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College of Engineering Teaching, Service and Contribution Awards Recipients
Devesh Ranjan was recently named one of the recipients of the 2012-13 College of Engineering Caterpillar Teaching Excellence Award. Jaime Grunlan was named to the E. D. Brockett Professorship. The awards are given to those faculty who have shown excellence in teaching, service, and contributions to the College and University. Both recipients will receive a monetary gift and an award plaque at the College of Engineering awards banquet In the spring of 2013.
Professor Zacharia is granted the NSF CAREER Award from the Division of Materials Research
COLLEGE STATION, Texas – Dr. Nicole Zacharia, assistant professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering and the Materials Science and Engineering Program at Texas A&M University, has received the prestigious Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Award from the National Science Foundation (NSF) for her proposal, “Electric Field Processing of Polyelectrolyte Complex.”
The work to be conducted under this award is to examine phase behavior of solutions of synthetic polyelectrolyte complexes and to then use an electric field to manipulate these complexes in solution with the goal of depositing them as solids onto substrates. Synthetic polyelectrolytes, both strong and weak, that are typically used in layer-by-layer (LbL) assembly of polyelectrolyte multilayers (such as polyacrylic acid, sulfonated polystyrene, polyallylamine hydrochloride, and polyethylene imine) will be examined.
The first part of the work will be to determine phase diagrams for the complexes of different pairs of polyelectrolytes as a function of pH, solution ionic strength, molecular weight, and concentration. The thermodynamic behavior of these complexes is generally masked by kinetic considerations, and unraveling these components will be one goal. The next phase of the work will be to look at adsorption of complexes of different stoichiometries onto charged surfaces. The third phase of the work will be to compare this equilibrium adsorption to deposition onto charged surfaces under the influence of an electric field. Factors including ionic strength, dielectric constant of the solvent, and addition of other components such as metal nanoparticles will be examined. This process will eventually be generalized to look at the electrophoretic deposition of other types of soft matter such as micelles or hollow polyelectrolyte capsules.
The last phase of the work is to examine the solid materials created by this process. It is hypothesized that different stoichiometries and properties can be achieved through electric field manipulation as compared to equilibrium adsorption onto a surface.
Zacharia joined the Materials Division in the Department of Mechanical Engineering in 2009. She received her Ph.D. from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in 2007. From 2007 to 2009 Zacharia worked at the University of Toronto as a Postdoctoral Fellow in the departments of Electrical Engineering and Chemistry.
This CAREER award is another outstanding accomplishment Zacharia will be able to include in an already impressive list of awards.
Professor Ranjan Receives Prestigious NSF CAREER Award
Mechanical Engineering assistant professor, Dr. Devesh Ranjan, has been awarded the National Science Foundation’s (NSF) Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Award for his five year project, “Transition, Turbulence and Mixing in Shock-Accelerated Variable Density Flows at Extreme Conditions.” The CAREER program is NSF’s most prestigious award for junior faculty members.
The scientific goal of this CAREER project is to produce, diagnose and simulate shock-driven turbulent flows in a compressible system. The outcomes of Ranjan’s work may contribute to developing more efficient designs for fuel pellets, which are essential for the success of the inertial confinement fusion as a method to provide energy from fusion in a commercially viable manner. Ranjan has a well-documented impact on undergraduate education. By involving several undergraduate students in research work in his laboratory these efforts will be continued and recruitment of "first-generation college" and women students will be emphasized. Additionally, he proposes to develop an educational on-line game (HEATS), an innovative approach to help students better understand the design of Thermal Fluid Systems. All these efforts will contribute to providing a steady supply of trained scientists for the nation.
