Nanoscale and Ultrafast Thermal Sciences and Applications Lab (NUTS)

Nano-enabled Energy Conversion, Storage and Thermal Management Systems (NEXT) Group

University of Colorado at Boulder

Director: Dr. Ronggui Yang, Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering

Office Location: ECME 136, Engineering Center

Post-Doctor Offices: ECME 251A, ECME 251B

Student Offices and Labs: ECME 165, ECME 219

Tel: 303-735-1003 (O), 303-735-1763 (Lab); Fax: 303-492-3498

People Research Publications Facilities Open Positions News

NEXT Research Team

We usually recruit 2-3 post-doc research associates and/or Ph.D students annually! For openings, check out here!

Director

Dr. Ronggui Yang (Ph.D 02/2006 MIT, MS 06/2001 UCLA, MS 07/1999 Tsinghua Univ., BS 07/1996 Xi’an Jiaotong University)

1). Current Research Group Members

Visiting Professor

Professor Yujie Wei (Visiting Professor, September 2011- May 2012, Research Area: Mechanics of Nanostructures, Ph.D 07/2006 MIT, MS. 07/2000, Chinese Academy of Science, BS 07/1997 Peking Uiversity. URL: http://www.lnm.cn/wei/index.files/index_english.htm )

Post-Doctoral Research Associates

Dr. Wei Wang (Post-Doc, August 2008 - , Research Area: Nanostructures for Energy Conversion, Storage and Thermal Management, Ph.D 07/2008 Condensed Matter Physics & B.Sc. 07/2003 Physics, University of Science and Technology of China)

Dr. Jiafeng Wu (Post-Doc, March 2011 -, Research Area: Dropwise Condensation and Flow Condensation, Ph.D 01/2009 Engineering Thermophysics & B.Sc. 09/2003 Power Engineering, Southeast University, China)

Ph.D Students

Mr. Jun Liu (Ph.D student, Aug. 2008 - , Research Area: Nanostructured Thermal Interface Materials, BS 2008 Thermal Engineering, Huangzhong University of Science and Technology, China)

Mr. Suraj Joottu Thiagarajan (Ph.D student, June 2008 - , Research Area: Enhanced Spray Cooling and Pool Boiling on Textured Surfaces, MS. 2007, Mechanical Engineering, Ohio State University, BS 2005, PSG College of Technology, India)

Mr. Dave Makhija (Ph.D student, co-advised with Prof. Kurt Maute in Aerospace Engineering Sciences, Aug. 2008 - , Research Area: Boltzmann Transport Equation-based Modeling of Micro/Nano- Flow and Heat Transfer, BS 2008 Mechanical Engineering & BS 2008 Physics, Kettering University)

Ms. Miao Tian (Ph.D student, Aug. 2009 - , Research Area: Nanostructures for Energy Storage and Thermal Management, MS 2009 & BS 2007 in Applied Physics, Xi’an Jiaotong University, China)

Mr. Qian Li (Ph.D Student, Aug. 2009 - , Research Area: Functionalized Micro/Nano-Structures for Phase-Change Heat Transfer, MS. 2009, Institute of Engineering Thermophysics, Chinese Academy of Science, BS 2006, Thermal Science and Energy Engineering, University of Science and Technology of China)

Mr. Xiaokun Gu (Ph.D Student, Aug. 2011 - , Research Area: Quantum-Mechanics-Driven Prediction of Thermal Transport, MS. 2011 & BS.2008, Engineering Thermophysics, Tsinghua University, China)

Mr. Zhixin Sun (Ph.D Student, Aug. 2011 - , Research Area: Multiscale Simulation of Nanoscale Heat Transfer, MS. 2011 Xi’an Jiaotong University & BS.2005, Shangdong University, China)

Visiting Scholars/Students

Mr. Gensheng Wu (September 2010-September 2012, Ph.D Student 2008- , School of Mechanical Engineering, Southeast University, China, Research Area: Enhancing Flow Boiling Performance in Microchannels)

