Research Interests

Separations to recover valuable products from underutilized resources, waste streams, and renewable resources. Specific expertise in liquid-liquid extraction and chromatography. Experience with anaerobic digestion and fermentative processes.

Topics of Potential Projects

Use of inverse chromatography to evaluate the competitive binding potential of heavy metals on lignin.

Use of molecular modeling to evaluate lignin-analog compounds for their affinity to various metal ions.

Student Requirements / Skills Needed

Experience with chromatography is preferred. Background in biological or chemical engineering.

Research Interests

Soft tissue mechanics, modeling and experiments.

Soft actuators and machines, modeling and experiments

Topics of Potential Projects

Skin growth in response to stretch: tissue expanders are balloon-like devices inserted under the skin and inflated gradually over a period of weeks. As the expanders inflate, skin is stretched and grows. My group works on animal models of tissue expansion, and computational models to recreate the deformation and growth of the skin. The goal is to understand how, qualitatively, skin grows in response to stretch, in order to improve reconstructive surgery.

Soft robot design: soft robots allow for almost arbitrary deformation, but this comes at the price of either exceedingly large numbers of degrees of freedom to allow for different motions or, on the other extreme, a low number of degrees of freedom but a limited catalogue of motions for very specific applications. We work on design of modular soft robotic structures that are under actuated and reconfigurable, thus overcoming existing gaps in soft robotic design.

Optimization of reconstructive surgery using hybrid mechanistic-machine learning algorithms: mechanical stress leads to complications such as tissue damage or fibrosis. However, surgical plans are still based on physician experience. We are collecting data from actual surgeries (deformation from 3D photo, mechanical properties from non-invasive measurements) to determine how stress/deformation is linked to our wound complication index.

Student Requirements / Skills Needed

Computational mechanics experience is required. Ideally experience with one of the common finite element packages such as Abaqus.

Additional Python, C++, or similar programming language is desired.

Research Interests

Prof. Strachan’s research focuses on the development of predictive atomistic and molecular simulation methodologies to describe materials from first principles and their application to problems of technological importance in conjunction with data science tools. Application areas of interest include: coupled electronic, chemical and thermo-mechanical processes in devices of interest for nanoelectronics and energy as well as polymers and their composites, molecular solids and active materials, including shape memory and high-energy density materials.

Topics of Potential Projects

Refractory complex concentrated alloys (RCCAs), also know as high-entropy alloys, are a new class of materials with an enormous potential for high-temperature structural applications. These alloys exhibit high-temperature strength surpassing Ni superalloys, the current state-of-the-art, but, unfortunately, their corrosion resistance is far from ideal. You will join a project that seeks to optimize the composition of RCCAs to achieve an unsurpassed combination of strength and oxidation resistance at high-temperatures. These properties would enable the realization of rotation detonation engines for hypersonic vehicles of interest in national defense and a significant reduction in fuel consumption and pollution over the lifetime of a land-based gas turbines that power the electric grid. You will perform first principles simulations and use machine learning to develop models to guide experimental efforts to synthesize and test new CCAs.

Student Requirements / Skills Needed

Background in materials science, physics or chemistry is required, together with basic programing experience. Experience with electronic structure calculations, atomistic simulations, or machine learning is desirable,

Research Interests

Computational nanophotonics; optical metasurfaces; optical elements and systems for neuromorphic computing; topological and AI-based optimization in photonics;

Topics of Potential Projects

Topics of a potential project will be discussed individually and tailored depending on the skillset, background, and the future plans of the applicant.

Student Requirements / Skills Needed

Sufficient background in physical optics, mathematical physics; good command with Python, C++, Matlab. Good working knowledge of either Lumerical or Comsol is highly desirable. Some initial knowledge of the ML and/or topology optimization concepts is desirable.

Research Interests

Photonics, nanotechnology, quantum information science and technology, deep machine learning

Topics of Potential Projects

- Artificial intelligence assisted photonic technologies

- Quantum Nanophotonics

- Machine learning for photonic design and quantum measurements

- Optical metamaterials and metasurfaces

- Nano-optics and plasmonics

Student Requirements / Skills Needed

Solid state, optics of solids, electromagnetism, numerical simulations and/or optical characterization and/or nano fabrication (not required)

Research Interests

Rarefied gas dynamics, numerical methods for Boltzmann equation, direct simulation Monte Carlo (DSMC) and particle-in-cell Monte Carlo collisions (PIC/MCC); high- altitude aerothermodynamic, micropropulsion and smallsat technologies; MEMS sensors and actuators; nonequilibrium microplasma; vacuum gas dynamics; lyophilization/freeze- drying for bio/pharmaceutical manufacturing

Topics of Potential Projects

* microcombustion to enable compact power generation with energy densities x10 of batteries

* spacecraft swarm technologies and spaceflight testing including spacecraft micropropulsion for extreme proximity operation

* rarefied flow and thermal transport in application to aerothermodynamics and lyophilization

Student Requirements / Skills Needed

Depends on the project. I will consider a wide range of backgrounds in Aerospace, Chemical, Mechanical and Electrical/Computer Eng.

Research Interests

Thermal transport and energy conversion including thermal energy storage, batteries, electronics cooling, nanoscale thermal transport phenomena, etc.

Topics of Potential Projects

Hands-on experimental projects related to:

+ Embedded phase change material-based cooling for electronic devices

+ Thermal interface materials and high conductivity substrates for electronics cooling

+ Thermal transport in lithium ion batteries

+ Metal hydrides for heat storage

Website YouTube

Student Requirements / Skills Needed

+ one or more of the following (or similar) classes: thermodynamics, fluid mechanics, and/or heat transfer

+ experience with some programming language is helpful (e.g. matlab, python, etc.)

Research Interests

hydraulic control systems, fluid power component modeling and design

Topics of Potential Projects

1. simulation of the lubricating film of positive displacement machines; 2. modeling of the noise generation and transfer path in hydraulic components; 3. novel electro-hydraulic solutions to increase controllability and energy efficiency of fluid power applications; 4. diagnostics and prognostics of fluid power components

Student Requirements / Skills Needed

MS degree in Mechanical Engineering or Aerospace Engineering or Mechatronic Engineering

Research Interests

Morphing structures

Metamaterials

Nonlinear Dynamics

Soft Robotics

Smart Materials

Topics of Potential Projects

1. Selective Stiffness in Morphing Structures via Embedded Bistable Elements: Compliance based morphing structures suppose a difficult design challenge necessitating systems capable to exhibit concurrently high stiffness and directional compliance to fulfill the dual problem of carrying loads while enabling large deformability. The objective of this project is to address the trade-off at the heart of morphing structures by producing inherently shape adaptable structures based on the generally applicable principle of elastic pre-straining.
2. Energy harvesting with nonlinear metamaterials: This project focuses on leveraging the strong nonlinearities of multistable lattices to realize vibration-based energy harvesting from low frequency inputs. Most energy harvesting devices and metamaterials are inefficient for converting energy in the low-frequency range, yet most vibrations in structures have frequency contents in such range.
3. Multistable soft robotics: This project focuses using multistability to simplify the sensing, actuation, and control of soft robotics. Multistability allows for programming many stable states that allow for soft robots to achieve large global reconfiguration without closed-loop control and complex actuators.

Student Requirements / Skills Needed

1. Finite elements analysis, optimization, nonlinear dynamics
2. Structural vibrations, nonlinear dynamics, wave propagation
3. Robotics, 3D printing, finite elements analysis

Research Interests

Optics and photonics: optical signal processing, including both classical and quantum applications

Topics of Potential Projects

The Ultrafast Optics and Fiber Communications Laboratory investigates broadband photonic signal processing, including research involving optical pulse shaping, integrated photonics technologies, frequency combs, hybrid photonic - radio frequency systems, and entangled photons.

Student Requirements / Skills Needed

Some experience in optics and photonics, as well as basic laboratory and computer interfacing skills, preferred.

Research Interests

Environmental chemistry; Infrastructure rehabilitation; Plastics; Plumbing; Environmental health; Disasters; Water quality

Topics of Potential Projects

Please visit Dr. Whelton's Google Scholar page for more information.https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=dBy5drAAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao

INITIATIVE 1 – Disasters Science: Critical Infrastructure and Emergency Incidents. One of our goals is to develop new knowledge and enable communities to better detect, respond to, and recover from disasters that affect critical infrastructure. We work to understand knowledge-gaps and fundamental processes that control environmental and infrastructure contamination and recovery processes. Infrastructure contamination, decontamination, public health risks, bottled water, household needs, chemical spill environmental impacts and recovery, and more. Visit www.PlumbingSafety.org for information about some of our many projects in this area.

INTIATIVE 2 – Infrastructure Rehabilitation Technologies: Environmental and Human Health Impacts. Because of the enormous need for water infrastructure repair in the U.S. and our team’s direct experience in plastics, we have been active in assisting the utility and transportation sectors understand infrastructure rehabilitation methods. Visit www.CIPPSafety.org for information about some of our many projects in this area.

INITIATIVE 3 – Water Quality and Infrastructure Performance. Chemical, microbiological, and aesthetic drinking water quality impacts caused by drinking water plumbing components has been another core focus. Our work involves studies conducted at inhabited homes as well as at the bench- and pilot-scales. Visit www.PlumbingSafety.org for information about some of our many projects in this area.

INTIATIVE 4 – Emerging Materials for Infrastructure and Environmental Applications. Much of our early work has focused on identifying technological problems that increase human health and environmental risks. In recent years, however, several activities have focused on improving existing or developing new technologies to address these challenges. These included carbon nanofiber composites, decontamination agents for plumbing, slag use applications, and more. Please visit Dr. Whelton’s Google Scholar page for more information.

Student Requirements / Skills Needed

Background of chemistry, biology, engineering, or other relevant discipline.

Research Interests

Computational materials science and mechanics.

Topics of Potential Projects

Molecular dynamics simulation of micro-scale plasticity of structural alloys

Lattice thermal transport simulation in defective crystals

Recrystallization and grain growth simulations

Continuum dislocation dynamics modeling of mesoscale deformation and fracture

Student Requirements / Skills Needed

Students with good background in materials science, mechanics, and mathematics.

Research Interests

Rock Mechanics; Fracture Mechanics; Ground-Structure Interaction; Underground Structures; Wave Propagation through Fractured Media; Lunar Lava Tubes

Topics of Potential Projects

Stability of Lunar Lava Tubes; Detection of Damage through Geophysical Methods; Seismic Stability of Underground Structures

Student Requirements / Skills Needed

Excellent background in Geomechanics, Numerical Methods and Problem Solving.

Research Interests

Fluid mechanics, biological flows, microfluidics, soft matter, active fluids, transport, complex fluids

Topics of Potential Projects

Prof. Ardekani has established a unique multidisciplinary research program on biological flows and complex fluids. Using a combination of state-of-the-art computations, theoretical analysis, and experiments, our research advances understanding of the transport of particles and microorganism in density stratified environments found in oceans and lakes, the interaction of microbes with fluid flow and their surrounding fluids, and flow through porous media. Our goal is to advance knowledge and develop solutions in biological, biomedical and health care systems, environmental remediation.

Student Requirements / Skills Needed

Microfluidics and microscopy OR computational fluid dynamics, numerical analysis

Research Interests

Prof. Caldwell's research team is the Group Performance Environments Research (GROUPER) Laboratory. GROUPER examines and improves how people get, share, and use information well in settings including aviation, critical incident response, healthcare, and spaceflight operations. Prof. Caldwell has extended the well-established concept of human supervisory control to consider a broader range of knowledge and task coordination among distributed experts and even intelligent software agents. This conceptual extension, known as distributed supervisory coordination, allows for a more powerful description and modeling of human scale interactions as well as multiple dimensions of expertise and task coordination

Topics of Potential Projects

GROUPER research consists of "streams," or coordinated areas of project activity. There are two styles of stream organization: "Applications" or "Theoretical". A particular project may focus primarily on a specific application domain, or a specific theoretical issue, or a combination. More information may be found at: https://engineering.purdue.edu/GrouperLab/streams/

Student Requirements / Skills Needed

A variety of potential student interests and skills can be supported. Primary emphases include a background in human factors engineering; industrial and systems engineering; cognitive or social psychology; user experience / user interaction design; or information architecture design.

