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Xiulin Ruan, Professor, Purdue University Faculty Scholar, ASME Fellow [Curriculum Vita]

 

Professor Ruan received his B.S. and M.S. in Engineering Thermophysics from Tsinghua University in 2000 and 2002, respectively. He received an M.S. in Electrical Engineering and Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor, in 2006 and 2007 respectively. Subsequently, he joined Purdue as an assistant professor. He was promoted to associate professor with tenure in 2013 and full professor in 2017. Dr. Ruan received many awards, including NSF CAREER Award in 2012, Air Force Summer Faculty Fellowship in 2010, 2011, and 2013, ASME Heat Transfer Division Best Paper Award in 2015, College of Engineering Early Career Research Excellence Award in 2016, School of Mechanical Engineering Outstanding Graduate Student Mentor Award in 2016, B.F.S. Schaefer Award in 2017, University Faculty Scholar in 2017, College of Engineering Research Award in 2022, College of Engineering Outstanding Graduate Student Mentor Award in 2022, SXSW Innovation Award for Sustainability in 2023, Brillouin Medal from the International Society of Phononics in 2023, Time Magazine's "Best Inventions of 2023", ASME McDonald Mentoring Award in 2024, etc. He served as an associate editor for the ASME Journal of Heat Transfer from 2018 to 2024.               
 

Office: FLEX 1081C and BRK 1270     Phone: 765-494-5721 (FLEX), 765-494-6603 (BNC)

e-mail: ruan@purdue.edu


Postdoctoral fellows:

Dr. JInghang Dai

Dr. JInghang Dai received his Ph.D. from Cornell University in 2023 and joined our group and Prof. Amy Marconnet's group as a joint postdoc fellow in June 2024. 

Email: dai159@purdue.edu

 

Dr. Dudong Feng

Dr. Dudong Feng received his PhD from Georgia Institute of Technology in December 2021 and joined our group as a postdoc fellow in early 2022. 

Email: feng376@purdue.edu

Dr. Xiaojie Liu, Gilbreth Postdoctoral Fellow

Dr. Xiaojie Liu received her PhD from Northeastern University in December 2022 and joined our group as a prestigeous Gilbreth Postdoctoral Fellow in early 2023. Xiaojie is also co-advised by Profs. Jianguo Mei and Tian Li. 

Email: liu3847@purdue.edu

 

Dr. Yingru Song

Dr. Yingru Song received his PhD from Rice University in June 2024 and joined Prof. Amy Marconnet's group and our group as a joint postdoc fellow in July 2024.

Email: song913@purdue.edu

 

 


Graduate students:

 

Abdulaziz Alkandari, PhD student, Recipient of Kwuait Scholarship

Abdulaziz received his MS from Penn State University, before joining our group as a PhD student. He is co-advised by Prof. Thomas Beechem.

Office: Flex Lab                  Phone:                             Email: aalkanda@purdue.edu    

 

Khalid Alhammadi, PhD student, Recipient of a scholarship from Saudi Arabia  

Khalid received his MS from Northeastern University in 2022, before joining our group as a PhD student.

Office: Flex Lab                  Phone:                             Email: alhammak@purdue.edu    

Abdulrahman Aljwirah, PhD student, Recipient of a scholarship from Saudi Arabia

Abdulrahman received his BS from Saginaw Valley State University in 2019 and MS from Northeastern University in 2021, before joining our group as a PhD student.

Office: Flex Lab                  Phone:                             Email: aaljwira@purdue.edu    

Emily Barber, PhD student, NSF Graduate Research Fellow, Purdue Ingersol-Rand Fellow

Emily received her B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Georgia in 2021 and subsequently joined our group as an MS student. She received MS in 2023 and continued to pursue PhD with our group. Her PhD is co-advised by Prof. Travis Horton. She is a recipient of the NSF Graduate Fellowship in 2021, Purdue Mechanical Engineering Fellowshipship in 2021, Third Prize of the Purdue Moonshot Competition in 2021, and South by Southwest (SXSW) Innovation Award for Sustainability in 2023.

