The precision of ultrafast laser surgery holds great promise to multiple biomedical applications in the clinic, ranging from spine surgeries to scarred vocal fold treatments with high precision. The recent efforts in the development of miniaturized ultrafast laser surgery probes bring us a step closer to clinical translation.

The spatial and thermal confinement of ultrafast lasers are the major distinguishing characteristic that enables control of very high precision ablations without damaging the out-of-focus matter. Nano- and microsurgery applications primarily rely on plasma-mediated ablation. One of the major aims in ultrafast laser micro-surgeries for clinical applications is maximizing the material removal rate (MRR), while keeping thermal damage negligible. Research group of Professor Adela Ben-Yakar of University Texas at Austin has developed three generations of fiber-coupled ultrafast laser surgical probes for clinical applications in hard-to-reach areas in the body surgical probes

Adela Ben-Yakar is Harry Kent Professor in the Mechanical and Biomedical Engineering Departments at the University of Texas at Austin. She received her Ph.D. from Stanford University (2000) and was a postdoctoral Fellow at Stanford and Harvard Universities in the Applied Physics Departments (2000-2004). Her research focuses on ultrafast optics, microscopy, and microfluidics for a broad range of biomedical applications. She holds several issued and pending patents, and published in high impact journals (Nature, Nature Methods, Nature Communications, Nano Letters). She is an SPIE, Optica, and AIMBE Fellow and the recipient of Fulbright, Zonta Amelia Earhart, NSF Career, Human Frontier Science Program Research, and NIH Director’s Transformative Awards.

Electronics, power electronics, and electric machines are becoming important for an array of mobility/transportation, renewable energy and energy efficiency applications. In this presentation, I will provide an introduction to NREL and my Group. Then, I will describe some challenges and opportunities for power electronics, electric machines and electric drives for mobility applications in particular. After that, I will give a brief overview of my Group’s research activities in these areas with focus on thermal management and reliability aspects.

Sreekant Narumanchi is the Group Manager of the Advanced Power Electronics and Electric Machines (APEEM) Group within the Center of Integrated Mobility Sciences at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, where he is currently in his 18th year. He leads a Group of 15 researchers focused on electro-thermal, thermal-fluids, thermo-mechanical and reliability aspects of power electronics and electric machines. This includes investigation of various cooling technologies, thermal interface materials/interfaces, interconnects, as well as reliability of these components. His broad research interests include heat transfer, power electronics and electric machines thermal management, packaging and reliability. Over the years, his Group has collaborated with numerous institutions cutting across industry, universities, national labs, and other research institutions.

Sreekant is an ASME Fellow, an IEEE Senior Member, and has published over 90 peer-reviewed journal and conference papers and book chapters. Professionally, he is active as an Associate Editor for the ASME Journal of Electronic Packaging, as an organizer for InterPACK (Topic, Track Chair, Technical Program Co-Chair, Conference General Chair) and ITherm conferences, on the ASME K-16 Committee on Heat Transfer in Electronic Equipment, as Guest Editor of the IEEE Components, Packaging, and Manufacturing Technologies Journal, on the Thermal Working Group of the IEEE Heterogeneous Integration Roadmap Committee, serving on the Scientific Advisory Board of the POETS NSF Engineering Research Center, serving on the External Advisory Board of the Washington State University School of Mechanical and Materials Engineering, as well as a reviewer for numerous journals and federal agencies. He is also part of the Executive Committee of the ASME Electronic and Photonic Packaging Division.

Some of the external awards Sreekant has received include the 2022 THERMI Award, the 2020-21 Associate Editor of the Year Award from the ASME Journal of Electronic Packaging, 2018 ASME EPPD-K16 Clock Award, a 2016 R&D 100 Award, the Best Paper Award from the ASME Journal of Electronic Packaging (2003), and the ASME 2013 InterPACK Conference Outstanding Paper Award. Within NREL, he received the 2013 NREL Outstanding Business Collaboration Award, and the 2009 NREL Staff Award for Outstanding Performance. Sreekant received a Ph.D. from Carnegie Mellon University (2003), M.S. from Washington State University (1999), and B. Tech. from Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur (1997), all in Mechanical Engineering.

