Director

Tianli Feng has been an assistant professor of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Utah since 2021. He holds a B.S. in Physics from the University of Science and Technology of China (USTC) in 2011. He received his M.S. and Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from Purdue University in 2013 and 2017, respectively, where he was awarded the Bilsland Dissertation Fellowship Honor. Prior to his current position, he worked as a Postdoc and then as an R&D Associate Staff Scientist at Oak Ridge National Laboratory from 2017-2021. He received the 2024 NSF CAREER Award, the 2023 Brillouin Medal, and the 2023 Ralph E. Powe Junior Faculty Enhancement Award. He published over 70 journal papers, developed simulation packages, Windows-based applications, and online simulation tools, and has 4000+ citations and an h-index of 36. He currently serves as an editorial board member of Energy and Environment Focus. [Curriculum Vitae]

Email: tianli dot feng at utah dot 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
  • B.S., Physics, University of Science and Technology of China, 2011

Graduate Students

Janak Tiwari joined our group in Fall 2021 as a Ph.D. Candidate. 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.

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) and B.S. from Shandong University (with 1st rank among undergrad students) in 2022 and 2019, respectively. 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.

Jacob Crossley is a Ph.D. candidate co-advised by Prof. Keunhan Park. His current research is heat transfer between solid and gas by using molecular dynamics 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.

Garima Neuphane is a M.S. student, who joined our group in Spring 2024. She obtained her B.S. degree at Tribhuwan University in 2021. Her current research focuses on experiment.

Undergraduate Students

Yara Ahmed is an undergraduate student. 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.

Bryce Rundell is an undergraduate student. 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.

Wyatt Jones is an undergraduate student. His research is focused on the first principles, molecular dynamics, and machine learning-based thermal transport simulations.

Brady Mccone is an undergraduate student. His research is focused on the molecular dynamics simulations of gas solid interactions.

Alumni:

M.S.:

  • Rui Xie, thesis M.S., 2022/12. Thesis: " Interfacial Phonon Transport by Molecular Dynamics Simulations Based on Classical and Machine Learning Potentials".

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.