Master’s Students

Mr. John Goblirsch (September 2009 - May 2012, Research Area: Functionalized Micro/Nano-Structures for Pool Boiling Heat Transfer, May 2011, BS in Mechanical Engineering and BS in Applied Math, University of Colorado at Boulder)

Mr. Eli Kuhlmann (May 2011 – May 2012, Summer Research: Optical Characterization of Nanoscale Heat Transport)

Undergraduate Students

Mr. Jeffrey Pilkinton (September 2011 – May 2012, Research Area: Phase-Change Heat Transfer on Micro/Nano-Structured Surfaces)

Mr. Alexander R. Ting (September 2011 – , Research Area: Micro/Nano-structures for Energy Storage)

2). Alumni who made contributions to the group:

Mr. Xiaobo Li, Current Position: Post-Doctor at MIT with Professor Gang Chen, (Ph.D student, Aug. 2007 - April 2012, Research Area: Molecular Dynamics Simulation and Nonequilibrium Green’s Function Theory for Phonon Transport in Nanostructures, MS 2007, Institute of Engineering Thermophysics, Chinese Academy of Science)

Dr. Jun Zhou, Current Position: Professor at Tongji University, Shanghai, China, (Post-Doc, May 2009 - March 2012, Research Area: Thermoelectric Transport, Electron and Phonon Coupling across Material Interfaces, Ph.D 01/2009 Condensed Matter Physics & B.Sc. 07/2004 Physics , University of Science and Technology of China)

Dr. Yuanyuan Wang, Current Position: *** at Eastern China Normal University, Shanghai, China, (Post-Doc, September 2010 - March 2012, Research Area: Thermoelectric Transport in Hybrid Organic-Inorganic Materials, Ph.D 12/2010 Condensed Matter Physics & B.Sc. 07/2004 Physics, University of Science and Technology of China)

Ms. Dan Li, Current Position: Ph.D student at Stanford University, (September 2009-September 2011, Ph.D student 2007- , Institute of Microelectronics, Peking University, China, B.Sc. Microelectronics, Tianjin University, Research Area: Enhancing Flow Boiling Performance in Microchannels)

Mr. Benoit Latour, Current Position: Ph.D Student at Ecole Central Paris, (February 2011-August 2011, MS/BS Student 2006-2012, Ecole Central Paris, France, Research Area: Functionalized Micro/Nano-Structures for Pool Boiling Heat Transfer)

Mr. Jose Ordonez, Current Position: Post-Doctor at Max Planck Institute of Polymer Research, (Visiting Ph.D student for June 2010-June 2011, Ph.D student 2008- , Applied Physics Department, Cinvestav-Unidad Merida, Mexico, Research Area: Reduced Order Modeling of Thermal Conductivity in Nanocomposites)

Mr. Yadong Zhang, Current Position: Intel, (Ph.D student, co-advised with Prof. Y.C. Lee, Aug. 2006 – Apr. 2011, Research Area: ALD Hermetic Packaging – Micro/Nanofabrication and Characterization, MS. 2004/ BS. 2001, Material Science and Engineering, Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, China)

Mr. Jen-Hau Cheng, Current Position: Bell Labs, (Ph.D student, co-advised with Prof. Y.C. Lee, Aug. 2006 – Aug. 2010, Research Area: Interconnect and Thermal Management Technologies for GaN Nanowire Devices, MS 2003, Mechanical Engineering, National Taiwan University)

Mr. Jie Zhu, Current Position: Research Scientist at the Institute of Engineering Thermophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, (Visiting Ph.D student, February 2009-September 2010, Ph.D student 2004-, Institute of Engineering Thermophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, BS 2004, Thermal Science and Energy Engineering, University of Science and Technology of China).

Dr. Weixue Tian, Current Position: Caterpillar Inc., (Post-Doc, Jan. 2006 – Sep. 2007, Research Area: Monte Carlo Simulation of Phonon Transport, Ph.D 12/2005, Mechanical Engineering, University of Connecticut, MS. 2000 / BS. 1997, Shanghai Jiaotong University.)