Research Interests

Aerosol science, physics and chemistry of indoor air, HVAC filtration, human exposure assessment, nanoaerosols, bioaerosols, new particle formation, aerosol measurement techniques, fate & transport of VOCs/SVOCs, urban air pollution, low-cost air quality monitoring, building ventilation, and health effects of air pollution.

Topics of Potential Projects

We are studying indoor air chemistry and the factors that influence the chemical composition of indoor air. We use state-of-the-art instruments such as proton transfer reaction time-of-flight mass spectrometry to probe the dynamics of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in indoor air. We are also investigating the formation and growth of nano-sized aerosols by measuring particles as small as a single nanometer.

Student Requirements / Skills Needed

Preferred experience: familiarity with analytical equipment (e.g. mass spectrometry) and aerosol instrumentation; data processing and analysis in Matlab or similar.

Research Interests

We are interested in new methods of performing simulations and designing experiments using machine learning (ML).

Topics of Potential Projects

1. Developing ML agents for performing, planning, and analyzing reaction simulation campaigns.
2. Developing ML models for identifying distinct products contained in chemical mixtures.
3. Developing and apply large-property models for the inverse design of chemicals and materials.

Student Requirements / Skills Needed

• Python experience.
• Familiarity with pytorch is a plus.
• A background in engineering, chemistry, physics, computer science, or a combination thereof.

Research Interests

My group's research aims to engineer "live" devices with biological cells for understanding physio- and patho-biology, drug discovery and precision medicines. We are developing and using microfluidics, 3D printing and quantitative microscopy techniques. We also perform theoretical and computational research to understand the behavior of soft materials.

Topics of Potential Projects

Current research focuses on pancreatic normal and cancer models using microfluidics, 3D printing of hydrogels, and engineered pain model. More detailed information is available at my group website (http://www.biotransportgroup.org/).

Student Requirements / Skills Needed

Coursework on the followings are required: Solid/fluid mechanics, and heat/mass transfer.

Course work and interests on the followings are preferred but not required - 1) Fluorescence microscopy techniques; 2) BioMEMS and microfluidics and 3) Tissue engineering and biomechanics.

Research Interests

Wireless sensing circuits and systems

Topics of Potential Projects

Battery health condition monitoring system utilizing non-intrusive sensors and neural network-based sensor fusion algorithm

Student Requirements / Skills Needed

Practical understandings on analog and mixed-signal circuit design and implementation

The work will include PCB design including analog and mixed-signal circuits Firmware coding for real-time sensor signal processing

The work will include firmware coding for noise filtering, optimal detection, and sensor fusion algorithms

Research Interests

High-Speed Aerodynamics, Turbulent Flows, Computational Fluid Dynamics, Acoustics, Nonlinear Acoustics, Dynamical Systems, High-Performance Computing

Topics of Potential Projects

high-speed boundary layers, gasdynamics, turbulence, vortex dynamics

Student Requirements / Skills Needed

fluid dynamics, numerical methods, intermediate coding skills

Research Interests

Space Situational Awareness, Telescopes, Information Theory and Estimation

Topics of Potential Projects

Cislunar Space Situational Awareness Want to keep space fairing a possibility in cislunar space?

Exciting research into how to know how to dispose of space debris, how to safely navigate our satellites, how to get observations over large distances. The research includes astrodynamics, sensing, orbit determination, uncertainty analysis and sensor tasking.

Novel Sensing Techniques for Space Object Characterization

It is of keen interest to know more about satellites and defunct objects beyond their center of mass. New sensing techniques in the electro optical regime are explored to gain information such as size, shape, attitude. Fundamental principles of mathematics and inversion are explored.

Student Requirements / Skills Needed

programming skills in matlab and/or python knowledge in orbit mechanics and/or optical sensor systems and/or computer vision/rendering strong mathematical background knowledge in non-linear estimation

Research Interests

Coastal engineering, limnology, turbulence, fluid mechanics, waves

Topics of Potential Projects

- Coastal erosion

- Turbulence and mixing in lakes

- Shoreline modeling

Student Requirements / Skills Needed

Matlab, fluid mechanics

Research Interests

Soft Functional Materials; Flexible and Stretchable Biomedical Devices; Wearable Healthcare Systems; Bioelectronics; 3D Printing Techniques; Bio-Integrated Nanosystems;

Topics of Potential Projects

Cross-disciplinary expertise is often the key for innovations to tackle complicated and challenging paradigms. The scientific and engineering trainings in my lab at Purdue will be quite diverse, and spans expertise in many disciplines including biomedical, mechanical, and materials engineering. More importantly, you will gain fundamental understanding of the device physics, mechanics, and fabrication principles, along with clinical implementations through effective communications with medical doctors, clinicians, nurses, and caregivers.

Specifically, my lab currently focusses on the development of various 'sticker'-like electronics in which a wafer-scale thin film integrated circuit can be physically separated from its fabrication Si wafer and then attached on a temporary removable holder such as thermally releasable tape (PNAS, 115, 7236, 2018). My lab has designed and tailored the sticker-like electronics for various human body-integrated healthcare systems, including (1) the electronic skin-wearable patch (e-skin patch) that can be comfortably adhered to the submental area (under the chin), and then provide the ability to monitor muscle activities during swallowing exercise and maneuver for home-based telerehabilitation of patients with swallowing disorders (a.k.a. dysphasia) (Science Advances, in press), (2) the electronic glove (e-glove) in which fully integrated multimodal sensors are fabricated on a commercially available wearing glove in a monolithic manner, and then can be easily worn on a prosthetic hand to detect various external stimuli such as pressure, temperature, hydration, and electrical signals wherein the measured signals are displayed in a smart watch unit in a real-time fashion (NPG Asia Materials, 11, 43, 2019), and (3) the electronic tissue scaffold (e-scaffold) in which multimodal sensors are embedded inside a tissue scaffold for three-dimensional body mapping to understand tissue functions and behaviors in real time

Student Requirements / Skills Needed

I am pleased to invite the visiting students for the TraVERSE program. I consider applicants from the departments of BME, ME, and/or MSE who want to tackle the interdisciplinary challenges faced in the field of wearable healthcare systems. The applicants who have a background in functional soft materials, mechanics, circuit designs, wireless data communications, printing techniques, and other micro/nanofabrications are strongly encouraged. Interested individuals are encouraged to contact Professor Chi Hwan Lee to explore these opportunities.

Research Interests

Biosensor and bioengineering

Topics of Potential Projects

Develop synthetic neurons to foster cell-to-cell communications and measure signal transduction kinetics.

Develop integrated biosensors for tracking cellular response to environmental chemicals.

Student Requirements / Skills Needed

Molecular cloning and mammalian cell culturing

Research Interests

To advance small animal imaging techniques to study disease progression and improve detection and treatment across a broad spectrum of medical conditions. Focus is primarily on cardiac and vascular disease models in mice.

Topics of Potential Projects

We work to make novel contributions that have help push the small animal imaging field to be more accurate, efficient, and user-friendly. The imaging techniques developed and corresponding insights are of interest to experts in imaging, biomechanics, and cardiovascular disease. Examples include: 1) abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) imaging, 2) 4D ultrasound cardiac imaging, and 3) label-free photoacoustic techniques. These areas represent three of the most important topics in the study of modern cardiovascular disease.

Student Requirements / Skills Needed

Experience working with rodents and/or in image analysis is preferred. We already have collaborations initiated with groups in Norway, Switzerland, France, and Italy that may have interested students.

Research Interests

Electromagnetics, modeling and simulation of very large scale integrated circuits, fast solvers, fast algorithms

Topics of Potential Projects

Fast Algorithms for the Design and Analysis of Large-scale Integrated Circuits

Student Requirements / Skills Needed

Good knowledge in electromagnetics and circuits. Good programming skills. Strong in math and physics.

Research Interests

Microelectromechanical Systems (MEMS) for sensors, microrobotics, ultrasound imaging, timing, and communication. We are interested in the design, fabrication, and prototyping of new transducers and ultimately system platforms leveraging both established and new materials in MEMS.

Topics of Potential Projects

Ultrasonic transducers for imaging, sensing, and communication on flexible substrates: In collaboration with Prof. Miko Cakmak in Materials Engineering, we are developing Ultrasonic capability in a flexible, Roll-to-Roll (large area), semi-transparent platform. Projects include device design, phased array actuation/sensing for high resolution imaging. Other possibilities include modeling of ultrasonic imaging capabilities on a flexible platform.

Microrobotic actuators: we are exploring a new phase transition material leveraging proton doping to generate large force-displacement and work density in micro robotic actuators. Projects include actuator design or integration of such actuators with control circuits to create amphibious microrobots.

Ferroelectric materials for MEMS transducers: CMOS foundries are moving to introduce ferroelectric materials into the gate dielectric of their transistors for memory devices. As the leading group designing unreleased MEMS-CMOS devices, we are interested in understanding the piezoelectric and mechanical properties of such materials toward the ultimate goal of low noise clocks and sensors integrated seamlessly in CMOS.

Other projects in MEMS are also open to discussion.

Student Requirements / Skills Needed

- Background in Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, and/or Physics.

- Board-level circuit design experience is needed for platform/system projects, though not for device-level projects.

- Experience with electrical characterization.

- Microfabrication experience would open doors to expanding device-level projects, but is not a strict requirement.

Research Interests

Precision measurements in atoms

Measurements of the weak force between nuclei and electrons

Topics of Potential Projects

Precision measurements of the hyperfine structure of excited states of atomic Cesium.

Current theoretical techniques to calculate hyperfine coupling constants of the lowest energy states of atomic cesium from first principles are approaching a precision of 0.1%. These theoretical efforts are in urgent need of precise experimental measurements of these coupling constants for excited states. The proposed topic for this project is measurement of the hyperfine splitting for the ns ^2S_{1/2} states, where n = 9 - 12, of atomic cesium.

We will frequency lock a laser source to a stable, frequency comb source, and use frequency offset techniques to map out the frequency splitting between components of these excited states.

Student Requirements / Skills Needed

Background in physics or electrical engineering required. Experience in lasers, optics, electronics, and data analysis useful, but not required.

Research Interests

Connected Vehicles

Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS)

Topics of Potential Projects

Work with my team of students on connected vehicle research

https://tinyurl.com/bullock-cv-blog

Work with my team on UAS Crash Scene Mapping

https://tinyurl.com/bullock-uas

Student Requirements / Skills Needed

Interest in being a team player and strong computer programming skills.

Research Interests

Mobile microrobotics, multi-scale robotic manipulation and assembly, medical robotics, automation for the life sciences, agricultural robotics, space robotics. See more here: https://youtu.be/b-Ge1tEr_DQ.

Topics of Potential Projects

Design, fabrication, and testing of mobile microrobots, medical robots, and automation systems for medical applications.

Student Requirements / Skills Needed

BS in Mechanical Engineering or related area; experience with robotics, mechatronics, 3D printing, electronics, and programming.

Research Interests

Water-Energy systems, nanoengineering, thermofluids, membrane science

Topics of Potential Projects

1. Novel thermal desalination technologies: nanomaterials for enhancing the efficiency of membrane distillation
2. Water-Energy Microgrids: integration of renewable energy with desalination technologies, including, respectively, wind, solar, and reverse osmosis.
3. Photonic membrane and materials: new material properties for membrane science, including for solar energy harvesting and catalysis

See www.Warsinger.com

Student Requirements / Skills Needed

Strong research/project track record. Either strong modeling or experimental experience.

Research Interests

Resilience

Social-ecological systems

Socio-hydrology

Disaster resilience

Institutions and governance of commons

Infrastructure governance

The resilience and governance of complex systems (coupled human-water systems or social-ecological-technological systems)

Topics of Potential Projects

Socio-hydrologic research on adaptive reservoir operations (NSF project).

