studies, he was the recipient of the Dean’s Scholar Award and the UIC Outstanding Thesis Award. He also received the ETH Zurich Postdoctoral Fellowship. In 2018 he was part of the ETH Zurich representation to the prestigious Global Young Scientist Summit (GYSS) in Singapore.


Research Description:

Dr. Schutzius’ research group is committed to deepening our understanding of nanoscale transport phenomena and leveraging this knowledge for future transformative, sustainable water and energy technologies. Core competencies include micro/nanofabrication techniques, interfacial optical methods, and thermodynamic and interfacial modeling, which are use to study how surfaces and bulk materials can be (nano)engineered to enhance micro/nano-scale and interfacial transport. Based on the group’s findings, they develop and fine-tune materials and devices for application at the water-energy nexus or in healthcare.

Berkeley Fire Research Lab

The Berkeley Fire Research Lab is broadly interested in fire science problems, utilizing experiments and combustion and fluid dynamics theory to solve problems. Our work is centered around the fundamental physics that governs fire phenomena, applying knowledge from fluid mechanics, heat transfer and combustion to solve problems related to fire safety, climate and public health. …

Bio-Thermal Laboratory

Research focus: Heat and mass transfer in biomedical engineering and biotechnology; in particular, low temperature biology, bio-electronics and biomedical devices; in particular, micro and nano bionic technologies and electroporation, medical imaging; in particular, electrical impedance tomography and light imaging, biomedical numerical analysis; in particular, genetic and evolutionary algorithms and fractal techniques.

Vassilia Zorba

Associate Adjunct Professor

6163 Etcheverry Hall
University of California, Berkeley
Berkeley, CA 94720-1740
vzorba@lbl.gov

For more information see: Laser Technologies Group

Professor Vassilia Zorba is the Group Leader for the Laser Technologies Group at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in Berkeley, CA. She is also an Associate Adjunct Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering of the University of California, Berkeley. Her research focuses on the development of the next-generation of laser tools for advanced sensors and laser-based manufacturing. Her research interests include ultrafast laser-material interactions, non-linear optics, remote sensing, laser-induced plasma chemistry, and laser ablation-based chemical analysis in electrochemical energy storage, with emphasis on next-generation Li-ion batteries. Her work has also focused on femtosecond laser surface structuring technologies and biomimetic material functionalization. Professor Zorba’s credits include 72 publications in peer-reviewed journals, more than 40 invited, keynote and plenary talks and a 2011 R&D 100 Technology Award. She serves as a senior editor for the Springer-Nature journal Applied Physics A and is a member of the editorial board for the Journal of Analytical Atomic Spectrometry, Applied Spectroscopy and Spectrochimica Acta Part B.

 

To view Professor Zorba’s CV, please click here.


Research Description:

Energy Science & Technology; MEMS/Nano; Materials

More information about Professor Zorba’s research can be found on her group website, teamd.lbl.gov.

Key Publications:

To view a list of Professor Zorba’s publications on Google Scholar, please click here.

Combustion Fire Processes Laboratory

The laboratory researches topics such as ignition and flame spread of combustible material in space exploration environments and micro-gravity as well as ways in which wildland fires are started by hot metal particles and embers.

Laser Thermal Laboratory

Current research interests are focused on laser materials interactions, nanomanufacturing and the fundamental study of microscale and nanoscale transport phenomena.

Nano/Energy Lab

Our focus is (1) to develop a deeper understanding of the fundamental mechanisms of heat and energy transport and conversion in nanostructures, and (2) to apply this understanding to technologies ranging from thermoelectric energy conversion to thermal management.

Combustion Laboratory

The Combustion Laboratory was established in summer of 1995. Over the years, our research efforts have focused on computational investigations of various phenomena observed in combustion chemistry and physics.

Energy and Multiphase Transport Laboratory

The EMT Laboratory has been operating at Berkeley for decades pursuing research in important topics related to waste heat harvesting, phase change for energy capture and cooling technologies, renewable energy technologies and much more. We host both masters and PhD students as well as visiting scholars and post-doc academics. We foster a collaborative lab environment …

Combustion Modeling Laboratory

Our work focuses on advanced simulations of combustion processes that include fluid dynamic, chemical kinetic, and heat transfer components. We utilize commercial software packages as well as custom in-house computational solvers for modeling advanced combustion problems. We closely collaborate with experimental researchers so that experimental data can guide our simulations and our simulations can guide …

Michael Gollner

Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering
Deb Faculty Fellow

6105A Etcheverry Hall
University of California, Berkeley
Berkeley, CA 94720-1740
mgollner@berkeley.edu
(510) 642-3371

For more information see: Berkeley Fire Research Lab
Current Classes Taught

Dr. Michael Gollner received his B.S. (2008), M.S. (2010) and Ph.D. (2012) in Mechanical Engineering from the University of California, San Diego. He was a faculty member in the Department of Fire Protection Engineering at the University of Maryland, College Park from 2012-2019. He is broadly interested in fire science problems, utilizing experiments and combustion and fluid dynamics theory to solve problems related to fire spread, material flammability, and smoke transport. Much of his work is focused on applications to wildfires, including their spread through vegetation, ignition of structures in the wildland-urban interface (WUI), transport of embers, fire whirls, and emissions from wildfire smoke.