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Reinhard Radermacher conducts research in heat transfer and working fluids for energy conversion systems - in particular heat pumps, air-conditioners, refrigeration systems, and integrated cooling heating and power systems. His work resulted in more than 600 publications, numerous invention records, and 16 patents. He has co-authored three books. His research includes the development of software for the design and optimization of heat pumps and air-conditioners, which is now in use at more than 80 companies worldwide.  He has raised more than $44 million in research funding from government and industrial sponsors over the years. Dr. Radermacher holds a Ph.D. in physics and is Minta Martin Professor of Mechanical Engineering and director and co-founder of the Center for Environmental Energy Engineering.  He was awarded the Institute of Refrigeration J&E Hall Gold Medal and the IIR Gustav Lorentzen Medal for his innovation in the field of refrigeration. He is a co-operating agent of the International Energy Agency’s (IEA) HPT Annex 53 project. He is Fellow ASHRAE and holds memberships in ASME, SAE, DKV, and IIR.  He is a lifetime member of IJR and ASHRAE and is CEO of Optimized Thermal Systems. For 17 years was the editor of the ASHRAE journal, Science and Technology for the Built Environment, and led the strategic planning committee for ASHRAE Research.

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Chris Dames is Department Chair and Howard Penn Brown Professor of Mechanical Engineering at UC Berkeley, with a joint appointment at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in the Materials Science Division. His research focuses on fundamental aspects of the thermal sciences at the nanoscale and other challenging regimes. He earned his PhD from MIT in 2006 under Gang Chen, following a BS and MS (under Arun Majumdar) from UC Berkeley. Prof. Dames’ recognitions include an NSF CAREER Award, DARPA Young Faculty Award, Viskanta Fellowship and heat transfer lectureship at Purdue University, and selection to the Faculty Leadership Academy at UC Berkeley.

Residential and commercial buildings account for almost one-third of total global energy consumption worldwide. Recent IEA analysis has suggested that energy intensity in the buildings industry must decrease five times more quickly over the next 10 years than it did in the previous 5 years to reach targets in the Net Zero Emissions by 2050 Scenario. To achieve these aggressive goals, significant development and deployment of smart, connected, and efficient buildings and communities are required. Even more, these buildings and communities must synergistically interact in real time with the electric grid to provide demand flexibility that enables a more optimized, resilient, reliable, and affordable energy system. However, because significant energy inequities are persistent throughout the buildings sector, as a science and engineering community, we must prioritize a transition to a sustainable energy future where the benefits, as well as costs, are equitably distributed.

This talk will discuss smart building and neighborhood technologies and solutions that can enable a sustainable energy future for all communities. It will highlight current Department of Energy and national laboratory research, development, and deployment efforts that advance these clean energy goals. The talk will conclude by challenging the scientific community to look through a lens of equity that prioritizes an equitable distribution of benefits and costs for a sustainable energy future for all.

Dr. Roderick Jackson is the laboratory program manager for buildings research at NREL. He sets the strategic agenda for NREL's buildings portfolio, while working closely with senior laboratory management. The portfolio includes all research, development, and market implementation activities, which aim to improve the energy efficiency of building materials and practices. He also guides discussions with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Building Technologies Office to expand research ranging from grid-interactive efficient buildings to mechanical and thermal properties of building materials. He helps identify industry partnership opportunities to advance building envelope and equipment technologies. 

At NREL, Dr. Jackson was recognized as a Distinguished Member of Research Staff. In 2022, he received a Black Engineer of the Year Award (BEYA), recognized with a BEYA Professional Achievement in Government Award.

He is serving a three-year appointment to the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE) Research Advisory Board, which began in 2021. He has been a member of the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers and has received several awards in his career, including the National GEM Consortium Alumni of the Year and Greater Knoxville Business Journal's 40 under 40. In 2022, he joined the board of directors for the Southwest Energy Efficiency Project (SWEEP).

Dr. Jackson came to NREL from Oak Ridge National Laboratory, where he was the group manager for Building Envelope Systems Research. He was on the forefront of connected communities research, leading an effort that established Alabama Power’s Smart Neighborhood. Working with Southern Company and DOE, it was the first project in the southeastern United States to connect high-performance homes with a community microgrid, deploying a transactive microgrid approach.

Another of Dr. Jackson's notable industry accomplishments is a result of his role as the technical lead for the Additive Manufacturing Integrated Energy (AMIE) demonstration project at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. With his leadership, AMIE brought together experts from multiple research teams across the lab, 20 partners from industry, and DOE scientists to design, develop, and demonstrate a 3D-printed house that shares power wirelessly with a 3D-printed electric vehicle. The first-of-its-kind research was completed in just nine months.