Behavioral experimental studies on social memory of flood risk (internal project)

Student Requirements / Skills Needed

None

Research Interests

Energetic materials

Topics of Potential Projects

Energetic materials synthesis

Student Requirements / Skills Needed

Chemistry bachelor degree

Research Interests

Energetic Materials

Topics of Potential Projects

Synthesis of energetic materials

(LMU Munich students very relevant)

Student Requirements / Skills Needed

Organic synthesis background or chemistry undergraduate.

LMU grads of high interest.

Research Interests

Distributed control and optimization; cloud computing and fog computing; application to Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Systems, Air Transportation System, Air Traffic Control, and Intelligent Transportation Systems.

Topics of Potential Projects

1. Modeling, simulation, and distributed optimization of unmanned aerial vehicle traffic control system
2. Reinforcement learning for unmanned aerial vehicle coordination and path planning
3. Distributed optimization for machine learning and artificial intelligence

Student Requirements / Skills Needed

Optimization: theory, algorithms, and implementation. Basic programming skills.

Research Interests

soil erosion by water mechanics, soil erosion control, erosion prediction, water quality

Topics of Potential Projects

Spatial soil erosion field measurement technologies, sediment tracers, remote sensing of soil erosion features and geometries (e.g. gullies). Modern physically-based soil erosion prediction models estimate soil loss and sediment deposition spatially down a hillslope profile.

However, data for model validation of spatial soil loss is severely lacking, and improved technologies are needed in order to test and validate existing and new erosion models.

Student Requirements / Skills Needed

Strong background in math, sciences (physics, soil science, etc.), remote sensing.

Experience with soil erosion models would also be very helpful.

Research Interests

Broadly speaking, I am conducting research in the areas of electric machines and electric power systems.

Topics of Potential Projects

Potential topics stem from technical challenges related to the electrification of the transportation sector (electric vehicles, aircraft) and the integration of renewables in the grid. The project focus could be on a particular component (e.g., the design of an electric machine or drive system) or at a system level (e.g., controls that enhance the stability of a power system in the presence of distributed energy resources). I am interested in technical approaches that are based on applying novel mathematical techniques to such problems.

Student Requirements / Skills Needed

* solid understanding of electrical engineering physics (e.g., low-frequency electromagnetism)

* analytical and mathematical skills

* excellent programming skills (e.g., Python, Matlab/Simulink, C++)

* familiarity with software such as PLECS, EMTP, PSS/E, etc

* familiarity with LaTeX

Research Interests

My research group is interested on the design of materials and devices through numerical modeling and simulation. The focus is on the properties and microstructural evolution of materials and devices. We integrate computational approaches ranging from kinetic Monte Carlo, phase field and level set methods, to finite elements, finite volumes, and symbolic computing.

Of importance to our research are microstructure design, crystallographic texture, and grain boundary science and engineering, aimed to control the topology of the underlying phases and thus establish practical relations between processing, microstructure, and material properties.

Fundamental areas of research include the prediction of equilibrium and kinetic properties in ferroelectric ceramics (in thin-film and bulk form, for both lead-containing and lead-free systems), electrochemical properties and interactions between charged point defects and grain boundaries, granular mixing and dynamics of dry and wet systems, and the generalities of microstructural evolution.

Applied areas of research include flash sintering, rechargeable lithium-ion batteries, and ferroelectric sensors and actuators.

Topics of Potential Projects

1. Modeling of Lithium-Ion Rechargeable Batteries. By using existing models, simulate existing and emerging chemistries of cathode and anode materials in porous form, including LiCoO2, LiMn2O4, LiFePO4, and others.

2. Data Analytics of Battery Materials. By using python scripting and Monte Carlo approaches, perform parametric analyses to identify those combination of battery parameters that will optimize performance, and minimize degradation.

3. Ferroelectric sensors and actuators. By using phase field techniques, predict the ferroelectric domain patterns as they develop in polycrystalline ceramics.

4. GPU Computing of Materials and Devices. Program new algorithms to accelerate the solution of PDEs, using our local GPU cluster.

5. Charged grain boundaries and interfaces. By using phase field solutions predict the equilibrium and transport properties of ionic ceramics

Student Requirements / Skills Needed

For 1. A background on electrochemistry and/or Python programming.

For 2. A background on electrochemistry and/or Python programming.

For 3. A background on ferroelectrics and/or Python programming.

For 4. A background on GPU/CUDA and python programming would be useful.

For 5. A background on python and phase field modeling.

Research Interests

Computational models in infectious diseases

Topics of Potential Projects

Probabilistic models of drug resistance in TB

Viral assembly dynamical models

Student Requirements / Skills Needed

Basic coding and ordinary differential equation experience. Matlab preferred. Basic biological knowledge of viral and bacterial infections.

Research Interests

Biodiesel Production from Spent Coffee Grounds (SCG)

Chemical and Material Extraction from Wood and Related Biological Feedstocks: Extracting Value from the World's Largest Under-Utilized (and Sustainable) Carbon Source.

Topics of Potential Projects

The biodiesel projects involves determination of trans-esterification reaction between coffee oil and methanol or ethanol with an enzyme catalyst, kinetics of coffee oil extraction from coffee grounds and full process design for the Biodiesel from SCG production process

The second projects involves studying the kinetics of the reaction of wood chips with methanol with a catalyst to depolymerize lignin into valuable chemicals and the study of lignin dissolution from wood chips with methanol.

Student Requirements / Skills Needed

Preferably Chemical Engineering or Chemistry major, although Materials Engineering or Biochemical Engineering would also be acceptable. Good command of mathematical modeling and computational techniques for design and simulation. Experience in experimentation desirable.

Research Interests

Ultraviolet (UV) Radiation, Photochemical Reactors, Photobiology

Topics of Potential Projects

UV radiation is effective for inactivation of virtually all microbial pathogens. It can also be used to promote (photo)chemical reactions. These attributes of UV radiation allow for some important applications.

1. Disinfection of indoor air: A number of (viral) pathogens are known to be transmitted via aerosols in indoor settings. Virtually all of these pathogens, including the coronaviruses, influenza viruses, the measles virus, and others, can be inactivated rapidly and effectively using UV radiation. However, design and validation standards for UV-based systems for disinfection of indoor air have not been published. Experiments and numerical simulations are being conducted to address these needs.
2. Disinfection of water: UV disinfection of water accomplishes inactivation of virtually all waterborne microbial pathogens. In many cases, these processes can be implemented in a manner that has little or no effect on the chemistry of the water being treated. This has allowed implementation of UV-based disinfection of water in many settings, including drinking water production, wastewater treatment, swimming pools, industrial water, and food processing; each of these application types presents unique challenges. Experiments and numerical simulations are being conducted to address these applications.

Student Requirements / Skills Needed

Experience and background in chemistry. Experience with numerical modeling and/or microbiological methods will also be helpful.

Research Interests

1. Energy Storage Materials and Devices
2. Ultrafast Magneto-Photonic Devices
3. Ultrasensitive Magnetic Sensors and Mesoscale Magnetic Transducers for Neuroscience Research

Topics of Potential Projects

Energy Storage Materials and Devices:

Development of solid-state battery materials and devices. Focus on composite materials comprising for example, super-ionic conducting garnet materials embedded in ionically conducting polymers, to increment the energy capacity, performance and safety of future energy storage devices.

Ultrafast Magneto-Photonic Devices:

Nanoscale spin wave devices: development of novel magnonics platforms employing nanoscale magneto-plasmonic spin wave injection and metallic ferromagnetic waveguides for spin wave computing..

Ultrasensitive Magnetic Sensors and Mesoscale Magnetic Transducers for Neuroscience Research:

We are developing in-vitro platforms comprising sensors and transducers for sensing magnetic signals and response to electromagnetic stimulation of neurons prior to and following physico-chemical interactions known to result in neurological diseases,

Student Requirements / Skills Needed

Project 1:

competencies in materials engineering/science including synthesis and characterization. Skills in sol-gel synthesis, XRD, SEM, Impedance spectroscopy and polymer characterization highly desirable.

Project 2:

competencies in magnetism, optics, photonics (Materials Science, Physics, ECE, ME). Skills in thin film deposition, nanoscale fabrication and ultrafast laser techniques highly desirable.

Project 3:

competencies in biomedical engineering, neuroscience, sensor fabrication highly desirable.

Research Interests

Catalysis

Topics of Potential Projects

Participate in the Center for Innovative and Strategic Transformation of Alkane Resources in area related to energy and hydrocarbons

Student Requirements / Skills Needed

Pursuing degree in Chemical Engineering or Chemistry and interest in kinetics and catalysis

Research Interests

Elastic and acoustic metamaterials, structural dynamics and vibration control, structural health monitoring, acoustic black hole structures and metastructures, computational modeling for continuum mechanics

Topics of Potential Projects

Any of the research areas above offer possibilities research opportunities.

Student Requirements / Skills Needed

Strong background in math, mechanics, dynamics and coding. Students with background in mechanical and aerospace engineering, engineering mechanics, physics and applied mathematics would be ideal and find a good fit with the ongoing research in the group.

Research Interests

OS and runtime for security, data analytics, and mobile/IoT.

We build things!

Topics of Potential Projects

For a brief statement of our research, see https://fxlin.github.io/

Student Requirements / Skills Needed

Interested in systems software

Research Interests

Design for the environment, sustainable manufacturing, life cycle assessment

Topics of Potential Projects

Manufacturing is expected to remain a major energy user and sustainable manufacturing has attracted increasing attention in recent years. This project looks at a variety of approaches to increase energy and material efficiency of manufacturing processes and systems, including but not limited to: process characterization and modeling, process planning, shop floor scheduling, supply chain management, and recycling. In particular, opportunities exist to leverage recent advancement on data analytics, artificial intelligence, and smart manufacturing.

Student Requirements / Skills Needed

familiar with manufacturing processes;

strong math skills;

interests in sustainability;

Research Interests

Wastewater treatment, antibiotic resistance, biofuel, electrochemical filtration

Topics of Potential Projects

The first potential research project is to understand the drivers and barriers of antibiotic resistance in wastewater treatment plants and natural environments. Antibiotic resistance is one of the biggest threats to global human health and development. There is a critical knowledge gap on the development, spread, and attenuation of antibiotic resistance. The specific research objectives are to: 1) identify the key drivers and barriers of antibiotic resistant bacteria and antibiotic resistance genes in wastewater treatment plants and natural environments, 2) examine the effects of sub-inhibitory concentrations of antibiotics, nutrients, and heavy metals on the development of antibiotic resistance, and 3) identify correlation between antibiotic resistance and operation conditions in wastewater treatment plants and evaluate the feasibility of controlling the spread of antibiotic resistance in wastewater treatment plants.

The second research project is to develop anti-fouling electrochemical ceramic membrane to treat emerging chemical and biological contaminants, such as antibiotics and antibiotic resistance genes. The specific research objectives are to 1) design and fabricate electrochemical graphene-carbon nanotube ceramic membranes to reduce fouling potential and increase separation performance, 2) determine the effects of operation conditions on the performance of fabricated ceramic membranes, and 3) elucidate molecular mechanisms of biofouling reduction.

The third research project is to explore nature-assisted techniques to improve cost-effective production of biofuels. The specific research objectives are to: 1) evaluate the molecular mechanism of viral infection of algal cells, 2) understand lipid profiles after viral infection and compare with sonication, and 3) evaluate the feasibility of applying viral infection for scaled-up application of algal biofuel production.

The fourth research project is to elucidate molecular mechanisms of bioaccumulation and biosorption of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in the environment. The specific research objectives are to: 1) characterize biosorption and bioaccumulation of PFAS in stream biofilms and benthic macroinvetebrates; 2) identify microorganisms with high potential for bioaccumulation and biotransformation; 3) elucidate molecular mechanisms of biotransformation of PFAS and their precursors.

Student Requirements / Skills Needed

Students with background in environmental engineering, environmental microbiology, molecular microbiology, and environmental science are encouraged to apply. Laboratory experience on biology, engineering, material fabrication, or electrochemistry are preferred.