 

Dr. Gollner is active in professional society leadership, serving as Treasurer and a member of the Board of Directors for the International Association of Wildland Fire (IAWF), Chair of the Research Advisory Board of the National Fire Protection Agency (NFPA) Fire Protection Research Foundation, and as a member of the Management Committee of the International Association for Fire Safety Science. He also serves as Associate Editor for the journal Fire Technology and serves on the boards of the Fire Safety Journal and the International Journal of Wildland Fire. He is a principal member of the NFPA Technical Committees on Spaceports and Wildland and Rural Fire Protection. He is also a recipient of the NSF CAREER award, Proulx Early Career Award in Fire Safety Science, and the Fire Protection Research Foundation Medal.

 

To view Dr. Gollner’s CV, please click here.


Research Description:

Combustion, Fire Dynamics, Wildland Fire, Fluid Mechanics

 

Key Publications:

To view a list of Dr. Gollner’s publications, please click here.

Boris Rubinsky

Professor of the Graduate School

6124 Etcheverry Hall
University of California, Berkeley
Berkeley, CA 94720-1740
rubinsky@berkeley.edu
(510) 725-5845

For more information see: Current Classes Taught

To view Professor Rubinsky’s CV, please click here.


Research Description:

Heat and mass transfer in biomedical engineering and biotechnology in particular low temperature biology, bio-electronics and biomedical devices in particular micro and nano bionic technologies and electroporation, medical imaging in particular electrical impedance tomography and light imaging, biomedical numerical analysis in particular genetic and evolutionary algorithms and fractal techniques.

 

Ravi Prasher

Adjunct Professor

University of California, Berkeley
Berkeley, CA 4720-1740
prasher@berkeley.edu
(510) 486-7291

For more information see: Prasher Research Group
Current Classes Taught

Ravi Prasher is the Associate Lab Director of the Energy Technologies Area and Senior Scientist at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab). He is also an adjunct professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the University of California, Berkeley.

 

Dr. Prasher joined Berkeley Lab in June, 2015. Previously, he was vice president of product development of Sheetak Inc., a startup developing solid state thermoelectric energy converters. He relocated to India for a while to develop these technologies for the rural Indian market. Dr. Prasher earlier worked as one of the first program directors at the Department of Energy’s Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E). While there, he created the Building Energy Efficiency Through Innovative Thermodevices (BEET-IT) and the High Energy Advanced Thermal Storage (HEATS) programs. Prior to joining ARPA-E, Dr. Prasher was the technology development manager of the thermal management group at Intel. He was also an adjunct professor in the school of engineering at Arizona State University (ASU) from 2005-2013, where his research was funded by the National Science Foundation and the Office of Naval Research.

 

Dr. Prasher has published more than 120 archival journal papers in top science and engineering journals such as Nature Nanotechnology, Physical Review Letters, Joule and Journal of Heat Transfer. He holds more than 35 patents in the area of thermoelectrics, microchannels, heat pipes, thermal interface materials, nanostructured materials and devices. He has served on the Ph.D. committee of students at Stanford and ASU. He is a fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, and a senior member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). He was the recipient of an Intel achievement award (the highest award for technical achievement in Intel). He is also a recipient of the outstanding young engineer award from the components and packaging society of IEEE. He has served on the editorial committee of Annual Reviews of Environment and Resources, Nano and Microscale Thermophysical Engineering, the IEEE Components, Packaging and Manufacturing Technology and ASME Journal of Heat Transfer. He has given multiple invited talks all over the world on nano to macroscale thermal energy processes and systems. More information about Ravi’s research can be found on his group website, prasherlab.lbl.gov.

 

Dr. Prasher obtained his B.Tech. from the Indian Institute of Technology Delhi and Ph.D. from Arizona State University.

 

To view Dr. Prasher’s CV, please click here.


Research Description:

Dr. Prasher’s primary research interests are fundamental and applied studies of Nano-to-macroscale thermal energy process and systems, using both theoretical and experimental methods. Some topics of current interest include thermal transport in Lithium ion batteries, microelectronics thermal management using microfluidics, solar thermal energy conversion, high density thermochemical storage, solar thermal desalination, heat and mass transfer in roll-to-roll manufacturing process and applications of machine learning in inverse design of optical metamaterials.