Office: Flex Lab                  Phone:                              Email: barber57@purdue.edu 

Daniel Carne, PhD student, Lambert Teaching Fellow 

Daniel received his B.S. and M.S. from the Oklahoma State University in 2019 and 2021 respectively, before joining our group as a PhD student. Daniel received the Lambert Teaching Fellowship.  

Office: Flex Lab                 Phone:                              Email: dcarne@purdue.edu 

Ziqi Fang, PhD student

Ziqi received his B.S. from the School of Mechanical Engineering at Purdue University in 2022, and joined our group as an MS student.

Office: Flex Lab                Phone:                            Email: fang212@purdue.edu 

Andrea Felicelli, PhD student, NSF Graduate Research Fellow, Purdue Doctoral Fellow

Andrea received her B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Akron in 2019 and then joined our group. She is co-advised by Professor George Chiu. Her current research involves nanomaterials, additive manufacturing, sustainable energy, and bioengineering. She is a recipient of NSF Graduate Research Fellowship in 2019-2022,  Purdue Doctoral Fellowship for 2022-2024, Outstanding Graduate Mentor Award during Purdue SURF in 2020, South by Southwest (SXSW) Innovation Award for Sustainability in 2023, and Time Magazine "Best Inventions of 2023".

Office: Flex Lab                 Phone:                                   Email: afelicel@purdue.edu

Ziqi Guo, PhD student, Purdue Ross Fellow, Purdue Systems Fellow

Ziqi received his B.S. in Energy and Power Engineering from the Huazhong University of Science and Technology in 2021 and subsequently joined our group. He is a recipient of the Purdue Ross Fellowship in 2021, the Heat Transfer Division K-9 Session Presentation Award at the 2023 ASME Summer Heat Transfer Conference.  He is co-advised by Prof. Guang Lin.

Office: Flex Lab              Phone:                                Email: gziqi@purdue.edu   

Orlando G. Rivera Gonzalez, PhD student, NSF Graduate Research Fellow, Purdue Ross Fellow

Orlando received his B.S. from the University of Puerto Rico, Mayaguez. He is a recipient of the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship in 2022-2025 and Purdue's Ross Fellowship in 2021-2022. He is co-advised by Prof. Justin Weibel.

Office: Flex Lab                Phone:                                Email: oriverag@purdue.edu 

Zherui Han, PhD student, Purdue Ross Fellow, Purdue Bilsland Dissertation Fellow

Zherui received his B.S. in Energy and Power Engineering from the Huazhong University of Science and Technology in 2019 and then joined our group. His current research involves atomistic level simulations and machine learning. He is a recipient of Purdue's Ross Fellowship in 2019-2020, Bilsland Dissertation Fellowship for 2023-2024, Best Presentation Award at 2021 MRS Fall Meeting, Best Poster Award at the 2022 Hawkins Poster Session.

Office: Flex Lab                 Phone:                                   Email: han603@purdue.edu

Ioanna Katsamba, PhD student, Lambert Teaching Fellow

Ioanna received her B.S. and M.S. in Mechanical Engineering and Manufacturingfrom from the University of Cyprus in 2017 and 2019 respectively. Her research interest is in transport phenomena in nanomaterials additive manufacturing and processing. She received an Outstanding Graduate Mentor Award for SURF 2021, the Lambert Teaching Fellowship for 2023-2024, and the Stevenson Scholarship in 2023. 

 

Office:                                Phone:                                 Email: ikatsamb@purdue.edu

Krutarth Khot, PhD student

Krutarth received his B.S. from Indian Institute of Technology Gandhinagar. He received Heat Transfer Division K-9 Session Presensation Award at 2023 ASME IMECE.  

Office: Flex Lab               Phone:                                 Email: kkhot@purdue.edu

Andrew Witty, MS student, Purdue Corider Fellow

Andrew is currently a senior in Purdue ME and a student-athelet in the Purdue swimming team. He will join our group as an MS student in summer 2024. He received the Cordier Fellowship.  