Research Interests

Machine Learning, Distributed Algorithms, Optimization

Topics of Potential Projects

Application of optimization techniques to data science problems

Student Requirements / Skills Needed

strong background in mathematics, exposure to optimization

Research Interests

Machine learning, data science, uncertainty quantification, image analysis, computational fluid dynamics, power network modeling, additive manufacturing

Topics of Potential Projects

1. Multi-fidelity Bayesian operator learning Brief description: This project will develop a comprehensive framework for uncertainty quantification in multifidelity operator learning.
2. Federated operator learning: This project aims at developing a scalable, trustworthy, heterogeneous data-aware Bayesian federated learning framework.

Student Requirements / Skills Needed

Basic linear algebra, familiar with one programming language, such as Python, Matlab, C, TensorFlow, PyTorch, etc.

Research Interests

Turbines, Propulsion, Measurement Techniques Aerodynamics, Convective Heat transfer.

Topics of Potential Projects

Our team specializes in turbines, measurement techniques, and propulsion, focusing on aerodynamics and heat transfer of high-speed internal flows. The central theme is to expand the traditional limits of fluid machinery. We aim to pioneer the transition to a world where all propulsion and power generation is clean through creative and rigorous research in high-speed internal flows in cooperation with US and international teams. The team combines expertise in Measurement techniques, Experimental testing procedures, Theoretical calculations, and Computational analysis with a focus on research and development for turbines and novel thermal-based cycles.

Student Requirements / Skills Needed

Preferably from the schools of: Chalmers (Sweden); Universidad Politecnica de Valencia (Spain); Universidad Politecnica de Madrid (Spain); TU Berlin (Germany); TU Darmstadt (Germany); Oxford (United Kingdom); Cambridge (United Kingdom)

Research Interests

Tumor Growth Modeling, Machine Learning, Computational fluid dynamics, Computational biomechanics, Multiphase flows, Cavitation, Fracture mechanics.

Topics of Potential Projects

Any topic related to the research interests listed above.

Student Requirements / Skills Needed

Interest in numerical analysis and partial differential equations.

Research Interests

Sustainable electronics and the circular economy Industrial water consumption: water quantity and quality

Topics of Potential Projects

1) Recovering value from end-of-life and in-storage consumer electronic devices

Electronic and electrical devices greatly benefit society and individuals, and demand for these products is driven by numerous factors, including expanded telecommunications coverage, lower product prices, shorter use cycles, and ownership of multiple devices. Electronic devices are comprised of valuable materials, such as metals. For example, over 50 metals have been detected in cell phones, including precious, rare earth and critical metals. Recovery of these devices and the metals would have a significant environmental benefit, including reduced energy use and greenhouse gas emissions, and reduced impacts from mining metal ores. The flow of devices through consumer households needs to be better characterized. Recent studies indicate a large number of devices are “in storage” in households: they are not being used, nor have they been disposed of or recycled. There are a variety of technological and social factors that contribute to the high storage rate. This project will consist of collecting and synthesizing data and developing models to characterize stocks and flows of electronic devices in U.S. households. Preliminary results from a systems dynamics model, applied to cell phones, indicate that almost 50% of mobile phones purchased by consumers in the U. S. will be “in storage” in households. The collective value of the phones in storage is estimated to be > 1 billion dollars.

2) Environmental impacts of aluminum smelting

Aluminum products can be created from both natural sources (bauxite ore) and scrap aluminum; however, the process of taking bauxite ore and processing it to primary aluminum ingots is referred to as primary production. Reported global primary aluminum production is estimated to be 63.4 million tons. The electrolytic reduction of alumina to aluminum (i.e. smelting) via the Hall-Heroult process produces the most air emissions (e.g. SOx, NOx, particulates) and uses much more electricity (10-100x) than any other life cycle stage. Therefore, the electrolysis unit process, from a life cycle perspective, is the most damaging to the environment and the focus of this project .The purpose of this work is to quantify direct and indirect emissions from global aluminum smelting facilities in a spatially explicit manner, such that local and regional air quality impacts can be characterized. This work will also implement data regarding existing population level PM2.5 pollution exposures to characterize the contribution from the aluminum smelting industry to the local/regional air pollution burden.

Student Requirements / Skills Needed

Students should have extensive coursework and some research experience related to environmental engineering. Experience with modeling, GIS, and data analytics also desirable.

Research Interests

Flows in microfluidics devices

Soft matter and fluid mechanics

Computational fluid dynamics

Fluid--structure interactions

Flows of dense suspensions

Modeling of porous media flows

Nonlinear waves and metamaterials

Topics of Potential Projects

The Transport: Modeling, Numerics & Theory Laboratory (TMNT-Lab) strives to combine advanced mathematical concepts and experimental results with mechanistic insight about the multiphysics modeling of flowing materials in order to make progress on fundamental research questions. Specifically, an overarching theme of the TMNT-Lab's research is transport (e.g., as a means of effecting mixing or for mitigating separation).

Two main topics are of current interest.

1. We are developing theory of microscale fluid--structure interactions to yield predictive models of the response of soft devices due to internal flow within. This involves understanding viscous flow, elastic deformation, and their coupling.
2. We are developing computational models of multiphase flows at the microscale and through porous media. We are interested in the stability of fluid interfaces, particle migration in dense suspensions. Heat transfer is also being taken into account in our computational models with an outlook towards new working complex fluids for microelectronics cooling and thermal interface materials.

Student Requirements / Skills Needed

1. Strong foundation in mathematics for engineering (partial differential equations, solution methods, numerical methods)
2. Strong background in mechanics (fluid, solid or both).
3. Familiarity with at least one common computational platform (for example, ANSYS or OpenFOAM, etc.)
4. Interest in fundamental mathematical and computational research in the engineering sciences. (We do not do experiments in my group.)

Research Interests

Remote sensing (microwave)

Earth observation

Satellite navigation (GNSS)

Geophysics

Agricultural sensing

Topics of Potential Projects

1. Wideband altimetry using signals of opportunity in Ku-Ka band
2. Orbit determination of non-cooperative satellite transmitters
3. UAV remote sensing for precision agriculture using low frequency (P- and I-band) signals of opportunity to sense soil moisture and biomass

Student Requirements / Skills Needed

Basic linear systems (impulse response, frequency response, etc). Some understanding of basic electromagnetics and random variables/stochastic processes is desirable. Students must have good programming and data science skills. Most of my research involves experimental work, so students must be competent collecting, protecting and processing large volumes of data. Field work may be required, so students should be willing to work outdoors.

Research Interests

• Microwave Remote Sensing
• Global Navigation Satellite Systems
• Software Defined Radio

Topics of Potential Projects

We are developing a number of applications of "signals of opportunity" remote sensing, re-utilizing the signals broadcast from communication satellites for Earth remote sensing. Work may involve building prototype systems for capturing and processing these calibrated signal, and demonstrating them from towers of unpiloted aircraft in field experiments, as well as developing algorithms for processing the data collected from these systems and other instruments on orbiting satellites to estimate various geophysical parameters such as soil moisture, ocean winds, and snow depth.

Student Requirements / Skills Needed

• Basic signal processing
• Random Variables/stochastic processes
• some understanding of electromagnetics
• Excellent programming skills
• Willingness to work outdoors on field experiments

Research Interests

Nonlinear Dynamics, Smart Materials, Smart Structures, Viscoelasticity

Topics of Potential Projects

Printable Triboelectric Devices

It is accepted that triboelectric generators operate by the same principles as a biased electrostatic transduction energy harvester common in microelectromechanical system (MEMS) devices. The differences between TGs and MEMS devices are the lack of a proof mass, the use of flexible materials for both the dielectric and electrodes, and the size of the device. In this project we focus on developing novel strategies to create these structures using a combination of 3D printing and molding techniques.

Graph Based Optimization of Resonators

Ultrasonically Additive Manufactured Multifunctional Material Systems

Candidate projects include embedded piezoelectric actuator for sensing applications and shape memory alloy sheets to create localized structural changes in a metal skin. Other potential projects are the creation of metal structures beam with magno-elastic properties. One embodiment is the creation of composite aluminum beams elastomer core filled with magnetic materials. Different configurations of magnetic materials will be explored to create structures that buckle or stiffen in the presence of magnetic fields.

Elastomeric Metastructure

Mechanical metamaterials are artificial material systems with mechanical properties defined by their structure rather than their material composition. They are the mechanical counterparts of the well-known family of optical metamaterials]. The current development of these materials opens up new possibilities to engineer systems to exhibit behavior not normally found in the natural world. Paradoxically, many of these metamaterials are engineered to rely on their topology, yet they are composed of elastomers with viscoelastic behavior. Until recently the development of these materials the viscoelastic nature been overlooked or has characterized but not explicitly exploited. The unique properties of these materials can be retained by keeping their architected structure; however, this behavior can be expanded by reintroducing the effect of composition, namely viscoelasticity, in their formulation and analysis.

Student Requirements / Skills Needed

Matlab or other programming knowledge. Familiarity with basic manufacturing and machining techniques.

Research Interests

Irradiation effects on materials (structure, properties, functionality); mechanical properties of materials; advanced processing & welding/joining of materials; metallurgy

Topics of Potential Projects

Most broadly, work will focus on characterization of materials. The material(s) to be studied, and the types of characterization techniques, can be tailored to suit the student's interests. Several project options are detailed as follows:

1. We aim to qualify advanced manufacturing and welding techniques for nuclear energy applications. Toward this end, the student will investigate the effects of irradiation on structural alloys fabricated by advanced manufacturing and advanced electron beam welding. This project will involve transmission electron microscopy (TEM) for microstructure characterization and nanoindentation for mechanical characterization. The project will entail collaboration with (and travel to) the Idaho National Laboratory.
2. This project option aims to use irradiation to tailor deformation mechanisms of steels. Specifically, the student will conduct scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and TEM in situ mechanical testing to introduce deformation on different grain orientations. Subsequently, TEM characterization will check for evidence of deformation mechanisms such as twinning or phase transformations.
3. We aim to demonstrate the role of irradiation on enhancing the electrochemical charge storage performance of metal oxide anode materials such as TiO2. Our work thus far has shown that irradiation-induced defects enhance the intercalation of Li ions into TiO2 (for a Li ion battery application). In this project, the student will conduct TEM investigation to understand the synergistic production of defects and chemical implantation effects due to heavy ion irradiation of TiO2.

Student Requirements / Skills Needed

Student should be seeking a M.S. degree in materials science/engineering, or a related discipline but with materials-focused thesis topic. Ideally, the student will have experience with transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and focused ion beam (FIB) milling. However, a student who does not have direct, hands-on TEM and FIB experience will also be eligible if they have some understanding of what these techniques are.

Research Interests

Energy, combustion, fire safety, sensors, computations, artificial intelligence, foreign policy

Topics of Potential Projects

Analyzing vast amounts of data collected by a PhD student using statistical time and space series analysis and artificial intelligence tools to minimize the need for additional expensive experiments.

Student Requirements / Skills Needed

Strong background in statistics and numerical methods. Programming skills in C++ and Python.

Research Interests

ceramic processing using polymeric methods, advanced composites and fabrication, renewable resins cellulose nanocomposites, cementitious materials and durable anti-ice coatings

Topics of Potential Projects

1. Cellulose nanomaterials and nanocomposites processing for high strength structural materials, high barrier food packaging, and infrastructure (cement) applications.
2. Ceramic processing via extrusion and injection molding to align microstructures and form complex shapes in high hardness and ultra high temperature materials.
3. Direct Ink Writing Additive Layer Manufacturing (3D printing) to tune toughness in brittle materials such as cement, ceramic, and nanocomposites.

Student Requirements / Skills Needed

Topic 1: Any of polymer science, polymer engineering, thermophysical properties/characterization

Topic 2: Ceramics or Materials Engineering

Topic 3: Cementitious materials, ceramics, polymer engineering, general materials engineering knowledge.

