Trevor Shimokusu, a second-year graduate student in mechanical engineering at Rice, has been awarded a NASA Space Technologies Graduate Research Opportunity (NSTGRO) fellowship for his research.
One of 63 awarded in 2020, the NSTGRO fully funds Shimokusu’s doctoral studies and provides additional funding for research supplies and conference travel. His proposal is titled “Jumping Droplet Thermal Diodes for Spacecraft Thermal Control.”
The NSTGRO award provides opportunities for Shimokusu to participate in summer Visiting Technologist Experiences at NASA Centers around the country. He will be paired with a NASA researcher in his discipline.
Shimokusu earned his B.S. in MECH from the University of Hawaii at Manoa in 2019. He is interested in heat transfer and fluid mechanics with applications in energy systems. His research focuses on switchable fluid thermal devices for improved thermal management.
Shimokusu works in the Nanoscale Heat Transfer Lab of Geoff Wehmeyer, assistant professor of MECH, and collaborates closely with the Preston Innovation Group led by Dan Preston, assistant professor of MECH.