It is rare for an assistant professor to be granted research funds from three different federal agencies in a short span of six months. Ranjan’s streak started with a $438,000 contract from the Department of Energy – National Nuclear Security administration to obtain detailed measurements of turbulent Rayleigh-Taylor driven mixing in a multi-layer ICF capsule. Just last week, Ranjan received the Air Force Office of Scientific Research-Young Investigator Research Program (AFOSR-YIP) grant for his research project, “Breaking with Tradition: Turbulence with Memory.” Over the last four years, his current research efforts are funded by several federal agencies including DOE-NNSA, DOE-NEUP, Los Alamos National Laboratory, and Livermore National Laboratory.
In addition to the research awards, Ranjan has received the Student Led Teaching Excellence Award (SLATE) in 2009, Morris E. Foster Faculty Fellowship in 2010, and the honor of being named TEES Select Young Fellow in 2012.
Ranjan joined the Department of Mechanical Engineering in January 2009. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin – Madison in 2007. By 2008 Ranjan was a Director’s Research Fellow at Los Alamos National Laboratory. His fields of interest include: experimental fluid mechanics, impulsive unsteady phenomena and experimental thermal hydraulics, and laser diagnostics to name a few.
Mechanical Engineering is proud to have such an accomplished faculty member within the department and looks forward to great things ahead from this young professor.
Dr. Devesh Ranjan Awarded AFOSR-YIP
Dr. Devesh Ranjan, assistant professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering, is one of forty scientists and engineers who will receive approximately $15 million in grants from the Air Force Office of Scientific Research through its Young Investigator Research Program (AFOSR-YIP).
The grant was awarded for Ranjan’s research titled, “Breaking with Tradition: Turbulence with Memory.” The research questions the orthodox assumption that turbulent mixing involves rapid loss of memory between two fluids. Mathematical turbulence models are based on the assumption of memory loss and equilibrium flows. These constraints make it hard to predict the development of turbulence. The new findings will provide useful insights in shock-induced mixing and non-uniform combustion in SCRAM engines, climate prediction, and free-flowing jets and plumes.
Ranjan joined the Texas A&M faculty in 2009. After receiving his Ph.D. in 2007 from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Ranjan was a postdoctoral research associate and director’s research fellow at Los Alamos National Laboratory. He was awarded the Alexander von Humboldt Fellowship for Postdoctoral Research in 2008. His research interests include experimental fluid mechanics (hydrodynamic instabilities), turbulent mixing and supersonic combustion, shock tube applications, experimental thermal hydraulics and laser diagnostics, design of thermal systems, and shock wave lithotripsy. Among the awards he has received in his short time at Texas A&M University are the Student Led Teaching Excellence Award (SLATE) in 2009 and the TEES Select Young Fellow in 2012. His current research efforts are funded by several federal agencies including DOE-NNSA, DOE-NEUP, Los Alamos National Laboratory, and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.
The objective of the AFOSR-YIP program is to foster creative basic research in science and engineering, enhance early career development of outstanding young investigators, and increase opportunities for the young investigators to recognize the Air Force mission and the related challenges in science and engineering. Major research areas include aerospace, chemical and material sciences; physics and electronics; and mathematics, information and life sciences. The recipients selected will receive the grants over a three- to five-year period.
Ranjan, Staack, Yu TEES Select Young Faculty
Seven faculty members in the Dwight Look College of Engineering at Texas A&M University have been recognized by the Texas A&M Engineering Experiment Station (TEES) as TEES Select Young Faculty. The award recognizes outstanding young faculty members who have demonstrated their talents for research. TEES is an engineering research agency of the State of Texas and a member of The Texas A&M University System. Texas A&M engineering faculty hold joint appointments as TEES researchers.
Among the recognized are three mechanical engineering faculty members – Devesh Ranjan, David Staack, and Choongho Yu.
Dr. Devesh Ranjan is an assistant professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering, having joined the Texas A&M faculty in 2009. He was previously a postdoctoral research associate and a director's research fellow at Los Alamos National Laboratory. He earned a bachelor's degree from the National Institute of Technology, Trichy (india), and master's and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Wisconsin, all in mechanical engineering. His research interests are in experimental fluid mechanics (hydrodynamic instabilities), turbulent mixing and supersonic combustion, impulsive unsteady phenomena, shock tube applications, experimental thermal hydraulics and laser diagnostics, design of thermal systems, and shock wave lithotripsy.