Research Interests

Metabolic engineering, plant metabolism, biofuels

Topics of Potential Projects

Development of algae for biofuel production

Synthetic biology of yeast for production of fuel oxygenates

Student Requirements / Skills Needed

Biotechnology or chemical engineering background

Research Interests

Sustainable Design and Manufacturing

Topics of Potential Projects

Smart and Sustainable Manufacturing

Green Scheduling

Green Products and Processes

Circular Economy

Student Requirements / Skills Needed

Background in product engineering or manufacturing/industrial engineering

Research Interests

1. DNA self-assembly
2. 2D materials

Topics of Potential Projects

1. synthesis and characterization of DNA origami
2. modulation of optoelectronic properties of 2D TMDC semiconductors

Student Requirements / Skills Needed

Research Interests

Seismic performance of buildings and infrastructure.

Topics of Potential Projects

Shear Strength of Concrete Members under bending and axial force.

Student Requirements / Skills Needed

Structural design and analysis

Seismic response of concrete buildings

Research Interests

Electronics cooling and packaging

Phase-change transport phenomena

Microscale and nanoscale surface engineering for enhanced thermal transport

Energy efficiency in thermal systems

Transport in porous materials

Microscale diagnostics and sensing

Topics of Potential Projects

In recent years, the interest in additive manufacturing (AM) of electronics cooling devices has increased due to its enhanced design freedom relative to conventional manufacturing methodologies. Microchannel heat sinks (MCHS) are liquid cooled heat sinks commonly used in thermal management of high-power electronics and have feature sizes on the order of 10s or 100s of microns. The design freedom brought by AM can be used to generate high-performance MCHSs with complex geometries which can be easily 3D printed. A potential project topic would focus on design, 3D printing, and experimental testing of such heat sinks. By the end of the program, the student would become familiar with metal 3D printing, design optimization (size, shape, and topology optimization), and thermal engineering.

A large number of other project opportunities are available in the Cooling Technologies Research Center at Purdue, https://engineering.purdue.edu/CTRC/research/index.php, with several selected topics below:

Project opportunities involve both experimental and computational aspects, and are multi-disciplinary in nature, with a mix of heat transfer, fluid dynamics, surface and interfacial science, and microfabrication. Multiple different research experiences are available based on student interests and preferences. Read more about the CTRC at the link below: https://engineering.purdue.edu/CTRC/research/index.php

Student Requirements / Skills Needed

Students will be able to excel if they have previously taken courses in heat transfer and fluid mechanics.

Research Interests

System safety and risk assessment

Space habitat architecture

Air transportation and the environment

Systems engineering theory and education

Topics of Potential Projects

Design for Resilient Space Habitats

Accident Analysis and Modeling

Improved Systems Engineering Teaching Methods

Student Requirements / Skills Needed

Aerospace engineering and/or systems engineering

Interest in multidisciplinary work

Strong communication skills

Research Interests

Neuromorphic computing

Neuro-mimetic devices

Robust learning; adversarial robustness

AI hardware

Topics of Potential Projects

Neuromorphic computing -- spiking and non-spiking networks; input coding for SNNs

Neuro-mimetic devices -- spin devices, FeFETs

Robust learning; adversarial robustness

AI hardware

Student Requirements / Skills Needed

Neural networks; algorithms

Linear algebra and statistics

Computer hardware and or devices (depending on what the students want to work on)

Research Interests

Mechanics of Materials

Energy storage materials

Organic polymers

Topics of Potential Projects

Mechanical reliability of Li-ion batteries

Mechanical reliability of organic electrochromics

Student Requirements / Skills Needed

Mechanics, materials.

Research Interests

Biophotonics; neuroscience; in vivo optical imaging; super-resolution optical imaging; optomechanics; and nanophotonics

Topics of Potential Projects

All projects involve work with at least one Ph.D. student in the Webb group. The specific project would be determined after discussion of the interest scope of the person involved, and could involve theory, computation, optical experiments, and fabrication (one of multiple facets). Example projects are as follows.

1. Optical imaging to determine the basis of Parkinson's disease.
2. Imaging of neural network information deep in the brain.
3. Imaging and modeling neuron calcium signaling with microscope data and fluorescent reporters.
4. Simulation and experimental work related to super-resolution optical imaging by motion in coherent structured illumination.
5. Optical force experiments, where membrane deflection is sensed, with an emphasis on fundamental and applied concepts, including the role of nanostructured media.
6. Theory and simulations of optical force and torque on nanostructures.
7. Fabrication and characterization of membrane structures for optomechanics applications.
8. Imaging in scattering media (fog, tissue, ...) using laser speckle correlations.
9. Semiconductor detect detection, to solve a need in the inspection industry.
10. Tracking and imaging satellites.

Student Requirements / Skills Needed

Math, physics (including electromagnetics) for theory, some background in writing a computer code (Matlab, C, ..) or numerical methods (for simulation work where there is no analytical solution), and some interest in, or experience with, experiments, for that aspect. Basically, a strong analytic/math/physical background and interest in exciting and frontier work are preferred. People could come from Engineering (electrical, biomedical, ...), Physics, and related fields.

Research Interests

Nano materials; organic - inorganic hybrid materials; semiconductors; solar cells; electronics.

Topics of Potential Projects

Currently, we are using halide perovskites and functional organic/biological molecules as the model system to develop new hybrid materials with unique functionality; we are also investigating the assembly behavior and transport phenomenon at the interfaces, and applying them into electronic, optoelectronic, and bio-sensor devices to improve the efficiency and reliability.

List of active projects:

1. Chemistry and physics of two-dimensional hybrid perovskite nano materials.
2. High performance perovskite solar cells, LEDs, and transistors.

Student Requirements / Skills Needed

Major in chemistry, chemical engineering, materials science, electrical engineering or related subjects.

Research Interests

Prof. Qiao's research interests are in general area of combustion and propulsion. Current projects include nanoscale energetic materials, alternative fuels and fuel synthesis, pre-chamber turbulent jet ignition for lean-burn engines, supercritical droplets and jets, and novel laser and x-ray diagnostic methods.

Topics of Potential Projects

Project 1: Battery Safety Lithium-ion batteries (LIBs)

Due to their higher energy density than any other batteries, have been widely used in electronic devices in the past three decades, and now become the dominant power source in electric vehicles and aircrafts. In the recent Biden-Harris Electric Vehicle Charging Action Plan, President Biden had united automakers to set an ambitious target of 50% of EV sale shares in the US by 2030. As more EVs are on the roads, the safety concerns of LIBs will become more and more critical. The volatile and flammable liquid electrolyte used in LIBs poses significant fire and explosion hazards. Briefly, if LIBs are shorted during car crash accidents, a significant amount of heat will be released in a very short time. In addition, the metal oxide-based cathode material will decompose at high temperatures and release oxygen. Flammable electrolyte, heat, and self-produced oxygen can create a positive feedback loop known as thermal runaway. It is the reason why EV car fire is challenging to put off, even for the most experienced firefighters. This project aims to better understand the thermal runaway mechanism and explore potential strategies to reduce fire risk.

Project #2: Clean and Efficiency Hybrid Propulsion System for Drones

Research efforts on hybrid propulsion systems for autonomous UAVs are centered on the development of effective, cost-efficient, and reliable power sources. The combination of electric and combustion engines in hybrid propulsion systems offers greater efficiency and improved performance, leading to extended flight times, heavier payloads, and faster speeds. Furthermore, the use of hybrid propulsion systems enables the integration of multiple power sources, such as batteries, solar, wind, or fuel cells, into UAVs, thus making them more versatile. This interdisciplinary project aims to create systems that are more efficient through the hybrid energy sources integrated into the vehicle, allowing for extended flight times, quicker speeds, and increased maneuverability. The student will work with the instructor to investigate strategies to enable UAVs being able to autonomously navigate various terrains and complete a variety of tasks with higher efficiency. Especially, the propulsion system (battery, engine, or a combination of both) must be designed to take into account the weight and size or the UAV, allowing for a more energy-efficiency system so that more autonomous tasks can be completed.

Student Requirements / Skills Needed

For project one, students who have taken graduate-level thermodynamics and gas dynamic courses are preferred. Students who have had experience with computational fluid dynamics (CFD) or molecular simulations (MD) would be a big plus.

For project two, students who have had some lab hands-on experience would be ideal.

Research Interests

Quantum communication, light-atom interactions, quantum optomechanics, quantum sensing and imaging

Topics of Potential Projects

I- Experimental development of a room-temperature quantum source of light for quantum imaging

II- Assisting with experimental development of stable superconducting levitation

Student Requirements / Skills Needed

Project I: Basic knowledge of light-atom interactions and basic experience with optical equipment

Project II: Basic knowledge of electromagnetics and feedback control

Research Interests

Water resources; water quality; hydrologic and water quality modeling; land use, land management, and climate impacts on water resources; data-driven decision making and management.

Topics of Potential Projects

1. Development of methodologies for forecasting risks of water quality impairments.
2. Online rendering and testing of water quality decision making and management tools

Student Requirements / Skills Needed

1. Machine learning, Statistics
2. Web development technologies

Research Interests

Computational Engineering, solid mechanics, finite element simulations

Topics of Potential Projects

Fracture mechanics in composite materials.

Student Requirements / Skills Needed

BS or MS in Mechanical Engineering, Materials Science, Aeronautics or related

Research Interests

Smart manufacturing, micro-scale manufacturing, optical fiber sensors, nanoparticle coating

Topics of Potential Projects

Digital twin development for machine tools and manufacturing processes.

Student Requirements / Skills Needed

Computer programming, mechatronics, VR programming, IoT sensor and devices

Research Interests

Digital twins for smart manufacturing; AI for smart manufacturing; Manufacturing processes for wearable devices; Fabrication of optical fiber sensors

Topics of Potential Projects

Creation of digital twins in VR environment for equipment and processes at digital manufacturing enterprise testbed (DMET) and use of IoT devices for monitoring for smart manufacturing applications as well as AI-based analysis of the signals and data obtained from the testbed.

Student Requirements / Skills Needed

CAD/CAM, computer programming, data analytics, VR programming

Research Interests

We work at the interface of engineering and neuroscience. Specifically, we leverage the advance of computation imaging, photonics and device fabrication to build new generations of neurophotonic interface. Here are samples of our work.

• Park, Jung-Hoon, Lingjie Kong, Yifeng Zhou, and Meng Cui. "Large-field-of-view imaging by multi-pupil adaptive optics." Nature Methods 14, no. 6 (2017): 581-583.
• Cui, Meng, Yifeng Zhou, Bowen Wei, Xiao-Hong Zhu, Wei Zhu, Mark A. Sanders, Kamil Ugurbil, and Wei Chen. "A proof-of-concept study for developing integrated two-photon microscopic and magnetic resonance imaging modality at ultrahigh field of 16.4 tesla." Scientific Reports 7 (2017).
• Kong, Lingjie, Jianyong Tang, Justin P. Little, Yang Yu, Tim Lammermann, Charles P. Lin, Ronald N. Germain, and Meng Cui. "Continuous volumetric imaging via an optical phase-locked ultrasound lens." Nature methods 12, no. 8 (2015): 759-762. Highlighted by Nature Photonics 9, 553 (2015).
• Park, Jung-Hoon, Wei Sun, and Meng Cui. "High-resolution in vivo imaging of mouse brain through the intact skull." Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 112, no. 30 (2015): 9236-9241.
• Si, Ke, Reto Fiolka, and Meng Cui. "Fluorescence imaging beyond the ballistic regime by ultrasound-pulse-guided digital phase conjugation." Nature photonics 6, no. 10 (2012): 657-661.
• Tang, Jianyong, Ronald N. Germain, and Meng Cui. "Superpenetration optical microscopy by iterative multiphoton adaptive compensation technique." Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 109, no. 22 (2012): 8434-8439. Highlighted by Nature Methods 9, 642 (2012)

Topics of Potential Projects

We have two research projects.

1. Transillumination 3D absorption tomography. The goal is to develop the imaging technology for whole brain function imaging.
2. High throughput whole-brain photometry for large-scale recording of brain activity.

Student Requirements / Skills Needed

Students with background in one or several of the following areas are preferred.

