4D Materials Science - X-ray Microtomography, Image Analysis, and Machine Learning 

The student will be working on state-of-the-art characterization techniques, such as x-ray microtomography and correlative microscopy of high performance materials. The project will involve image analysis and machine learning algorithms for efficiently and accurately analyzing the x-ray tomography datasets.

More information: https://engineering.purdue.edu/MSE/people/ptProfile?resource_id=239946

Describing the collective motion of dislocations in metals 

The collective behavior of dislocations (line defects) in crystals is not well understood. This is somewhat strange considering that this collective behavior is the physical origin of deformation in many crystalline materials. The only tool that we currently have to study this involves simulating how individual dislocations move in a crystal. However, we are creating a theory that treats these dislocations like a fluid, as a density field.

We have two projects available, please apply for this position if you are interested in either one.

• One project will involve simulating dislocations in face centered cubic metals to extract statistical information about how they form junctions. This junctions are the physical basis of work-hardening, and this statistical information will allow us to incorporate junctions into the density-based, fluid-like model.

• Another project will involve simulating x-ray diffraction patterns in face-centered cubic metals containing dislocations in order to identify signals relevant to the fluid-like properties of the dislocations. Basic machine learning techniques will be used to identify these signals. No experience with x-ray diffraction or machine learning is needed. These results will allow experimentalists at our national labs to measure the fluid-like properties of dislocations in a lab rather than through simulations.

More information: Not yet

Design, fabrication, and testing of an environmental chamber for X-ray characterization 

High energy X-rays produced by synchrotron sources can be used to characterize the 3D microstructure and evolution of the lattice strains (and thereby stresses) in each grain during thermo-mechanical loading. For this project, we would use high energy X-rays to characterize the evolution of a fatigue crack in a corrosive environment. This project would entail the design, fabrication, and testing of an environmental chamber. The chamber would enclose the specimen in a corrosive environment, and at the same time, applying loading to the specimen. The design would need to limit the impedance of the incoming/outgoing X-ray sources during characterization.

More information: https://engineering.purdue.edu/~msangid/

Efficient and renewable water treatment 

Water and energy are tightly linked resources that must both become renewable for a successful future. However, today, water and energy resources are often in conflict with one another, especially related to impacts on electric grids. Further, advances in material science and artificial intelligence allow for new avenues to improve the widespread implementation of desalination and water purification technology. This project aims to explore nanofabricated membranes, artificial intelligence control algorithms, and thermodynamically optimized system designs. The student will be responsible for fabricating membranes, building hydraulic systems, modeling thermal fluid phenomenon, analyzing data, or implementing control strategies in novel system configurations.

More information: www.warsinger.com

Lithium-ion Battery Analytics 

Lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries are ubiquitous. Thermo-electrochemical characteristics and porous electrode structures of these systems are critical toward safer and high-performance batteries for electric vehicles. As part of this research, physics-based modeling and experimental data-driven analytics will be performed over a wide range a normal and anomalous operating conditions of Li-ion cells.

More information: https://engineering.purdue.edu/ETSL/

Measurement and Modeling of Mass Transfer Characteristics During Pharmaceutical Lyophilization 

Freeze-drying, also called lyophilization, is widely used in manufacturing of injectable pharmaceuticals, vaccines, biotech products, chemical reagents, food and probiotic cultures. The SURF undergraduate researchers will have an opportunity to be involved in one of the ongoing projects in LyoHUB technology demonstration facility in Discovery Park in collaboration with one or more of 20+ LyoHUB industry members.

Lyophilization is a desiccation method whereby a solvent is removed from a frozen system via sublimation. In industry, the process is typically performed at a slow rate due to large uncertainties associated with key mass transfer mechanisms. Current data is highly scattered and valid for a tightly constrained set of operating points. Frequently, these points are not optimal and the data provides little benefit to the user. Students will be responsible for computationally and experimentally characterizing the mass transfer properties of various representative pharmaceutical formulations over a range of process conditions. The goal of the project is to generalize and consolidate key results into a standardized database which will be directly integrated into LyoHUB’s LyoPronto simulation tool (http://lyopronto.rcac.purdue.edu/). The software is freely available and widely used among major pharmaceutical companies. The student will also perform benchmarking studies against current published mass transfer models.