Sandia National Laboratories is a multi-program national laboratory run for the United States Department of Energy. While Sandia's roots hail from the Manhattan Project of the 1940's, the Laboratories have evolved into providing support for a wide variety of national security and energy related areas of interest to the Nation. This talk will review Sandia's history and highlight the role that Sandia plays in the development of state-of-the-art thermal and fluids capabilities that address a variety of engineering applications of national importance, including energy, homeland security, and defense.

Dr. Hassan is a native of Raleigh, North Carolina. He earned his bachelor's degree in 1988, his master's degree in 1990, and his Doctorate in Aerospace Engineering from North Carolina State University in 1993. He is currently the Director of the Chief Research Office and serves as Sandia's Deputy Chief Research Officer. In this role, Dr. Hassan leads Sandia's research strategy development including the execution of the Laboratory Directed Research and Development program and oversees Sandia's external partnership and technology transfer programs. Dr.

Hassan has been employed at Sandia since 1993 and has managed all phases of research, development, and applications work. He has focused predominately on the thermal, fluid, and aero science technology areas helping Sandia to accomplish its national security mission.

Dr. Hassan has served in a variety of positions in research and development (R&D) in the areas of aerodynamics and aerothermodynamics of high-speed flight vehicles, drag reduction for low-speed ground transportation vehicles, and high- velocity oxygen fuel thermal sprays. He has overseen all aspects of engineering sciences R&D and applications work at Sandia. Most notably, he helped support National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) in determining the cause of the Space Shuttle Columbia accident in 2003 and was part of the team that shutdown the Deepwater Horizon oil well after the explosion and spill in 2010.

Dr. Hassan is a Fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) and serves on the Institute's Board of Trustees as the Immediate Past President (2022-2023). Previously, he served on AIAA's Board as Director and Vice President from 2008-2017, President-Elect from 2019-2020, and President from 2020-2022. He currently serves as the Chair of the AIAA Foundation Board of Trustees. In addition, Dr Hassan has served on several national review boards for the National Academies, NASA, DARPA, and Air Force Office of Scientific Research, and has participated as an external member of the NASA Engineering and Safety Center since 2004. Dr. Hassan currently serves on the North Carolina State University's Engineering Foundation Board and the Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Educational Advisory Board and has served on similar boards for New Mexico State University, Texas A&M University, the University of Texas at Austin, the University of New Mexico, and the Georgia Institute of Technology. He was the 2008 recipient of the AIAA Sustained Service Award and a 2017 recipient of North Carolina State University's Distinguished Engineering Alumnus Award.

The heat transfer processes in materials when subjected to extreme heat fluxes, electromagnetic fields, oxidizing species, and ion irradiation play the critical role in the performance and efficacy in a wide range of materials and technologies, from nano-to-macro scales.  In these environments, the large perturbations in energy density imparted on materials lead to coupled thermal transport processes that play a major role in thermal dissipation and management.  For example, the high temperatures and power fluxes typical in hypersonic flight and jet engines can lead to coupled radiative and conductive processes that are critical to enhance for leading edge cooling or restrict for thermal barriers of turbine blades, respectively.  At surfaces and interfaces, coupled processes also dictate thermal resistances on the nanoscale.  As another example, nonequilibrium thermal processes induced by plasma or short pulsed irradiation of materials are critical for manufacturing, catalysis and material synthesis.

Clearly, coupled thermal transport processes dictate the thermal transport of materials ranging from nano-to-macro scales in extreme environments.  In this talk, I will discuss our recent research efforts in developing experimental metrologies to measure the heat transfer processes of materials and across interfaces when subjected to thermal and environmental fluxes typical in extreme environments, from nanoscales to macroscales and picoseconds to seconds.  I will focus on the following directions:

-Measuring the thermal conductivity and emissivity of materials up through their melting point: Derived from our recently developed Steady-State Thermoreflectance (SSTR) technique, we have developed a method to simultaneously measure the thermal conductivity, hemispherical emissivity and melting temperature of materials up to 4,000 K.  We demonstrate this on W and Mo standards, and extend these measurements to a novel high entropy carbide of interest for hypersonic applications, demonstrating the near-record setting melting temperature of this high entropy ceramic.  