1. Optical science and engineering
2. Robotics
3. Machine vision and image processing
4. Physics
5. Computation imaging and image processing

Research Interests

Michael D Sangid is the Elmer F. Bruhn Associate Professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics at Purdue University. His activities combine knowledge of materials science and solid mechanics, to solve complex problems in materials behavior and processing. His research group employs physics-based computational modeling and design tools, which are experimentally validated and verified. The goal is to improve our understanding and our tools for designing, processing, and lifing materials through simulation-based modeling of the microstructural defects. His research specifically focuses on (micro)structure to performance modeling for plasticity, fatigue, and fracture of metallic alloys and high temperature composites. Both material systems have direct applications in Aerospace Engineering. These modeling activities are complemented by an experimental component to his research, as he does advanced materials testing and characterization including digital image correlation, advanced microscopy, and high-energy x-ray diffraction. Thus, the most advanced characterization and interrogation methods are exercised at each scale to verify and validate model predictions, including four-dimensional mapping of ‘defect’ features, strain fields, and complex stress states within the materials.

Topics of Potential Projects

Many post processing techniques (such as shot peening, laser shock peening, and cold working of fastener holes) demonstrate a beneficial residual stress state in structural alloys. As such, materials and structures with these secondary processes have shown improved fatigue life. Yet, prior to these technologies translating to increased time between inspection schedules and extensions to the overall certified life of a structure, additional investigations are necessary to determine the reliability and accuracy of the damage tolerant assessment through these residual stress fields. We would perform in situ high energy x-ray diffraction (HEXD) ahead of an advancing crack during in situ fatigue crack growth experiments. The HEXD characterization enables relatively quick acquisition and high resolution (both in terms of the spatial fields and strain components) of the bulk residual stresses. The experiments will measure the residual stress relaxation ahead of the crack tip and will be extended to pertinent fatigue cases. Of equal importance is the reliability of the residual stress measurements and crack growth rates, thus to complement these experiments, the associated uncertainty quantification of the fatigue crack growth rates will be modeled.

Student Requirements / Skills Needed

Solid Mechanics Background, Some Experience in Coding in Matlab or Python, Interest in Finite Elements and Fatigue Experiments

Research Interests

high temperature structural alloys; high temperature deformation; physical metallurgy; accelerated alloy design; high-throughput thermodynamic calculations; high-throughput experiments

Topics of Potential Projects

Project 1) Industry-driven research on metal casting, heat treatment, and surface engineering. Purdue’s School of Materials Engineering operates three industry consortia that enables pre-competitive research for important problems facing industry today. These consortia include: Center for Surface Engineering and Enhancement, Purdue Heat Treating Consortium, and Purdue Center for Metal Casting. We are constantly seeking talented students to conduct research topics including, but not limited to: shot peening of semi-finished components; coating wear and abrasion; thermo-mechanical modeling of coatings and components during heat treatment; heat treatment optimization; life cycle analysis of industrial processes; development of new coatings, alloys, and quench media; tensile, creep, fatigue, and wear resistance of metal alloys.

Project 2) Materials design, testing, characterization, and modeling. Prof. Titus’s group regularly seeks students interested in high temperature materials. We use a combination of machine learning-driven thermodynamic and atomistic modeling coupled with with novel experiments to rapidly discover, design, fabricate and test high temperature materials. We use a variety of experimental tools including casting, additive manufacturing, sintering, heat treatment, mechanical testing, high resolution electron microscopy, and more.

Student Requirements / Skills Needed

Project 1) We seek applicants with some background in programming in Python. Familiarity with Thermo-Calc SDKs (TC-Python), database management (.json or SQL formats), and data visualization is preferred.

Project 2) We seek applicants with a background in basic metallographic preparation skills. Prior experience in vacuum arc melting and/or Raman spectroscopy is preferred.

Research Interests

Roll to roll manufacturing of functional films using electric and magnetic external fields.

Topics of Potential Projects

Rapid emergence of flexible electronics necessitates development of flexible functional materials . We at Purdue are working on production of functional ( piezoelectric, electrical, ionic, thermally conductive, magnetic) flexible thin films continuously using newly developed R2R manufacturing line located at Birck Nanotechnology center. These materials are produced by incorporating the functional nanoparticles into polymer precursors and use external electric and magnetic fields to create "forests" of nanocolumns of these particles in thickness direction. There are wide range of applications including transparent speakers, very low cost impact sensors.

Student Requirements / Skills Needed

Materials Science, Physics Chemical engineering. Polymer experience would be nice but not critical.

Research Interests

Building science, building energy supply system.

Topics of Potential Projects

The development of cement-based thermoelectric materials for buildings

Student Requirements / Skills Needed

Students from Material engineering, mechanical engineering

Good hands-on

Finite element modeling

Research Interests

CO2 capture, Sustainable materials, Sustainable concrete, Multifunctional materials, Circular Material Systems

Topics of Potential Projects

- Evolution of the rheological properties of sustainable cementitious materials.

- Study of how to improve sustainability construction material through the use of nano-additives.

- Develop new combined methods to improve the nondestructive evaluation of construction materials.

Student Requirements / Skills Needed

Interest on materials

Interest on learning and on performing test in the lab

Research Interests

microbiome, biosensors, soft robots (www.vermalab.com)

Topics of Potential Projects

Research on the relationship between biodiversity and function of microbiomes

The Verma lab works on assessing the relationships between the composition of microbiome and its function. The student will be expected to culture bacteria under specific conditions and monitor their growth. In addition, the student will be responsible for analyzing data and developing new models of interactions within the microbiome.

Student Requirements / Skills Needed

microbiology, programming, bacterial cell culture, wet lab, data analysis

Research Interests

Foundation engineering, ground improvement, recyclable materials, soil behavior, experimental testing.

Topics of Potential Projects

Test piles in a calibration chamber with image capabilities to study the effects of pile type, method of installation, sand density, and surcharge on pile capacity. Monotonic and cyclic loading can be investigated for piles subjected to axial and lateral loads.

Student Requirements / Skills Needed

The student can learn while here how the tests are performed. Interest in image analyses and foundation engineering would be desirable.

Research Interests

https://engineering.purdue.edu/STSRG

STSRG's current work is mainly focused on gaining a deeper understanding of the behavioral intention to use existing transportation choices (such as passenger rail and ride-sharing services) as well as emerging energy and mobility choices (such as autonomous/shared autonomous vehicles and electric roadways). This understanding will enable a more accurate estimation of the anticipated impacts of such technologies. Of particular interest are the energy and environmental impacts of such technologies, which the research group is currently investigating. Another aspect of STSRG's current research lies in evaluating the role of transportation-related indicators (such as accessibility, connectivity, redundancy, and others) on community resilience to macro-economic shocks using both empirical data and theoretical models.

Topics of Potential Projects

--Public acceptance/adoption of emerging technologies (electric vehicles, autonomous and connected vehicles, electric roadways)

--Transportation energy & the environment

--Economic development & resilience

--Urban & intercity public transportation

--First/last mile mode choices

--Transportation & health impacts

Student Requirements / Skills Needed

background in transportation engineering or planning; good grasp of statistics/econometrics; familiarity with GIS, Python, and statistical software; good communication skills

Research Interests

4D Materials Science. Microstructure-property relationships in materials, including metals, ceramics, cellular materials, biological materials, and composites.

Topics of Potential Projects

Understanding the Structure and Growth of Coffee Beans by Correlative Microscopy
Freeze and Thaw Corrosion Mechanisms in Aluminum Alloys
Melting and Deformation Behavior of Ice

Student Requirements / Skills Needed

Background in materials science and engineering.

Research Interests

experimental fluid mechanics, multi-phase flows, biofluids and biomechanics, cardiovascular flows, tissue transport and drug delivery, tumor microenvironments, imaging and signal processing, uncertainty qualification

Topics of Potential Projects

1. Development of advancement methods for volumetric time resolved particle image velocimetry and velocity uncertainty coupled with density measurements background orientated schlieren with applications to high speed, and density varying flows
2. Methods for velocity and flow characterization in-vivo (in animals and/or humans) using ultrasound and/or 4-dimensional phase contrast MRI.
3. Drug delivery and drug injection biomechanics for application to novel immunotherapies

Student Requirements / Skills Needed

basic knowledge of fluid mechanics, image and/or signal processing, and programming in Matlab and/or Python

Research Interests

Semiconductor physics and devices, Nano-structures and nano-fabrications, Quantum/spin-transport, Atomic layer deposition, High-k/III-V and Ge device integration, High-performance III-V and Ge MOSFETs, High-k/2D integration, High-performance 2D devices, 2D spintronics, All oxide electronics, and wide bandgap semiconductor GaN and Ga2O3 power electronics.

Topics of Potential Projects

Novel ferroelectric materials and devices characterization for neuromorphic computing and AI applications.

Student Requirements / Skills Needed

Basic background in physics and chemistry and interests in neuromorphic computing and quantum computing

Research Interests

Improving the performance of photovoltaic, thermophotovoltaic, and electronic systems using the principles of nanophotonics.

Key enabling techniques include electromagnetic and electronic theory, modeling, simulation, fabrication, and characterization.

Topics of Potential Projects

Potential projects include:

1. Food & energy farms:One of the greatest global challenges today is to meet the food, energy, and water (FEW) needs of a growing population using existing resources. The challenge increases further once one eliminates unsustainable practices, and considers current land use constraints. For instance, typical solar energy installation casts deep shadows on the ground below, preventing many crops from growing nearby. There is an urgent need to develop new solutions to the global sustainability. In this project, we will aim to develop strategies to use locally collected sunlight to meet food, energy, and water needs. These strategies will entail an understanding of the best ways to design optics for these systems to allow simultaneous co-production; recognition of the requirements of modern agriculture, particularly in the Midwest; and discussions with affected stakeholders to identify and address potential concerns.
2. New materials for photonic integrated circuits: transmitting and processing information traditionally involves electronic circuits, which use electrons to do the job. The research in this project uses photons instead, which are individual units of light. These photons have some properties that make them ideal for handling information. They can move fast and carry a lot of data. However, there are still some challenges to overcome when using light for these circuits, like directing it where we want it to go, preventing it from interfering with other light, and switching it on and off when needed. In this project, we're looking for a Master's-level student to simulate new photonic materials at the smaller scale (materials level), as well as the circuit level to help guide planned experiments.

Student Requirements / Skills Needed

All visiting students will need to have familiarity with the basics of electromagnetism, optics, and scientific computing. The ability and inclination to quickly learn a new scientific topic is desired. For coding, Python, C/C++, and MATLAB/Octave are our preferred languages. Working familiarity with Linux and shell scripts is also a plus.

Research Interests

Magnetism, Spintronics, Quantum phenomena and devices, Unconventional computing and energy harvesting

Topics of Potential Projects

Topic 1: Quantum spintronics- The goal of this project is to develop fundamental theoretical/experimental understanding, as well as, design of novel quantum hybrids involving spin qubits and magnons for developing beyond state-of-the-art quantum technological capabilities including enhanced sensing of E-fields, performing scalable information processing, and microwave to optical transduction.

Topic 2: Noise-enhanced spintronics energy harvesters - The goal of this project is to exploit noise in nanomagnets, combined with the recently discovered spin-charge conversion mechanisms, for designing and testing fundamentally novel beyond state-of-the-art ambient rf energy harvesters.

Student Requirements / Skills Needed

Electrical engineering, mechanical engineering or background in physics. Students with knowledge in the basics of quantum/classical mechanics, programming and/or measurement background (such as in Python) are a plus.

Research Interests

Building physics

Topics of Potential Projects

Airflow in and around buildings (Using CFD to conduct simulations and experimental data to validate the results)

Building ventilation (Advanced ventilation systems such as personalized ventilation, chilled beams, etc.)

Thermal comfort in enclosed spaces (Study of thermal comfort in dynamic environment)

Student Requirements / Skills Needed

Students with mechanical or civil engineering background have taken fluid mechanics, thermodynamics, and heat transfer

Research Interests

Interdisciplinary engineering comprising nuclear-mechanical-chemical-electrical-materials sciences. Pertaining to novel sensors for radiation monitoring as applied for nuclear energy, safety, health physics and cancer therapy/diagnostics. Radiation tailored polymer sciences.