The student will learn the basics of the freeze drying process and will get the skills of experimental work in the lab with different lyophilizers.

This project will include online meetings and hands-on lab work.

More information: www.lyohub.org

Measurement and Modeling of Vial Heat Transfer Characteristics During Pharmaceutical Lyophilization 

Freeze-drying, also called lyophilization, is widely used in manufacturing of injectable pharmaceuticals, vaccines, biotech products, chemical reagents, food and probiotic cultures. The SURF undergraduate researchers will have an opportunity to be involved in one of the ongoing projects in LyoHUB technology demonstration facility in Discovery Park in collaboration with one or more of 20+ LyoHUB industry members.

Lyophilization is a desiccation method whereby a solvent is removed from a frozen system via sublimation. In industry, the process is typically performed over the course of days for weeks due to large uncertainties associated with key heat transfer mechanisms. Accurate determination of these heat transfer characteristics is therefore critical to fully understanding and optimizing the process. Students will be responsible for computationally and experimentally characterizing the heat transfer properties of various vial geometries under a range of process conditions. The goal of the project is to consolidate key results into a standardized database which will be directly integrated into LyoHUB’s LyoPronto simulation tool (http://lyopronto.rcac.purdue.edu/). The software is freely available and widely used among major pharmaceutical companies. The student will also perform benchmarking studies against current published heat transfer models.

The student will learn the basics of the freeze drying process and will get the skills of experimental work in the lab with different lyophilizers.

This project will include online meetings and hands-on lab work

More information: www.lyohub.org

Study of Betavoltaic characteristics 

The main goal of the research is to study betavoltaic cell characteristics using a facility for its voltage and current responses with load. A betavoltaic cell creates electricity similar to a photovoltaic or solar cell. Betavoltaic devices are self-contained power sources that convert high energy beta (β) particles emitted from the decay of radioactive isotopes into electrical current. In the cell the electrons are produced indirectly via the kinetic energy of the beta particles interacting within the semiconductor. The project also will involve testing on a hydrogen loading facility to simulate the tritium loading in betavoltaic cell film. The betavoltaic used are commercial cells that are tested in a radiation approved facility. Experimental facility preparation, testing and data acquisition is needed. Students interested on hands on experience in the laboratory, willing to build test facility, perform experiment, and analyze data are welcome. Great opportunity to develop radiation laboratory skills.

Thermal management of electronic devices 

The continued miniaturization of electronic devices, with expanded functionality at reduced cost, challenges the viability of products across a broad spectrum of industry applications. The electronics industry is driven by global trends in storage, transmission, and processing of extreme quantities of digital information (cloud computing, data centers), increasing electrification of the transportation sector (electric vehicles, hybrid aircraft, batteries), and the proliferation of interconnected computing devices (mobile computing, IoT, 5G). Proper thermal management of electronic devices is critical to avoid overheating failures and ensure energy efficient operation. In view of these rapidly evolving markets, most of the known electronics cooling technologies are approaching their limits and have a direct impact on system performance (e.g., computing power, driving range, device size, etc.).

Research projects in the Cooling Technologies Research Center (CTRC) are exploring new technologies and discovering ways to more effectively apply existing technologies to addresses the needs of companies and organizations in the area of high-performance heat removal from compact spaces. One of the distinctive features of working in this Center is training in practical applications relevant to industry. All of the projects involve close industrial support and collaboration in the research, often with direct transfer of the technologies to the participating industry members. Projects in the Center involve both experimental and computational aspects, are multi-disciplinary in nature, and are open to excellent students with various engineering and science backgrounds. Multiple different research project opportunities are available based on student interests and preferences.