 

Key Publications:

To view a list of Dr. Prasher’s publications, please click here. You can also view Dr. Prasher’s profile on google scholar.

Costas Grigoropoulos

A. Martin Berlin Chair in Mechanical Engineering

A. Martin Berlin Chair in Mechanical Engineering
Distinguished Professor of Mechanical Engineering

6129 Etcheverry Hall
University of California, Berkeley
Berkeley, CA 94720-1740
cgrigoro@berkeley.edu
(510) 642-2525

For more information see: Laser Thermal Lab
Current Classes Taught

Costas P. Grigoropoulos received his Diploma Degrees in Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering (1978), and in Mechanical Engineering (1980) from the National Technical University of Athens, Greece. He holds a M.Sc. degree (1983), and a Ph.D. (1986), both in Mechanical Engineering from Columbia University. He joined the faculty of the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the University of California at Berkeley as an Assistant Professor in 1990, after serving as an Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Washington from 1986-1990. He was promoted to Associate Professor in July 1993 and to Professor in Mechanical Engineering in July 1997. He has conducted research at the Xerox Mechanical Engineering Sciences Laboratory, the IBM Almaden Research Center and the Institute of Electronic Structure and Laser, FORTH, Greece. He is Faculty Staff Scientist with the Environmental Energy Technologies Division of the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.


Research Description:

Laser materials processing and micro/nano-machining, fabrication of flexible electronics and energy conversion devices, characterization of micro/nanofluidic transport, laser interactions with biological materials, architected materials.

 

Key Publications:

To view a list of Professor Grigoropoulos’ publications, please visit the Laser Thermal Lab website.

Ralph Greif

Professor of the Graduate School

6165 Etcheverry Hall
University of California, Berkeley
Berkeley, CA 94720-1740
greif@berkeley.edu
(510) 642-6462

For more information see: Current Classes Taught

To view Professor Grief’s CV, please click here.


Research Description:

Heat and mass transfer, micro scale transport, fuel cells, cooling at the chip level, semiconductor wafers, materials processing, laser surface interactions, nuclear reactor safety, phase change, buoyancy transport, bio heat transfer, reacting flows, deposition

 

Key Publications:

For a list of Professor Greif’s publications, please click here.

Michael Frenklach

Roscoe and Elizabeth Hughes Chair in Mechanical Engineering

Distinguished Professor of Mechanical Engineering
Roscoe and Elizabeth Hughes Chair in Mechanical Engineering

6105B Etcheverry Hall
University of California, Berkeley
Berkeley, CA 94720-1740
frenklach@berkeley.edu
(510) 643-1676

For more information see: Combustion Laboratory
Current Classes Taught

Research Description:

Chemical kinetics; Computer modeling; Combustion chemistry; Pollutant formation (NOx, soot); Shock tube; Chemical vapor deposition of diamond films; Homogeneous nucleation of silicon, silicon carbide, and diamond powders; Interstellar dust formation.

 

Key Publications:

For a list of Professor Frenklach’s publications, please visit the Combustion Laboratory website.

Carlos Fernandez-Pello

Professor of the Graduate School
Almy C. Maynard and Agnes Offield Maynard Endowed Chair (7/1/2009-6/30/2020)

6105A Etcheverry Hall
University of California, Berkeley
Berkeley, CA 94720-1740
ferpello@me.berkeley.edu
(510) 642-6554

For more information see: Combustion Fire Processes Laboratory
Current Classes Taught

To view Professor Fernandez-Pello’s CV, please click here.


Research Description:

Ignition and fire spread; smoldering and transition to flaming; spacecraft/aircraft fire safety; wildland fire propagation and wildland fire spotting; liquid fuel pool burning; self heating and ignition; small-scale energy generation; biofuels combustion

 

To learn more about Professor Fernandez-Pello’s research, please visit the Combustion Fire Processes Laboratory website. Also, for a list of Professor Fernandez-Pello’s research activities, please click here.

 

Key Publications:

For a list of Professor Fernandez-Pello’s publications, please click here.

Robert Dibble

Professor of the Graduate School

73 Hesse Hall
University of California, Berkeley
Berkeley, CA 94720-1740
rdibble@berkeley.edu
(510) 406-0031

For more information see: Combustion Research Laboratory
Current Classes Taught

Professor R. W. Dibble is the principal investigator of the Combustion Analysis group. His main area of research is the internal combustion engine. He is also the leading scientist behind the development of the Argon Power Cycle technology.