Topics of Potential Projects

Sensor systems for spectrometric detection of special nuclear materials via neutron/alpha/fission/photon signatures. Applications in energy, medicine, safeguards/safety/..

Tailored VOC-free polymers for use as coatings, building construction, adhesives and monitors for ionizing particles.

Above mentioned areas to include experimentation, theoretical work (inclusive of multi-physics modeling and simulations)

Student Requirements / Skills Needed

Strong interest and background in physics, chemistry, nuclear-mechanical-..engineering.

Ability to work with electronics/coding/simulation/fabrication of devices a plus

Research Interests

Computer Networking, Internet Protocols and Architecture, Internet Video, Network Management, Software-Defined Networks, Low-latency mobile applications

Topics of Potential Projects

(1) Analyzing large scale Internet traffic data using machine learning techniques to optimize Internet video performance

(2) Experimentation with 360 degree video

(3) Formal verification and synthesis techniques for computer networks.

Student Requirements / Skills Needed

(1) Computer Engineering/Science background

(2) Course work in Computer Networks (Internet protocols/architecture)

Research Interests

Autonomous/connected vehicles modeling, Data science for cities, Resilience of Networks, Complex Systems, Human Mobility Modeling, Smart Cities, Disaster Management, Cyber Transportation Networks

Topics of Potential Projects

- Ride sharing in cities - novel algorithms and solution techniques

- Autonomous electric vehicles - platooning, energy consumption, impacts

- Complex networks - modeling of resilience of interdependent networks

- Network Modeling - Selfish routing, dynamic networks, social optimum, mechanism designs

- Smart logistics - Crowdshipping

Student Requirements / Skills Needed

Good mathematical skills in optimization, game theory, data science. Coding in R and Python

Research Interests

Multi-Agent Autonomy; Control and Learning; Distributed Algorithms; Human-Robot Teaming; Experiments on Robotics Platforms.

Topics of Potential Projects

Students are welcome to formulate their own problems in the scope of autonomy and robotics, especially integration of classical theories in control/optimization with recent advance in machine learning and AI. Some examples are as follows:

1. Control and Learning for Autonomous Systems (UAVs, UGVs, etc)
2. Distributed Algorithms for Multi-Agent Reinforcement Learning
3. Algorithms for Human-Robot Teaming

Student Requirements / Skills Needed

Basic theories in control, optimization, networks and knowledge to machine learning and AI.

Programming skills using iRos, Python, Matlab

Research Interests

Multi-phase flow and heat transfer, multiphase instrumentation, nuclear reactor thermalhydraulics, and safety, advanced nuclear reactor ( HTGR, SFR, MSR) design, and accident analysis, fuel cells, hydrogen generation and storage, renewable systems analysis , and nuclear-renewables hybrid system, multiphase flow in packed beds, phase change material heat storage, betavoltaic cell

Topics of Potential Projects

Thermal Hydraulics Projects:

(1) Steam generator tube leakages-

(2) Passive condensation in vertical tube

(3) High temperature gas cooled reactor transients accident

Chemical and Renewable and Hydrogen

(1) Thermochemical hydrogen generation

(2) Chemical Hydrogen storage

(3) Nuclear and renewable integrated systems

(4) Phase change material based heat storage systems

(5) Two phase flow in packed bed – instrumentation

Details:

(1) Choking of Subcooled flashing flow in narrow channels and steam generator tube cracks- Experimental program in existing test facility

(2) Study of non-condensation effect on film condensation in vertical tube –Experimental program for advanced boiling water reactor , Also Analytical modeling and CFD analysis

(3) Design of a scaled experimental test facility to model an advanced nuclear reactor-Scaling and hardware design of an advanced high temperature gas cooled reactor primary systems and reactor building.

(4) Analysis of gas distribution using CFD in a high temperature gas cooled reactor during depressurization transient

(5) Hybrid sulfur and sulfur iodine cycle hydrogen generation with solar and nuclear heat- modeling and analysis

(6) Hydrogen storage in Sodium borohydride and borane

(7) Nuclear coupled to renewable ( solar wind, concentrated, photovoltaic) hybrid system modeling

(8) Beta-voltaic cell design, testing and analysis

Student Requirements / Skills Needed

Multi-phase flow and heat transfer, computational -MATLAB, CFD ( FLUENT, CFX, etc.,), thermalhydraulics experimental skill, experience in computer codes such as RELAP5, MELCOR, or equivalents. Modeling from first principles. Thermalhydraulics loop design and testing, data analysis,

Research Interests

Sustainability Science, Sustainable Engineering, Life Cycle Analysis, Input-Output Modeling,

Topics of Potential Projects

Circular Economy : Modeling the circular supply chain for pharmaceuticals industry by combining process modeling with Input-Output modeling. In this project, we will also utilize machine learning & optimization to understand the most optimal pathway for transition to circular supply chains in pharmaceuticals sector. The specific details of the project can be co-developed with the student based on their interest and expertise.

Student Requirements / Skills Needed

Chemical Engineering/Mechanical Engineering/Physics, Systems Engineering, Statistics and Programming knowledge (or willingness to learn ) - Python, Matlab. Interest in complex systems modeling approaches.

Research Interests

3D computer/machine vision, additive manufacturing, artificial intelligence

Topics of Potential Projects

• AI for multi-modal sensing data fusing
• AI for additive manufacturing quality control
• Structured light 3D imaging
• Smartphone based measurement

Student Requirements / Skills Needed

Basic optics, Matlab, Python or C++, linear algebra, image processing

Research Interests

Microfluidics, Nanofluidics, Electrokinetics, Optical trapping

Topics of Potential Projects

Projects are either computational or experimental in nature, sometimes both. Computational projects usually involve using COMSOL or Matlab to compute microscopic flow physics. Experimental projects involve using microscopes, cameras, and lasers to manipulate microscopic flows, predict their behavior, and observe their responses to system inputs. Application areas include biomedical engineering, manufacturing and controls.

Student Requirements / Skills Needed

Should have some experience with tools like matlab and some experience with basic laboratory procedures.

Research Interests

Quantum transport

Charge, heat and spin transport in semiconductor nanodevices

Nonequilibrium Green's function method applications in various fields

High performance computation

Topics of Potential Projects

1.) Concept verification and design optimization of the cascade field effect and cascade tunneling field effect transistor:

Our team has merged transistor and quantum cascade laser technologies into a new transistor concept. Switching performance predictions of the new transistor concept are needed to verify the concept. The multipurpose nanodevice simulation engine NEMO5 will be employed for this. Once the concept is verified, the device design will be optimized w.r.t best possible transistor performance. A collaboration with semiconductor industry is already prepared for project continuation after a prototype design is identified.

2.) Machine learning support for semiconductor nanodevice design:

Simulating semiconductor nanodevices in quantum mechanical and atomistic resolution is numerically expensive. Semiconductor researchers and industry (Intel, TSMC, Samsung, etc.) are applying low rank approximations to reduce the simulation costs, but those approximations require device-specific basis representations. Purdue's quantum code library offers tools that create such basis representations, but these tools require human's ability to recognize patterns to assess the representations' quality.

The task of this project is to create a sufficiently large database of device-specific basis representations to train an AI to 1) run the quantum code library tools fully automatically and 2) once ready to predict basis representations without any tools involved.

After some training, team members will be responsible to run Purdue's quantum code library on Purdue's community clusters and mid-size supercomputers to create basis representations. Once the number of available basis sets is sufficient, machine learning algorithms will be trained on reproducing basis representations first with the quantum code library and later directly from the device structures. Prof. Kubis, his team members of students and staff will guide the team on all steps involved.

Student Requirements / Skills Needed

Motivation to learn new concepts

Basic quantum mechanics and semiconductor physics (project 1)

Basic machine learning, coding and scripting knowledge (project 2)

Some experience with linux and scripting helpful for both projects

Research Interests

Aerospace propulsion systems, Rocket engine combustors, Liquid propellant injection systems, Hypergolic propellants, High pressure and hydrogen storage systems

Topics of Potential Projects

I have been invited to Rome, Italy this December to initiate discussions with the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at Sapienza University of Rome. Purdue and Sapienza have collaborated before but this trip is aimed to renew ours ties and, hopefully, initiate a student exchange. We have common interests in the development and characterization of space thrusters. I'd like to discuss options for me to build on this program with this university.

Student Requirements / Skills Needed

Masters with experimental and/or modeling experience related to combustion.

Research Interests

Machine Learning; Quantum Machine Learning

Topics of Potential Projects

- Reinforcement Learning

- Offline Reinforcement Learning

- Applications of ML to Biomedical

- Quantum Machine Learning

Student Requirements / Skills Needed

Ideal student would be good in mathematics and programming, with preferred background in computer science, electrical engineering, statistics, mathematics, or related areas.

Research Interests

Hydrology, water resources, flooding

Topics of Potential Projects

1. Creating automated workflows of processing hydrology data
2. Creating hydrologic and flood models for data scarce regions in developing world

Student Requirements / Skills Needed

Hydrology background with knowledge of Geographic Information Systems and python programming

Research Interests

High throughput shock loading tests

Battery Management System Design

Sensor Integration with Data Science

Topics of Potential Projects

Perform high throughput shock tests to relate large structure level shock failure with material features. Use data science to connect the scales. Use intelligent system knowledge to automate the whole process.

Student Requirements / Skills Needed

BS mechanical engineering, aero engineering, industrial engineering or similar field.

Research Interests

"Human-Automation Interaction" and "Applied Ergonomics and Safety". Two additional items I should have included in prior submission are 1. The VIP projects are setup for 2 credits each in 2020 Spring. 2. The two more formal descriptions of what students would do should have been included. Those are:

Human-Automation Interaction - The team will develop research skills and practical data mining skills for creating publications and applications in industry in areas with emerging need and limited expertise at present.

Applied Ergonomics and Safety - The team will develop research skills and practical data mining skills for creating publications and applications in industry in areas with emerging need and limited expertise at present.

In first semester, students will have a writing project with methods outlined for developing a 'systematic literature review' including bibliometric analysis and content analysis.

Hope this 2nd entry helps to clarify a couple of additional items. A list of topics options/emphasis for the three main themes is included below. Students can choose a project topic among those listed or modify in cooperation with instructor. Four Visiting Scholar/PostDocs that are currently on Purdue campus will be working with Prof. Duffy in support of the VIP Projects in Spring 2020.

Topics of Potential Projects

Human-Automation Interaction with emphasis on Mobile Computing

1. Architectural design and infrastructure
2. Artificial intelligence and mobile computing
3. Automation, children and learning
4. Automation and energy management
5. Automation surprises: mobile computing
6. Bibliometric analysis
7. Business management and society
8. Cognitive ergonomics and automation
9. Cross-cultural design and social media
10. Digital human modeling
11. Ethics and transparency
12. Face reader and emotional response
13. Information technologies and privacy
14. Learning technologies and social robots
15. Mobile computing and games
16. Mobile computing for the aged population
17. Mobile sensors and assessment
18. Physiological methods and measures
19. User experience and usability
20. Virtual and augmented reality
21. Universal access
22. Wearable technologies

Human-Automation Interaction with emphasis on Transportation

1. Air traffic control and automation
2. Artificial intelligence and transportation
3. Automation and systems interaction
4. Automation surprises: transportation
5. Data science
6. Design for inclusion and aged population
7. Engineering psychology and augmented cognition
8. Ergonomics in transportation
9. Human error and reliability
10. Injury prevention
11. Industry 4.0
12. Kansei engineering and automotive design
13. Mobility and transport systems
14. Occupant packaging
15. Resilience and performance
16. Robots and unmanned systems
17. Simulation in transportation
18. Software and services
19. Space systems and habitability
20. Sustainable urban planning
21. Transportation service systems
22. Trust and automation

Human-Automation Interaction with emphasis on Manufacturing, Services and User Experience

1. Advanced production management and production control
2. Affective and pleasurable design
3. Artificial intelligence in industrial applications
4. Augmented reality and multimodal approaches
5. Automation surprises: manufacturing and services
6. Cross-cultural design
7. Cybersecurity
8. Design communications and product lifecycle management
9. Design for limited mobility
10. Healthcare automation
11. Human factors and simulation
12. Human-Automation Interaction in apparel and textiles
13. Internet of Things
14. Metadata and data mining
15. Modeling human performance
16. Office automation in government and organizations
17. Personal digital assistants
18. Safety management and occupational ergonomics
19. Social computing and social media
20. Systems modeling and additive manufacturing
21. Training and collaboration technologies
22. Virtual environments and game design

Student Requirements / Skills Needed

Interest in joining a research initiative in human factors and human-automation interaction. Students staying for a second semester will join a proposal writing exercise. In third semester, students will have opportunity for applications with industrial partner.