Office: Flex Lab               Phone:                                 Email:

Zixin Xiong, PhD student

Zixin received her B.S. from the School of Mechanical Engineering at Purdue in 2019 and MS from our group in 2021. She continues to pursue PhD in our group and is also co-advised by Prof. Amy Marconnet. Her research interest is simulations and experiments of thermal transport in nanomaterials. She received a Best Poster Presentation Award at the CTRC 2023 Fall Meeting.

Office: Flex Lab                 Phone:                                   Email: xiong49@purdue.edu


Visiting scholars or students:

 

Undergraduate students:

  Gabriella Giachini

 

                                                     

  Fernando Barrios

 

                                                     

  Jennifer Cahillane 

                            

  Yizhou (Zoe) Fang

 

                                                     

 

Richard Smith

  


 

Lab Alumni:

Graduate Degrees (in order of graduation date):

Name Degree and Date

Information

Current Position

Aaron Sisto

 

MS, 2011

Aaron received his BS in Mechanical Engineering from Purdue in 2010 and MS in 2011 with our group . His MS thesis title was "Multiscale simulations of thermal radiative properties of carbon nanotube arrays". While at Purdue Aaron received the Chappelle Fellowship, Winkelman Fellowship, Department of Energy (DOE) Computational Science Graduate Fellowship, and National Science Foundation (NSF) Graduate Fellowship.

Chief Scientist & Co-Founder at Searchable.ai [LinkedIn]

Hua Bao

PhD, 2012 Dr. Hua Bao received his B.S. from Tsinghua University and PhD from Purdue with our group. He subsequently joined University of Michigan and Shanghai Jiaotong University Joint Institute as a tenure-track assistant professor. His dissertation title was "Nanoscale material design for photovoltaic applications". While at Purdue Hua received the Bilsland Dissertation Fellowship, Lambert Teaching Fellowship, Purdue Computing Research Institute (CRI) Fellowship, and the Stevenson Graduate Scholarship. Professor, Shanghai Jiaotong University [link]
Bo Qiu

PhD, 2012 Dr. Bo Qiu received his B.S. from University of Science and Technology of China and PhD from Purdue with our group. He subsequently joined MIT as a postdoctoral fellow. His dissertation title was "Thermal transport in layered materials for thermoelectrics and thermal management". While at Purdue Bo received the Ross Fellowship, Best Student Presentation Award at the 2008 ASME Energy Nanotechnology International Conference, Bilsland Dissertation Fellowship, Best Poster Award at the US-India Symposium of Nanomaterials for Energy, and ASME Heat Transfer Division Best Paper Award 2015. Software Engineer, Meta [LinkedIn]

Bhagirath Duvvuri

 

MS, 2012

Bhagirath's thesis title was "Thermal Radiative Properties of Thin Graphitic Arrays and Random Multi-Walled Carbon Nanotube Arrays".

Amazon [LinkedIn]

Yalin Dong

PhD, 2013

Dr. Yalin Dong received his B.S. and M.S. from University of Science and Technology of China, and PhD from Purdue with our group. He subsequently joined the University of Akron as an assistant professor. His dissertation title was "Physically representative atomic-scale friction". While at Purdue Yalin received the Lambert Teaching Fellowship.

Associate Professor, University of Akron [link] [LinkedIn]
Liangliang Chen

PhD, 2013 Dr. Liangliang Chen received his B.S. from Tsinghua University and PhD from Purdue with our group. He subsequently joined Western Digital. His dissertation title was "Semiconductor nanomaterial development for photovoltaic and thermoelectric applications". JPMorgan Asset Management, New York [LinkedIn]

Tianli Feng

 

MS, 2013

Tianli's MS thesis title was "Spectral phonon transport dynamics in bulk and nanomaterials". He continued on PhD with our group after MS.