Ms. Liang-Chun Liu, Current Position: Ph.D student at National Taiwan University (Visiting Ph.D student from National Taiwan University, Sep. 2007-Sep. 2008, Research Area: Phonon Transport and Nanoscale Thermal Characterization)

3). Job Placement of NEXT Alumni:

Ph.D Graduates:

Name (years at CU-NEXT)	Role	First Job after leaving NEXT	Current Position
Xiaobo Li	Ph.D student	Post-Doc at MIT
Yadong Zhang (09/06- 04/11)	Ph.D student	Intel	Intel
Jen-Hau Cheng (09/06-09/10)	Ph.D student	Bell Labs	Bell Labs

M.Sc Graduates:

Name (years at CU-NEXT)	Role	First Job after leaving NEXT	Current Position
Jun Liu	MS/Ph.D student	-	Ph.D student in NEXT
Miao Tian	MS/Ph.D student	-	Ph.D student in NEXT
Suresh Ramanan (01/07-12/09)	Master’s student	Schlumberger	Schlumberger

Post-doctor Research Associates and Visiting Scholars:

Name (years at CU-NEXT)	Role	First Job after leaving NEXT	Current Position
Jun Zhou (05/09-03/12)	Post-Doc	Professor, Tongji University	Professor, Tongji University, Shanghai, China
Yuanyuan Wang	Post-Doc	Eastern China Normal University	Eastern China Normal University, Shanghai, China
Dae Up Ahn (01/08-06/09)	Post-Doc	Post-Doc at CU-Boulder
Xiaochun Wang (09/07-09/08)	Post-Doc	Tsinghua University	Associate Professor, Institute of Atomic and Molecular Physics, Jilin University, Changchun, China (10/2010-)
Weixue Tian (01/06-09/07)	Post-Doc	Caterpillar Inc	Caterpillar, Inc (09/07- )

Dan Li (09/09-09/11)	Visiting Ph.D Student	Ph.D student in Beijing University	Ph.D student in Stanford University (06/2012- )
Jose Ordonez (06/10-06/11)	Visiting Ph.D student	Ph.D student inCinvestav-Unidad Merida, Mexico	Post-Doc at Max-Planck Institute of Polymer Research (06/2012- )
Liang-Chun Liu (09/07-09/08)	Visiting Ph.D student	Ph.D student in National Taiwan University	Applied Materials Inc. (01/2011- )
Jie Zhu (02/09-09/10)	Visiting Ph.D student	Ph.D student in Chinese Academy of Sciences	Research Scientist at the Institute of Engineering Thermophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences. (09/2010-)

4). Awards Received by Advisees

1. Miao Tian, May 2012, Mechanical Engineering Graduate Student of the Month, CU-Boulder.

2. Jun Liu, March 2012, ***, 12th GEAR²S Conference, Mechanical Engineering, CU-Boulder.

3. Christopher Oshman, Qian Li, Li-Anne Liew, Ronggui Yang, Yung-Cheng Lee, Victor M. Bright “Development of Flexible Thermal Ground Planes,” DARPA/iMINT Center Best Poster Award (1 out of 3 from a total of 30), November 2011.

4. Yadong Zhang, May 2011, Outstanding Ph.D Dissertation Award in Mechanical Engineering, CU-Boulder.

5. Xiaobo Li, September 2010, Mechanical Engineering Graduate Student of the Month, CU-Boulder.

6. Jun Liu, February 2010, Mechanical Engineering Graduate Student of the Month, CU-Boulder.

7. Qing Li , Mark Siemens , Ronggui Yang , Keith Nelson, Erik Anderson , Margaret Murnane , Henry Kapteyn, Quasi-ballistic thermal transport from a nanoscale hotspot observed using ultrafast coherent extreme ultraviolet beams, Fall 2009 Meeting of the Four Corners Section of the APS, Best Presentation Award, Golden, CO, October 23-24, 2009.

