Prof. Li Qiao Awarded National Science Foundation CAREER Grant
| Event Date: | February 27, 2013 |
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Prof. Li Qiao was recently awarded a CAREER grant, the National Science Foundation's most prestigious honor for young researchers. The CAREER award is intended to aid the “early career-development activities of those teacher-scholars who most effectively integrate research and education”. Awardees are chosen because they exemplify the role of teacher-scholars through outstanding research, excellent education and the integration of education and research within the context of the mission of their organizations.
Prof. Qiao will receive $450,000 for five years for the project “Understanding the Spontaneous Ignition and Combustion of Hydrogen and Oxygen in Water Nanobubbles.” The project will explore the mechanisms why ignition and combustion can happen in water nanobubbles which are generated by electrolysis. Experimental efforts concentrate on measurements of bubble size, growth dynamics, and temperature within the bubble. Scanning laser-Doppler vibrometry is used for determining bubble size and evolution, while micro fabrication techniques are used to produce nano-scale thermometer suitable for the associated small time and spatial length scales.
The study is aimed at bridging the gap between nano-science and traditional combustion science that are usually associated with systems of much larger scales such as engines. A Molecular Dynamics approach is also adopted for determining the pressure and chemical reactions within the water nano-bubbles to help alleviate the difficulties in the proposed small-scale experiments. The educational program calls for education of the public, dissemination of research through a popular nano-science website, research opportunities for undergraduate students, and recruitment and mentoring of woman engineering graduate students.
Prof. Qiao is an Assistant Professor in the School of Aeronautics & Astronautics at Purdue University. She received her BS and MS from Tsinghua University in 1999 and 2001, and her PhD from the University of Michigan in 2007. She is a recipient of the Young Investigator Award from ARO and AFOSR.
This award, started in the mid 1980's, is one of highest honors that one can receive as a junior faculty to recognize outstanding research. Other faculty in AAE who have won this award are Professors Kathleen Howell, Steven Collicott, Martin Corless, Insoek Hwang, Alina Alexeenko, Tim Fisher, and Jay Gore.