Assistant Professor, University of Utah
Xiawa Wu

 

PhD, 2014 Dr. Xiawa Wu received her B.S. from Peking University, and PhD from Purdue. She subsequently joined Sentient Science. Assistant Professor, Penn State Behrend [LinkedIn]
Ajit Vallabhaneni

PhD, 2014 Dr. Ajit Vallabhaneri received his B.S. from Birla Institute of Technology and PhD from Purdue with our group. He subsequently joined Georgia Institute of Technology as a postdoctoral fellow, before joining Qualcomm. His PhD dissertation title was "Energy dissipation and transport in graphene and carbon nanotubes". Staff Thermal Engineer, Qualcomm, CA [LinkedIn]

Taekon Kim

 

MS, 2014

Taekon received his B.S. from Purdue in 2013 and M.S. from Purdue with our group. Taekon's MS thesis title was "Optical properties of silicon core/multi-shell nanowire arrays using FDTD and EMA methods".

Technical Program Manager, Apple, Inc. [LinkedIn]

Eshaan Mathew

 

MS, 2015

Eshaan's MS thesis title was "Computational Study of nano- and meso-scale size effects on thermal transport".

Project Manager, Siemens, MA [LinkedIn]

Chris Robinson

 

MS, 2015

Chris received his BS from the School of Mechanical Engineering at Purdue in 2014. He started in our group first as a SURF student, followed by MS. His MS thesis title was "Preparation of bismuth telluride based thermoelectric nanomaterials via low-energy ball milling and their property characterizations". While at Purdue he received the Lozar Fellowship.

Research Director, Lux Research, Boston [LinkedIn]

 Vignesh Gouthaman

 

MS, 2015

 

Business Development Engineer, Vibracoustic, MI [LinkedIn]

Yan Wang

PhD, 2016 Dr. Yan Wang received his B.S. from Tsinghua University and PhD from Purdue with our group. He subsequently joined the University of Nevada Reno as a tenure-track assistant professor. His PhD dissertation title was "Multiscale simulations of thermal transport in graphene-based materials and metal-semiconductor interfaces". While at Purdue Yan received the Andrews Fellowship, Bilsland Dissertation Fellowship, and College of Engineering Outstanding Graduate Student Research Award. Associate professor, University of Nevada at Reno [link] [LinkedIn]
Kelly Rickey

PhD, 2016 Dr. Kelly Rickey received her B.S. from Columbia University and PhD from Purdue with our group. She subsequently joined the Colorado School of Mines. Her PhD dissertation title was "Nanoscale energy transport in photovoltaic and thermoelectric nanomaterials". While at Purdue Kelly received the Winkelman Fellowship, Best Student Presentation Award (1st Place) at the Nanostructured Thin Films Conference, a conference within the 2012 SPIE Optics and Photonics Conference, Cordier Fellowship, and Ingersoll-Rand Fellowship. Teaching Assistant Professor, Colorado School of Mines [Link
Zuyuan Wang

PhD, 2017 Dr. Zuyuan Wang received his B.S. from Tsinghua University and M.S. from Nanyang Technological University in Singapore. He received PhD from Purdue with our group and subsequently joined the Max Planck Insitutes in Germany as a postdoctoral fellow. His PhD dissertation title was "Atomistic simulations of spectral phonon properties of solids". While at Purdue Zuyuan received the Lambert Teaching Fellowship, and Magoon Award for Excellence in Teaching. Professor, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China
Tianli Feng

PhD, 2017 Dr. Tianli Feng received his B.S. from University of Science and Technology of China, and MS and PhD from Purdue with our group. He subsequently joined Vanderbilt University/Oak Ridge National Laboratory as a postdoctoral fellow. His PhD dissertation title was "Theoretical phonon spectroscopy using predictive atomistic simulations". While at Purdue Tianli received the Bilsland Dissertation Fellowship. Assistant Professor, University of Utah. [Link] [LinkedIn]
Jingjing Shi

PhD, 2018 Dr. Jingjing Shi received her B.S. from Tsinghua University and PhD from Purdue with our group. She subsequently joined the Georgia Institute of Technology as a postdoctoral fellow. Her PhD dissertation title was "Atomistic simulations of thermal transport across interfaces". Assistant Professor, University of Florida [Link] [LinkedIn]

Dedeepya Valluripally

 

MS, 2018

 

Project and Applications Engineer, Gamma Technologies, IL [LinkedIn]

Zexi Lu

PhD, 2018 Dr. Zexi Lu received his B.S. from Tsinghua University and PhD from Purdue with our group. He subsequently joined the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory as a postdoctoral fellow. His PhD dissertation title was "Multiscale simulations of non-equilibrium and non-local thermal transport". While at Purdue Zexi received the Ross Fellowship. Postdoc at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory [LinkedIn]
Xiangyu Li

PhD, 2018

Dr. Xiangyu Li received his B.S. from Tsinghua University and PhD from Purdue with our group. He subsequently joined MIT as a postdoctoral fellow. His PhD dissertation topic was "Nanoparticle composites for thermal conductive and radiative applications". While at Purdue Xiangyu received the Ross Fellowship.