Research Interests

Dr. Wu's research interests include design, manufacturing, and integration of 1-D and 2-D nanomaterials for applications in energy, nanoelectronics, wearable systems, and quantum devices.

Topics of Potential Projects

We aim to design and implement a wearable rectenna based on atomically-thin 2-D nanoribbon diodes, which can efficiently harvest ambient RF energy. The ultra-thin form factor of such nanoribbon rectenna allows the seamless integration with objects of arbitrary shapes and transforms them into self-powered smart objects with "power skins". The success of this work can enable ubiquitous energy harvesting and wireless charging for self-powered wearable and implantable devices using the existing wireless infrastructure as the energy hotspot.

Student Requirements / Skills Needed

Students with background and expertise in one of the following areas: microfabrication; design and characterization of RF devices; nanoelectronics; device physics; 2-D materials; wearable device.

Research Interests

Dr. Wu's research interests include design, manufacturing, and integration of 1-D and 2-D nanomaterials for applications in energy, nanoelectronics, wearable systems, and quantum devices. Research profile

Topics of Potential Projects

This project aims to design, implement, and demonstrate a material technology for additive manufacturing of solution-synthesized two-dimensional (2-D) piezoelectric materials into designer architected metamaterials capable of ubiquitous energy harvesting, sensing, and actuation. The success of this project will enable a new platform for additive manufacturing of a broad range of piezoelectric metadevices with pervasive impacts on numerous technologies, e.g., self-powered sensors, soft robotics, and human-machine interface.

Student Requirements / Skills Needed

Students with background and expertise in one of the following areas: microfabrication; additive manufacturing; 2-D materials; wearable device; piezoelectric materials and devices.

Research Interests

Dr. Wu's research interests include design, manufacturing, and integration of 1-D and 2-D nanomaterials for applications in energy, nanoelectronics, wearable systems, and quantum devices. Research profile

Topics of Potential Projects

This project aims to explore and demonstrate a monolithic quantum electronics platform based on the scalable nanomanufacturing and deterministic integration of 2-D topological materials based quantum devices. The success of this research will not only open the doors for manufacturing a new class of 2-D quantum materials with tunable properties but also create a paradigm shift in the design and implementation of new device concepts for quantum electronics.

Student Requirements / Skills Needed

Students with background and expertise in one of the following areas: microfabrication; quantum electronics; device physics; 2-D materials; topological materials; characterization of quantum devices.

Research Interests

nanoscale heat transfer in 2D materials

ultrafast heat transfer (fs time resolved)

nanoscale 3D printing

Topics of Potential Projects

nanoscale heat transfer in 2D materials

ultrafast heat transfer (fs time resolved)

nanoscale 3D printing

Student Requirements / Skills Needed

mechanical or electrical engineering, or physics

Research Interests

Interpretable machine learning, biomedical data science

Topics of Potential Projects

It is common in real world applications that unlabeled data are abundant while acquiring labels is extremely difficult. However, training with limited labeled data may cause the predictive model to overfit or get stuck in a bad local optima due to the lack of abundant supervision. In this project, we propose various mathematical strategies to improve the predictive performance without increasing the labeling cost. We will:

1) design new generative models in semi-supervised and unsupervised learning to learn from the abundant unlabeled data and provide auxiliary information for prediction;

2) propose new graph neural networks to uncover data correlation and infer data labels in a graph structure.

Student Requirements / Skills Needed

1. Strong motivation for research;

2. Good background in math and programming;

3. Courses must cover at least one of the following subjects: machine learning, statistics, linear algebra, optimization, Python programming, etc;

4. Good communication skills and team work spirit."

Research Interests

Mechanical behavior of nanostructured metals and ceramics; radiation damage in nanomaterials; Nanomechanics/nanoindentation Sputtering deposition of thin films; 3D printing of metals Ceramic nanocomposites

Topics of Potential Projects

"Mechanical behavior of nanocrystalline metals and ceramics prepared by sputtering or flash sintering;

1) Y. Zhang, Q. Li, S. Xue, J. Ding, T. Niu, R. Su, H. Wang, X. Zhang, Size dependent strengthening in high-strength nanotwinned Al/Ti multilayers, Acta Materialia, 175 (2019) 466-476.

2) Jaehun Cho, Jin Li, Z. Shang, Jack M. Lopez, William J. Jarosinski, M.M. Gentleman, Vaishak Viswanathan, S. Xue, H. Wang, X. Zhang, Comparison of temperature dependent deformation mechanisms of 8YSZ thermal barrier coatings prepared by air-plasma-spray and D-gun thermal spray: an in situ study, Journal of the European Ceramic Society, 39 (2019) 3120-3128.

Radiation damage in nanomaterials;

1) Z Shang, C Fan, S Xue, Jie Ding, Jin Li, T Voisin, YM Wang, H Wang, X Zhang, Response of solidification cellular structures in additively manufactured 316 stainless steel to heavy ion irradiation: an in situ study, Materials Research Letters, 7 (2019) 290-297, DOI: 10.1080/21663831.2019.1604442;

2) Cuncai Fan, Qiang Li, Jie Ding, Yanxiang Liang, Zhongxia Shang, Jin Li, Ruizhe Su, Jaehun Cho, Di Chen, Yongqiang Wang, Jian Wang, Haiyan Wang, Xinghang Zhang, Helium irradiation induced ultra-high strength nanotwinned Cu with nanovoids, Acta Materialia 177 (2019) 107-120.

Characterization of 3D printed metallic materials (steels, Ni alloys)

Student Requirements / Skills Needed

1. Materials science background (SEM, XRD etc.)

2. Self-motivated

3. Hard working

4. Team player

5. Effective communication

6. Leadership desirable, not necessary

Research Interests

1. Nanoscale heat transfer and energy conversion
2. Multiscale multiphysics simulations of nanomaterials for energy applications
3. Machine learning methods in energy applications
4. Radiative cooling with nanomaterials
5. Photovoltaic nanomaterials: simulation, synthesis, and devices
6. Thermoelectric nanomaterials: simulation, synthesis and devices

Topics of Potential Projects

1. Radiative cooling using nanomaterials: Radiative cooling relies on surfaces that have high emissivity in the sky window of the atmosphere (8 to 13 microns) and high reflectivity in the solar spectrum. Such surfaces can strongly reflect the sunlight and emit heat to the deep sky, hence have the potential to be cooled below the ambient temperature without energy input. This technology is promising to reduce the air conditioning cost and address the global warming challenge. The focus of this project is to develop nanocomposites with engineered optical properties to enhance the radiative cooling performance. The project can involve experimental and/or theoretical components.
2. Multiscale simulations of thermal conductivity of nanomaterials with machine learning: Tailored thermal conductivities are desired in many applications such as thermal management of electronics and thermal barrier coatings. In this project, we will use a range of simulation methods including first principles calculations, molecular dynamics, Boltzmann transport equation to predict thermal conductivity of technologically important materials. Machine learning methods will be used to enable high-throughput search of such materials.

Student Requirements / Skills Needed

Experiences in heat transfer, materials sciences, computational methods, physics, or optics are desired but not required.

Research Interests

Quantum Materials and Devices; Graphene and 2D materials; Topological Insulators and Topological Materials; Spintronics; Experimental Quantum Computing; Superconducting Devices; Quantum Emitters and Quantum Photonics; Cold Atom BEC based quantum matter and devices;

Quantum Control.

Topics of Potential Projects

Applications of Qubits, Quantum Sensing and Quantum Control. Fabricate and characterize electronic or optical qubits and using them as quantum sensors for materials research, security or other applications. Also of interests are quantum control of atomic, chemical processes.

Student Requirements / Skills Needed

One of the following;

1. nanodevice fabrication;
2. low temperature transport measurements;
3. quantum/nonlinear optics measurements

Research Interests

Given our highly connected nature, it is a formidable challenge to provide and maintain hardware and information security. Even though security attacks in cyberspace and physical space are not new, current defense applications require unprecedentedly high levels of security for devices, individuals, and communications. The recent advances in quantum computing are expected to break many current encryption used for distributing information securely. In addition, counterfeit medicines are a fundamental security problem. The problem of counterfeit medicines is not new, but is becoming a tremendous burden to our society. Counterfeit medicines of both lifestyle drugs and lifesaving drugs are increasingly being produced in developed and developing countries, in part due to the increased public use of online pharmacies. It is estimated that counterfeit medicines account for 10% of the global pharmaceutical trade. Unfortunately, counterfeiters and illegitimate sellers continue to improve their packaging and manufacturing. More importantly, anti-counterfeiting and authentication using software algorithms or hardware protocols will become highly vulnerable in the post-quantum era. In this respect, quantum and biological materials could augment a variety of security capabilities for existing and emerging threats.

Topics of Potential Projects

We will study augment two security capabilities: random number generators (RNGs) and physically unclonable functions (PUFs): i) Random numbers are generated by one-way mathematical functions in software algorithms. Such random numbers are robust enough in the in classical era, but the recent advances in quantum computing will put them at high risk. Theoretically, truly random numbers with high entropy originated from quantum mechanics can make cryptographic primitives strong enough to tolerate a quantum computer attack to an extent. It should be noted that many RNGs are claimed to be quantum RNGs, but none of them are truly quantum based on quantum materials yet. ii) As a cryptographic primitive, PUFs provide 'digital fingerprints' where information is usually read from a static entropy (physical disorder). In particular, a PUF has multiple pairs consisting of an input challenge and an output response that are unique and unclonable. When a PUF is integrated or embedded within a system (e.g. package), this allows the identity to be uniquely authenticated.

Student Requirements / Skills Needed

Experience in physical optics, biomedical optics, and Matlab coding.

Research Interests

Laser processing of materials, additive manufacturing, advanced manufacturing, data-driven science

Topics of Potential Projects

• Design and additive manufacturing of meta material: This research is to experimentally exploit the feasibility of building different metamaterials via topology design and fabrication using 3D additive manufacturing.
• Machine learning models for microstructure-properties of additively manufactured metal parts: In this study, the student will work on studying the microstructure-property relationships of additive manufactured parts.
• Additive manufacturing of soft materials for biomedical applications
• Laser micromachining or welding of transparent materials

Student Requirements / Skills Needed

Some experiences in CAD, additive manufacturing or numerical modeling are preferred, but not required.

Research Interests

Computer Vision, Low-Power Systems, Cloud Computing.

Topics of Potential Projects

Artificial Intelligence for Musicians: This project will use machine learning to understand music (audio, score, video) and help musicians. For more information, please visit https://ai4musicians.org/

Student Requirements / Skills Needed

Computer programming. Machine learning / artificial intelligence

Research Interests

Process Control

Process Systems Engineering

Pharmaceutical Manufacturing

Particle Technology

Topics of Potential Projects

The project would involve the modeling and control of a pharmaceutical manufacturing process. Advanced control and process intensification concept will be evaluated for the manufacturing of pharmaceutical compounds. The aim is to develop a general framework for controlling properties of crystalline active pharmaceutical ingredients, including size and shape distribution and polymorphic form. The project can provides the possibility to perform experimental validation of the control approaches using state of the art laboratory batch and continuous crystallization systems for the production of model pharmaceuticals.

Student Requirements / Skills Needed

Knowledge in matlab or similar programming language is preferable but not required.