Dr. David Staack is an assistant professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering. He received his B.S. and M.S. from the University of Virginia and his Ph.D. from Drexel University and is the author or co-author of more than 20 peer-reviewed journal publications. His research interests include non-equilibrium plasmas; micro- and nano-scale plasmas; electric propulsion for spacecraft; plasma enhanced materials processing and synthesis; plasma enhanced fuel conversion and combustion; biological and medical plasma applications; and laser and spectroscopic diagnostics. Staack received the prestigious Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Award from the National Science Foundation in 2011.
Dr. Choongho Yu joined the Texas A&M mechanical engineering faculty in 2007. He was previously a postdoctoral researcher at the University of California, Berkeley, and the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. Yu earned bachelor's and master's degrees from Korea University and a Ph.D. from the University of Texas at Austin, all in mechanical engineering. His research interests are in energy harvesting and cooling (thermoelectric, fuel cell and photovoltaic energy conversions); thermal and electrical transport behaviors; energy storage (Li-ion battery materials and supercapacitors); and thermal management.
November 30, 2012 Lab Tours
On November 30, 2012, the Department of Mechanical Engineering restarted the long standing tradition of laboratory tours. This month the showecased labs included labs from Professors: Aames, Banerjee and Staack. Please check our home page for next month's tours. Coffee, tea and cookies will bve served.
ME Student awarded first place in San Diego poster Competition
Congratulations to Mechanical Engineering student and Plano, TX native Chris McDonald.
McDonald won first place in the Annual APS-Division of Fluid Dynamics conference in San Diego last month. His win was based upon the experimental work in the area of shock driven flows. McDonald along with PhD candidate, Jacob McFarland, began working on the shock tube in Dr. Ranjan’s lab in February 2012. McDonald is a senior in the ME program and set to graduate in Fall 2013.
Additional Information on McDonald’s awarding winning poster:
Poster title: Experimental Investigation of the Richtmyer-Meshkov Instability on Inclined Interface
Abstract: Results are presented from our recent experiments studying shock wave interaction with an inclined interface between two different fluids performed in a new newly built Texas A{\&}M variable inclination shock tube facility. The variable inclination capability of the shock tube allows for an inclined interface to be created with ease, without changing the Mach number (pressure gradient) or Atwood number (density gradient). The ease of creating the interface provides a clean and repeatable interface for studying the Richtmyer-Meshkov Instability problem. The results presented from our initial experiments are from a Mach 1.6 shock wave interaction with a nitrogen-infused-fog-over-carbon dioxide interface for an inclination angle of 60 degrees. Quantitative results gathered from these experiments such as the mixing width growth rate, and vorticity deposition will be discussed in detail. Numerical simulations of the experiments are performed using the ARES code (LLNL) and the time evolution of the interface width, measured empirically, is compared to the corresponding numerical predictions. View the poster here.
Dr. Andreas Polycarpou
Dr. M. Katherine Banks, Vice Chancellor and Dean of Engineering, has appointed Dr. Andreas Polycarpou as head of the Department of Mechanical Engineering, effective December 1, 2012. He will hold the Meinhard J Kotzebue '14 Professorship in Mechanical Engineering.
Dr. Polycarpou's research group studies micro/nanotribology of magnetic head disk interfaces and micro-electromechanical systems. Recent emphasis has been on the tribology of devices for reduced energy and improved environmental-related impact, such as the use of C02 as a natural refrigerant and the use of surface treatments towards oil-less machine operation. Dr. Polycarpou has won numerous national and international awards in recognition of his scholarly contributions. He is also an Associate Editor for the ASME Journal of Tribology and serves on several editorial boards.