Research Description:

Laser diagnostics in turbulent reactive flows, generation of “green” fuels from biomass, including ethanol and bioDiesel mitigation of greenhouse gases, highest efficiency and lowest pollution combustion of fuels derived from biomass, combustion issues related to global warming, conversion of waste heat to power via Organic Rankine Cycle ( ORC ), spectroscopy, chemical kinetics, turbulent combustion, optics and electronics. Combustion in turbine engines, combustion of oxygenates and biodeisel fuel in diesel engines. Combustion in new engine concept of Homogeneous Charge Compression Ignition (HCCI).

 

Chris Dames

Howard Penn Brown Chair in Mechanical Engineering

Chair, Department of Mechanical Engineering
Professor of Mechanical Engineering
Howard Penn Brown Chair in Mechanical Engineering

6143 Etcheverry Hall
University of California, Berkeley
Berkeley, CA 94720-1740
cdames@berkeley.edu
(510) 643-7013

For more information see: Nano/Energy Lab
Current Classes Taught

Chris Dames received his Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 2006. His B.S. and M.S. are from UC Berkeley (1998, 2001). He was a faculty member at UC Riverside from 2006-2011 before joining UC Berkeley in 2011, and he has also worked as a research engineer for Solo Energy Corp. (1998-1999). His research interests emphasize fundamental studies of heat transfer and energy conversion at the nanoscale, using both theoretical and experimental methods. Some topics of current interest include graphene, nanocrystalline materials, mean free path distributions, thermoelectrics, biological systems, and highly anisotropic and nonlinear transport including thermal rectification. His research has been recognized with a DARPA Young Faculty Award (2009) and NSF CAREER award (2011).


Research Description:

Heat transfer and energy conversion at the micro and nano scale. Theoretical and experimental methods. Nanostructured thermoelectric materials. Thermal rectification. Graphene. Nonlinear, anisotropic, and asymmetric heat transfer.

 

Key Publications:

For a list of Professor Dames’ publications, please visit the Nano/Energy Lab website.

Van P. Carey

A. Richard Newton Chair in Engineering

A. Richard Newton Chair in Engineering
Distinguished Professor of Mechanical Engineering

6123 Etcheverry Hall
University of California, Berkeley
Berkeley, CA 94720-1740
vpcarey@berkeley.edu
(510) 642-7177

For more information see: Energy and Multiphase Transport Laboratory
Current Classes Taught

Professor Carey is widely recognized for his research on near-interface micro- and nanoscale thermophysics and transport in liquid-vapor systems, and computational modeling and simulation of energy conversion and transport processes.  His research has frequently included modeling at multiple scales, ranging from the molecular level (molecular dynamics simulation of thermophysics) to the device and system level (multidevice system models).  His research is also exploring the use of machine learning strategies to enhance performance of energy conversion and transport in applications, and create energy technologies that can autonomously adapt to maximize their performance and reduce their environmental impact.  

 

Since joining the Berkeley faculty in 1982, Professor Carey’s research has spanned a variety of applications areas, including high performance solar thermal power systems, building and vehicle air conditioning, smelting and casting of aluminum, phase change thermal energy storage, heat pipes for aerospace applications, high heat flux cooling of electronics, data center thermal management, and energy efficiency of digital information systems.  His research has contributed to developing advanced heat rejection technologies for electronics cooling, building AC systems, and power plants, and he has developed performance models for Tesla turbine expanders for green energy conversion technologies and thermionic power generation technologies for space applications.

 

Carey’s current research emphasizes development of strategies to use machine learning tools to better understand and model flame spread processes in electronic systems and the physics of boiling heat transfer at surfaces covered with hydrophilic nanostructured coatings.  This includes exploring innovative ways to combine advanced instrumentation data and machine learning image analysis to understand the physics of boiling processes.   He is also using machine learning tools to enhance performance modeling of energy conversion devices, and developing machine-learning-based adaptive energy conversion systems that can autonomously adjust their operation to simultaneously maximize energy efficiency and meet operating requirements for the application of interest. 

 

Carey is a Fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) and the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and he has also served as the Chair of the Heat Transfer Division of ASME.  Carey received the James Harry Potter Gold Medal in 2004 for his eminent achievement in thermodynamics, and the Heat Transfer Memorial Award in the Science category (2007) from the ASME.  Carey is also a three-time recipient of the Hewlett Packard Research Innovation Award for his research on electronics thermal management and energy efficiency (2008, 2009, and 2010), and he received the 2014 Thermophysics Award from the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics.


Key Publications:

To view a list of Professor Carey’s publications, please visit the Energy and Multiphase Transport Laboratory website.

David M. Auslander

Professor of the Graduate School

Professor of the Graduate School

5120 Etcheverry Hall
University of California, Berkeley
Berkeley, CA 94720-1740
dma@me.berkeley.edu
(510) 642-4930

For more information see: Current Classes Taught

Research Description:

Automatic control system design, mini-microcomputer system bioengineering, modeling and simulation of dynamic systems, process control.