8. Mark Siemens, 2009 National Research Council Postdoctoral Fellowship.

9. Yadong Zhang, October 2009, Mechanical Engineering Graduate Student of the Month, CU-Boulder.

10. Jen-Hau Cheng, August 2009, Mechanical Engineering Graduate Student of the Month, CU-Boulder.

11. Wei Wang, Dae Up Ahn, Chen Li, Victor Bright, Y. C. Lee and Ronggui Yang, Fabrications of Nanowire Arrays for Emerging Energy Application, DARPA/iMINT Center First Prize Best Poster Award (1 out of 2 from a total of 30), March 2009.

12. Chris Oshman, Bo Shi, Chen Li, Ronggui Yang, Y. C. Lee and Victor Bright, A New Direction in Cooling Photovoltaics, DARPA/iMINT Center Second Prize Best Poster Award (1 out of 3 from a total of 30), March 2009.

13. Jun Liu, Best Graduate Teaching Assistant (TA) award of 2008-2009 academic year, Department of Mechanical Engineering, 2009.

14. Dave Makhija, Best Presentation of the First Year Graduate Students, 9^th GEARS Conference, Department of Mechanical Engineering, 2009.

15. Suraj Joottu Thiagarajan, Engineering Dean’s Research Assistantship (RA paid by the Dean for a semester, 1 out of 7 total awarded in 2008 in the college.), 2008.

16. Dave Makhija, Engineering Dean’s Research Assistantship (RA paid by the Dean for a semester, 1 out of 7 total awarded in 2008 in the college.), 2008.

17. Yadong Zhang, Travel Fellowship for attending the 2008 SID Display Seminar and Exhibition, Society for Information Display, May 2008.

18. Yadong Zhang, David miller, J. Bertrand, Ronggui Yang, Martin L. Dunn, Steven M. George, and Y.C. Lee, et al, ‘Visualization of Defects and Cracks in Atomic Layer Deposition-base Barrier Coatings,” DARPA/iMINT Center Best Poster Award (1 out of 3 from a total of 30), March 2008.

19. Bo Shi, Victor M. Bright, Ronggui Yang, G.P. Peterson, Keith Peterson, and Chen Li, “Thermal Modeling and Design of Flexible Thermal Ground Plane,” DARPA/iMINT Center Best Poster Award (1 out of 3 from a total of 30), March 2008.

20. Weixue Tian, Jen-Hau.Cheng, Scott R. Johnson, Y.C. Lee, Victor Bright, and Ronggui Yang, ‘Photonic Crystal enabled Micro Heat Pipe Arrays and Micro Capillary Pumped Loops,” DARPA/iMINT Center Best Poster Award (1 out of 3 from a total of 25), March 2007.

5). Some Recent Pictures of the Group

(Welcome Party in Ronggui’s House, August 2006)

(Lunch in Boulder, Spring 2007)

(Thanksgiving Party in Ronggui’s House, 2007)

(Prof. Dresselhaus’ Visit in April 2008)

Group_Picture_Fall_2009

(Welcome Party in Ronggui’s House, September 2009)

(Welcome Party in Ronggui’s House, August 21, 2010. Missing: Mr. Yadong Zhang, Mr. Dave Makhija, Ms. Dan Li, and Mr. John Goblirsch)

(Jun Liu, Xiaobo Li, and Jie Zhu presented their papers at the 14^th International Heat Transfer Conference in Washington DC on Aug 8-13, 2010)

(Ronggui Yang received the ASME Bergles-Rohsenow Young Investigator Award in Heat Transfer from Professor Art E. Bergles during the Heat Transfer Award Luncheon at the 14^th International Heat Transfer Conference in Washington DC on Aug 8-13, 2010)

(Group Outing in Aspen, CO, on Sep 25-26, 2010)

(Thanksgiving Party in Ronggui’s House, 2011)

(Professor Mildred S. Dresselhaus' visit on Sunday January 14, 2012. Yujie, Xiaobo, Jun and Yuanyuan discussed graphene [mechanics and thermal properties] and thermoelectric research with Professor Dresselhaus. She appeared to be very impressed by their efforts. Congrats Millie on her Fermi Prize named by President Obama http://energy.gov/articles/president-obama-names-scientists-mildred-dresselhaus-and-burton-richter-enrico-fermi-award)