-Thermal transport at surfaces during plasma irradiation and “plasma cooling”: Using thermoreflectance-based metrologies, we measure the temperature change on the surface of a metal irradiated with a plasma flux.  The complex plasma environment consisting of high energy photons, ions, and neutrals leads to a transiently varying source of energy during the plasma irradiation.  We show the possibility of “plasma cooling”, in which the initial flux of energy delivered by a plasma, which is primarily photonic, leads to a transient evaporative cooling-like effect that results in a transient temperature drop at a surface.  This cooling effect is followed by subsequent heating when the sluggish heavy particles in the plasma impart their energy to the material.  

-Electron-phonon nonequilibrium at interfaces for mid-IR plasmonics and polaritonics: Ultrafast laser pulses give rise to extreme conditions of nonequilibrium between the electrons and phonons in a material, often resulting in thousands of degrees in the temperature difference between these two thermal systems. At interfaces, differences in photon-electron-phonon coupling can lead to the emergence of a novel process, “Ballistic Thermal Injection” (BTI), in which nonequilibrium electrons can deposit their excess energy across an interface without the net flow of charge.  We show that BTI can be used to unidirectionally control heat flow across interfaces (i.e., a transient thermal diode effect), and lead to thermally driven control of plasmon and phonon-polariton absorption in the mid-IR, paving the wave for novel method to control mid-IR responses of materials with heat.

Patrick E. Hopkins is a Professor in Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at the University of Virginia, with courtesy appointments in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering and the Department of Physics.  Patrick received his Ph.D. in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at the University of Virginia in 2008 under the mentorship of Professor Pamela Norris. After his Ph.D., Patrick was one of two researchers in the nation to receive a Truman Fellowship from Sandia National Laboratories in 2008, working under the mentorship of Dr. Leslie Phinney.  In 2011, Patrick returned to the University of Virginia and joined the faculty.  Patrick’s current research interest are in energy transport, charge flow, laser-chemical processes and photonic interactions with condensed matter, soft materials, liquids, vapors and their interfaces.  Patrick’s group at the University of Virginia uses various optical thermometry-based experiments to measure the thermal conductivity, thermal boundary conductance, emissivity, thermal accommodation, strain propagation and sound speed, and coupled electron, phonon, and photon mechanisms in a wide array of bulk materials and nanosystems.  In 2021, Patrick co-founded Laser Thermal, Inc., a company based in Charlottesville Virginia that is commercializing thermal conductivity measurement systems that provide non-contact, automated metrologies for thermal properties of thin films, coatings and bulk materials.

In the general fields of nanoscale heat transfer, laser interactions with matter, and energy transport, storage and capture, Patrick has authored or co-authored over 285 technical papers (peer reviewed) and been awarded 5 patents focused on materials, energy and laser metrology for measuring thermal properties.  Patrick has been recognized for his accomplishments in these fields via AFOSR and ONR Young Investigator Awards, the ASME Bergles-Rohsenhow Young Investigator Award in Heat Transfer, and a Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineering (PECASE).  Patrick is a fellow of ASME and was recently awarded the ASME Gustus L. Larson Memorial Award.  During 2021-2022, Patrick was awarded a Humboldt Fellowship to work on laser thermometry of materials in extreme environments at the Joint Research Center in Karlsruhe, Germany.

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Ankur Jain is an Associate Professor in the Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Department at the University of Texas, Arlington. His research interests include energy conversion in Li-ion batteries, additive manufacturing, electrochemistry and theoretical heat/mass transfer. He has published 118 journal papers, and given over 62 invited talks, seminars and tutorials. His research has helped better understand key thermal transport processes in battery materials and during polymer additive manufacturing. He has also helped develop new analytical techniques for heat/mass diffusion and convection problems, including the concept of imaginary eigenvalues in certain multilayer problems. He received the UT Arlington President's Award for Excellence in Teaching (2022), UT Arlington College of Engineering Lockheed Martin Excellence in Teaching Award (2018), UT Arlington College of Engineering Outstanding Early Career Award (2017), NSF CAREER Award (2016) and the ASME EPP Division Young Engineer of the Year Award (2013). He received his Ph.D. (2007) and M.S. (2003) in Mechanical Engineering from Stanford University, where he received the Stanford Graduate Fellowship, and B.Tech. (2001) in Mechanical Engineering from Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi with top honors.

