Trevor Shimokusu, a fifth-year doctoral student in mechanical engineering (MECH) at Rice, won the best poster competition at the 11th International Conference On Boiling and Condensation Heat Transfer, held May 15-17 at the University of Edinburgh, Scotland.
His poster was titled “Aluminum Jumping Droplet Thermal Diodes.”
“We explored functionalized superhydrophobic and superhydrophilic aluminum surfaces to control phase-change heat transfer,” Shimokusu said. “When used in a nonlinear thermal device known as a jumping droplet thermal diode, these surfaces can promote thermal rectification, which could aid applications such as thermal energy storage and spacecraft thermal control.”
Shimokusu works in the Nanoscale Heat Transfer Lab led by Geoff Wehmeyer, assistant professor of MECH. His collaborators on the research are doctoral students Zhen Liu and Faye Yap, who work in the Preston Innovation Lab of Daniel Preston, assistant professor of MECH, and Alia Nathani, a senior in chemical and biomolecular engineering.
The work was supported by a NASA Space Technology Graduate Research Opportunity.