Assistant Professor, University of Tennessee, Knoxville [LinkedIn]

Victoria Zhao

MS, 2019

Victoria received her B.S. from the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Pennsylvania State University and MS from Purdue. Her MS research topic is "Bio-inspired radiative cooling materials."

Daimler Trucks North America, Portland, OR [LinkedIn]

MS, 2019

Jacob Faulkner received his B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Purdue University in 2018 and MS also from Purdue in 2019. Jacob was involved with our group for research since an undergraduate student. His MS research topic was radiative cooling materials and 3D printing. While at Purdue Jake received the Lozar Fellowship. Mechanical Engineer, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory [LinkedIn]
MS, 2020 Weizhi Liao received his B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from the Pennsylvania State University in 2018 and MS from Purdue in 2020 with our group. His MS research topic was thermal switches.  
  MS, 2020 Peiyan Yao received his B.S. from the School of Mechanical Engineering at Purdue in 2018 and MS from Purdue in 2020 with our group. His research topic was radiative cooling using nanomaterials.  
 PhD, 2021 Prabudhya Roy Chowdhury received his B.S. and M.S. from Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur in 2016 and PhD from Purdue in 2021 with our group. His PhD research involved atomistic simulations and machine learning-enabled prediction of thermal transport. He received the Ross Fellowship in 2016, the Bilsland Dissertation Fellowship in 2020, College of Engineering Outstanding Research Award in 2021, and Kohr Scholarship in 2021. Modeling Engineer at IBM Research AI Hardware Center [LinkedIn]
   MS, 2021 Adam Garrett received his B.S. from Purdue Mechanical Engineering in 2020 and enrolled in the combined five-year BS/MS program to receive his M.S. in 2021 with our group. His M.S. research involved thermal transport and machine learning.  [LinkedIn]

 Josephh Peoples

 PhD, 2022 Joe received his B.S. from the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Wright State University in 2017 and his PhD from Purdue in 2022. His research interest was in nanoscale thermal radiation and photonics. He received the Winkelman Fellowship from Purdue in 2017, the NASA Space Technology Graduate Research Program Fellowship in 2020, and the Purdue College of Engineering Outstanding Service Scholarship in 2022.  Intel [LinkedIn]

 Emily Barber

 MS, 2023 Emily received her B.S. in Environmental Engineering from the University of Georgia in 2021 and subsequently joined our group as an MS student. She received MS in 2023 and continued to pursue PhD with our group. She is a recipient of the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship in 2021, Purdue Mechanical Engineering Fellowshipship in 2021, Third Prize of the Purdue Moonshot Competition in 2021, and South by Southwest (SXSW) Innovation Award for Sustainability in 2023.  Continue PhD in our group

 Ziqi Fang

 MS, 2023 Ziqi received his B.S. from the School of Mechanical Engineering at Purdue University in 2022, and joined our group as an MS student. Continue PhD in our group 
 

Postdoctoral fellows:

Name Date

Information

Current Position
Wenzhi Wu

2009-2010 Dr. Wenzhi Wu received his PhD from the Harbin Insititute of Technology. His postdoctoral research topic while at Purdue was "Ultrafast laser characterizations of solar nanomaterials". Associate Professor, Heilongjiang University, China
Venkataprasad Bhat

2012-2013 Dr. Venkataprasad Bhat received his PhD from the Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research (JNCASR). His postdoctoral research topic while at Purdue was "Solar cell nanomaterials and devices". Associate Professor, SRM Institute of Science and Technology, India
Zhifeng Huang