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Dr. Satish Kumar is currently a Professor at George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering at Georgia Tech. Prior to joining Georgia Tech in 2009 as an Assistant Professor, he worked at IBM Corporation, where he was responsible for the thermal management of electronic devices. Kumar received his Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering and M.S. degree in Electrical and Computer Engineering from Purdue University, West Lafayette in 2007; and B.Tech. degree in Mechanical Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology, Guwahati in 2001. His research interests include electro-thermal transport study in electronic devices and materials, e.g., wide band-gap devices, electric motors, etc. He is the author or co-author of over 150 journal or conference publications. Dr. Kumar is an ASME Fellow and recipient of the 2005 Purdue Research Foundation Fellowship, 2012 Summer Faculty Fellow from Air Force Research Lab, 2014 Sigma Xi Young Faculty Award, 2014 DARPA Young Faculty Award, 2017 Woodruff Faculty Fellow, and 2020 ASME K-16 Clock Award.

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Heat exchangers are critical to efficient thermal energy exchange in numerous industrial applications and everyday life, with significant applications in building energy systems, transportation, petrochemical processing, electricity generation, waste heat recovery, among others.  Meanwhile, the urgent need for substantial reducing/elimination of CO2 and other greenhouse gases is now a global high priority across industries and at all levels. Decarbonization of energy conversion systems through technologies such as energy efficiency, electrification, renewable energy and/or carbon neutral fuels requires novel technologies that may not exist today. Of particular interest are heat exchangers that are light and compact offering reduction of size, weight, and power consumption, and ultimately the cost (SWAP-C) for wide-spread next-generation high efficiency and light energy conversion systems. This presentation will offer a review of recent progress, a vision on future needs for select key energy conversion processes, and the respective research gaps, challenges, and opportunities.

MICHAEL OHADI is the Minta Martin Professor of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Maryland, College Park. Ohadi's research has involved active and passive process intensification of fluid/thermal processes utilizing multi-scale design optimization, materials, and manufacturing techniques. In 1991 Prof. Ohadi co-founded the Center for Environmental Energy Engineering (CEEE) to advance innovative solutions in support of energy efficiency and carbon emission reduction. For more than 25 years he has led an industrial consortium in Advanced Heat Exchangers and Process Intensification techniques within the CEEE, with member companies from the U.S., Europe, and Asia. From 2016 to 2020, Ohadi served as Program Director (PD) at the U.S. Department of Energy, Advanced Research Project Agency-energy (ARPAE) where he led the development of programs in advanced heat exchangers and energy conversion systems, and lightweight and ultra-efficient electric motors, drives, and associated thermal management systems. Prof. Ohadi is a Fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) and the American Society of Heating, Refrigeration, and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE). He has published more than 300 peer reviewed technical articles in his fields of expertise.

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A fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) since 2014, Dr. Victor Adrian Chiriac is a co-founder and a managing partner with the Global Cooling Technology Group since 2019. He previously held technology/engineering leadership roles with Motorola (1999-2010), Qualcomm (2010 - 2018) and Futurewei USA (2018 - 2019).  Delivered innovative R&D projects, implementing new methodologies and creating feature enhancements to ensure solutions align with corporate goals. Enthusiastic leader of cross-functional teams, providing direction on advanced thermal technologies used by consumers worldwide. Dr. Chiriac was elected Chair of the ASME K-16 Electronics Cooling Committee in 2016 and was elected the Arizona and New Mexico IMAPS Chapter President in 2010. He is a leading member of the organizing committees of ASME/InterPack, ASME/ IMECE and IEEE/CPMT ITherm Conferences. He holds 22 U.S. issued patents, 2 US Trade Secrets and 1 Defensive Publication and has published over 107 papers in scientific journals and at conferences.

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Dr. Ozan Özdemir is an assistant professor in the Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering of Northeastern University (NU), and he is an all-around expert with a decade of experience in Cold Spray Additive Manufacturing (CSAM) and a background in multiphase high velocity flows. He has heavily focused on the design and optimization of CSAM processes for material deposition efficiency, manufacturing rates, and product quality. Dr. Özdemir’s research is actively funded by the Department of Commerce, the Department of Energy, the Department of Defense, and Industrial Partners. His research has yielded numerous publications with over 400 citations in CSAM related topics and has co-edited and co-authored the textbook "Practical Cold Spray" (2021). Furthermore, he teaches Additive Manufacturing and advises Capstone Design students at Northeastern University. Dr. Özdemir is also an active member of the scientific and engineering community and serves as a member of the Training Committee of the ASM International Thermal Spray Society and the Secretary of ASM International Boston Chapter.

