Tianli Feng
Assistant Professor
Department of Mechanical Engineering
The University of Utah
1495 East 100 South
Salt Lake City, Utah, 84112
Homepage: https://feng.mech.utah.edu/
Google Scholar: https://shorturl.at/jozJ0

Director

Tianli Feng is an Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Utah. His research focuses on the thermal science and engineering. He earned his Ph.D. from Purdue University and subsequently worked as a Postdoctoral Fellow and R&D Associate Staff Scientist at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. He received the 2023 Brillouin Medal, 2023 Ralph E. Powe Junior Faculty Enhancement Award, 2024 NSF CAREER Award, 2024 & 2025 Assistant Professor of the Year Award at the University of Utah, the 2024 ASME Rising Star of Mechanical Engineering Award, and 2025 R&D 100 Award! He has published over 80 journal papers, developed various simulation tools, and has over 6000 citations with an h-index of 43.  [CV Tianli Feng 2025]

Email: tianli.feng@utah.edu           Google Scholar citation

Appointments

  • Assistant Professor, Mechanical Engineering, University of Utah, 2021 - present
  • R&D Associate Staff Scientist, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, 2020 - 2021
  • Postdoctoral Research Associate, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, 2017 - 2020

Education

  • Ph.D., Mechanical Engineering, Purdue University, 2017
  • M.S., Mechanical Engineering, Purdue University, 2013

Professional Service

  • ASME IMECE 2026 Heat Transfer Division Chair
  • MRS Symposium Organizer
  • Secretary of ASME K-9 committee on Nanoscale Thermal Transport
  • Member of ASME K-8 committee on Fundamentals of Thermal Transport
  • Member of ASME K-16 committee on Heat Transfer in Electronic Equipment

Selected Honors/Awards

  • 2025 R&D 100 Award
  • 2024 ASME Rising Star of Mechanical Engineering
  • 2024 Assistant Professor of the Year Award, University of Utah
  • 2024 NSF CAREER Award
  • 2023 Brillouin Medal
    • This medal is awarded every two years to a single groundbreaking research breakthrough in the field of phononics worldwide.
  • 2023 Ralph E. Powe Junior Faculty Enhancement Award
    • This award annually honors the 35 most promising junior faculty members, selected from a pool of diverse disciplines of over 150 universities in the US.
  • 2016 Bilsland Dissertation Fellowship, Purdue University
    • The most prestigious fellowship awarded only to top ~3% PhD students at Purdue.

Graduate Students

Hao Zhou joined our group in Fall 2022 as a Ph.D. Candidate. He received his thesis M.S. degree from Zhejiang University (with 2nd rank among grad students) in 2022. His research focuses on first principles, molecular dynamics, and machine learning-based thermal transport simulations.

Khalid Adnan joined our group in Spring 2023 as a direct Ph.D. student. He received his B.S. degree from Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET) in 2021. His research focuses on first principles, molecular dynamics, and machine learning-based interfacial thermal transport simulations.

Tanvirul Abedien is a direct Ph.D. student, who joined our group in Fall 2023. He received his B.S. degree from Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET) in 2022. His current research is interfacial thermal transport simulations.

Qihao Xu is a Ph.D. student, who joined our group in Fall 2024. He obtained his M.S. degree at Southeast University in 2024 with several first-author high-impact journal publications. His current research focuses on thermal transport modelling of materials at high temperatures.

Md Sameem Ul Qaum is a direct Ph.D. student, who joined our group in Fall 2025. He received his B.S. degree from Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET) in 2025. His current research is thermal insulation materials fabrication and building air leakage detection using machine learning.

Md Fazla Rabbi Jim Islam is a direct Ph.D. student, who joined our group in Fall 2025. He received his B.S. degree from Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET) in 2024. His current research is high temperature materials synthesis and simulations.

Visiting scholars

Yeojin Lee. Yeojin is a PhD student at Seoul National University, and her research interest is the experiment and simulations of nanoscale thermal transport.

Undergraduate Students

Noel Jensen. His research interest is the synthesis of ultra-high temperature insulation materials.

Alumni:

Ph.D.:

Janak Tiwari

Thesis: "Thermal Conductivity Prediction at Extremely High Temperatures and Pressures", 2025

Janak Tiwari joined our group in Fall 2021 and graduated in 2025. After graduation, he will join Idaho National Lab as a postdoc. He received his thesis M.S. degree from the University of Mississippi (with a GPA 4.0) and B.S. from Anna University, India, in 2021 and 2016, respectively. He works on first principles, machine learning, and finite element-based thermal transport simulations.

Jacob Crossley

Thesis: "Development of the Unified Theory of Gas Thermal Conductivity and Energy Accommodation based on Molecular Dynamics Studies", 2025.

Jacob Crossley joined our group in 2023 (co-advised by Prof. Keunhan Park). He obtained his B.S. at the University of Utah. He works on molecular dynamics simulations of gas thermal transport.

M.S.

Rui Xie

Thesis: " Interfacial Phonon Transport by Molecular Dynamics Simulations Based on Classical and Machine Learning Potentials", 2022/12.

Undergraduate students:

  • Yara Ahmed. Her research is focused on the prediction of thermal conductivity at ultra-high temperatures of complex oxides using first principles, molecular dynamics, and machine learning-based thermal transport simulations.
  • Wyatt Jones. His research is focused on the first principles, molecular dynamics, and machine learning-based thermal transport simulations.
  • Bryce Rundell. His research is focused on the prediction of interfacial thermal transport across semiconductors using first principles, molecular dynamics, and machine learning-based thermal transport simulations.
  • Brady Mccone. His research is focused on the molecular dynamics simulations of gas solid interactions.

High-school summer Internship:

  • Audrey Bradley, high-school summer research internship, 2023. Research project: first principles-based machine learning molecular dynamics simulations.
  • Adam Clark, high-school summer research internship, 2023. Research project: first principles-based machine learning molecular dynamics simulations.