2014-2016 Dr. Zhifeng Huang received his PhD from Huazhong University of Science and Technology in China. His postdoctoral research topic while at Purdue was "Radiative cooling using nanoparticles". Associate Professor, Wuhan University, China
Jun Qiu

2016-2017 Dr. Jun Qiu received his PhD from Harbin Institute of Technology. His postdoctoral research topic while at Purdue was "Radiative cooling using nanoparticles". Associate Professor, Harbin Institute of Technology, China

Tingting Du


2018-2019 Dr. Tingting Du received her PhD from Shandong University. Her postdoctoral research topic while at Purdue was thermal switches. Shandong University, China
       
Visiting Scholars:      

Name

Date

Information

Current Position

Shanglong Xu 2012-2013 Simulations of thermal transport in graphene Professor, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China
Run Hu 2014-2015   Associate Professor, Huazhong University of Science and Technology
Wenjun Yao 2015-2016    
Jihang Zou 2017-2018   PhD student at Tsinghua University 
Xiaolong Yang 2017-2018   PhD student at Xi'an Jiao Tong University
Yixiu Luo 2018-2019   PhD student at Chinese Academy of Sciences
Zhen Tong 2018-2019   PhD student at Shanghai Jiaotong University

Yanhua Cheng


2019-2021    PhD studnet at Huazhong University of Science and Technology
       
Undergraduate students:      
Name Date Position Position after Purdue
Bryan Wang 2008 undergraduate researcher (ME 497, 2008)  
Raymond Sutjiono 2008 undergraduate researcher (ME 497, 2008)  
David Wilson 2008 undergraduate research assistant (ME 497, 2008)  
Taizhi Tan 2010 undergraduate researcher (SURF, 2010) graduate student at Cornell University
Yiwen Chen 2010 undergraduate researcher (SURF, 2010) graduate student at Stanford University
Siyu Chen 2010-2011 undergraduate researcher (ME 497, 2010-2011; SURF, 2010) graduate student at MIT
Hao Wu 2011-2012 undergraduate researcher (ME 497) graduate student at Stanford University
Karl Tucker 2011-2012 undergraduate researcher (ME 497)
Qing Zhao 2010-2012 undergraduate researcher (SURF and ME 497) graduate student at MIT
Haoxiang Huang 2011-2013 undergraduate research assistant (ME 497, SURF) graduate student at Georgia Institute of Technology
Kailu Song 2012 undergraduate research assistant (SURF) graduate student at Cornell University
Xin Jin 2012 undergraduate research assistant (SURF) graduate student at Purdue University
Chris Robinson 2012-2014 undergraduate research assistant (SURF and ME 497) graduate student in our own group
Yuanyuan Zhou 2014-2014 Visiting undergraduate student graduate student at University of Texas Austin
Chongjie Gu 2014-2015 undergraduate research assistant (SURF and ME 497) graduate student at MIT
Mengxi Zhao 2015-2017 undergraduate research assistant (SURF and ME 497) graduate student at Stanford
Weidong Yang 2016-2017 Visiting undergraduate student graduate student at Tsinghua University
Xintong Xu 2017-2017 Visiting undergraduate student undergraduate student at Tsinghua University
Yang Zhong 2016-2018 undergraduate research assistant (SURF and ME 497) graduate student at MIT
Xuan Li 2016-2018 undergraduate research assistant (ME 497) graduate student at Purdue
Peiyan Yao 2017-2018 undergraduate research assistant (ME 497) graduate student at Purdue
Nathan Fruehe 2018-2019 undergraduate research assistant Abbott
Daniel Gallagher 2018-2019 undergraduate research assistant Northrop Grumman
Carmela Mohan  2019-2021  undergraduate research assistant   
Alison Brown 2021-2021 undergraduate research assistant 
 Fredrik Arentz 2020-2022 undergraduate research assistant 
 Isabel Parraga-Carrara 2021-2021  undergraduate research assistant 
Ziqi Fang  2020-2022  undergraduate research assistant 
Photo gallery:
Last updated 04/20/2019

Alison Brown