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Dr. Yoonjin Won is an Associate Professor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at the University of California, Irvine. She has courtesy appointments in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science and Materials Science Engineering. Dr. Won’s overarching research goal is to gain fundamental insights into nanoscale transport and interfacial physics, centering on key- words—AI for science, Graphic-driven physics, data-driven approach, and materials design. The research efforts aim to bring transformational efficiency enhancements in energy, water, manufacturing processes, and electronics cooling. Dr. Won is recognized with an NSF CAREER in 2018 and has also received several awards including the ASME EPPD Early Career Award 2018, The Emerging Innovation/Early Career Innovator of the Year 2020 from UCI Beall Innovation Center, ASME EPPD Women Engineer Award 2020, ASME ICNMM Outstanding Leadership Award 2019, UCI Samueli Career Development Fellowship, and numerous best paper and poster awards. She received a B.S. degree in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering from Seoul National University, and M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Mechanical Engineering from Stanford University.

Indoor plumbing and sewer sanitation technologies have enabled healthy and productive lives for billions residing in developed nations.  However, globally there are ~3.6B people without access to improved sanitation. This is largely because the infrastructure to provide connected sanitary sewers and centralized treatment facilities is too expensive for those living in poverty. For the last decade, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has championed this global equity issue though the reinvent the toilet challenge (RTTC) initiative.  Through this program, several success stories have emerged resulting in container-sized treatment systems that process waste at the community level. However, the single-user reinvented toilet (SURT) has remained elusive. This SURT essentially needs to do everything that a large container or centralized sewage treatment facility does, but within the space constraints of the toilet and washing machine. Additionally this must be accomplished at a cost that is acceptable to the world’s poorest people. With that goal in mind, Prof. Shannon Yee leads the Generation 2 Reinvented Toilet (G2RT) program, where a global team of scientists and engineers are taking a second look at the reinventing the toilet solution space and integrating the best concepts developed across the RTTC program with the goal of realizing a low-cost SURT solution. Come and learn how this large global team is approaching the problem through international collaboration bringing expert engineering to bear to turn an infrastructure into an appliance.

Dr. Shannon Yee is an Associate Professor at the G.W.W. School of Mechanical Engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology. Dr. Yee joined Georgia Tech in 2014 directly from his PhD at the University of California Berkeley.  In the midst of his studies, he joined the US. Dept. of Energy's Advanced Research Projects Agency for Energy (ARPA-E) during its inaugural year as the first ARPA-E Fellow. Dr. Yee completed his MS in Nuclear Engineering in 2008 and his BS in Mechanical Engineering in 2007, both from The Ohio State University. In 2008, he was awarded a prestigious Hertz Fellowship. In 2015, Dr. Yee was selected for an AFOSR Young Investigator Award to develop polymer thermoelectrics. Dr. Yee is the recipient of the 2017 ASME Pi-Tau-Sigma Gold Medal award for "outstanding contributions to the field of Mechanical Engineering in the first decade of one's career." In 2019, Shannon was selected for an ONR Young Investigator Award to develop polymer thermal switches. Most recently, Dr. Yee is directing the Generation II Reinvent the Toilet (G2RT) program supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and was recognized as one of Bill Gate's Heroes in the Field in 2021.

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Marcello Iasiello joined in 2017 the Industrial Engineering Department of the Università Degli Studi di Napoli Federico II, Italy, as an Assistant Professor. At the same University he earned M. S. and Ph. D. degrees in Mechanical Engineering in 2012 and 2016, respectively. He was a visiting researcher at Universitat Politecnica de Valencia (10/2019 – 11/2019), and a visiting scholar at both University of California, Riverside (03/2014-09/2014) and University of Connecticut (05/2012-08/2012), respectively.

His research activity focuses on heat and mass transfer in innovative porous materials, latent thermal energy storage systems, and bioengineering applications. As of August 2022, he is currently coauthor of 75 scientific articles, namely 35 journal articles, 36 conference papers, 3 book chapters and 1 review article. Among his honors, in 2017 he achieved the 2015-2016 best Ph.D. thesis prize from the Unione Italiana Termofluidodinamica (UIT) thanks to its thesis titled "Transport Phenomena in Porous Media: From Industrial Applications to Bioengineering". In 2021, he won the Graham de Vahl Davis Best Paper Award at the 8th International Symposium on Advances in Computational Heat Transfer (CHT-21). He was the local congress chair at the 9th International Conference on Heat Transfer and Fluid Flow (HTFF'22) conference in Prague, Czech Republic, in 2022. He is currently associate editor of Special Topics & Reviews in Porous Media.