Energy Conversion, Transport, and Storage
SpecializationFacultyTitle
Convective heat transfer, two-phase flows, liquid crystal thermography Dr. D. Keith Hollingsworth Professor
Gas turbine heat transfer, shock wave/boundary layer interaction, microfluidics Dr. Phillip Ligrani Professor and Eminent Scholar in Propulsion
Transport phenomena applied to electrochemical energy storage and conversion devices, energy systems modeling Dr. George Nelson Professor and Department Chair

Battery in situ diagnosis and post-mortem analysis, Battery safety, thermal runaway, internal short circuit, Battery thermal management, Fuel cell, Electrochemical energy conversion and storage, Thermal science

 Dr. Guangsheng Zhang Associate Professor
Advanced Propulsion, Plasma Science, and Fusion
SpecializationFacultyTitle
Solid, hybrid, liquid, and air-breathing propulsion; propellant combustion, injector dynamics, combustion stability, and experimental diagnostics. Advanced ramjet fuels for hypersonic applications. Centrifugal nuclear thermal propulsion. Propulsion performance and system intergration. Dr. Robert Frederick Professor and Director of the Propulsion Research Center
Fusion propulsion, pulsed electromagnetic plasma, accelerators, smoothed particle hydrodynamics Dr. Jason Cassibry Professor
Electric propulsion, plasma dynamics, biological applications of atmospheric plasmas, rotating detonation engines, laser produced plasmas, magnetized plasmas Dr. Gabe Xu Professor
Advanced propulsion, energy, detonation physics, rotating detonation engines, combustion science Dr. John Bennewitz Assistant Professor
Low-temperature plasma for chemical synthesis, coating, surface treatment, and sanitation Dr. Yue Xiao Assistant Professor
Combustion and Turbulence Modeling
SpecializationFacultyTitle
Computational fluid mechanics, acoustics, chemically reacting flows, supersonic and hypersonic turbulent flows Dr. Kader Frendi Professor
Direct and large-eddy simulations of multiphase flows, plasma dynamics, and wildland fires Dr. Babak Shotorban Professor
Computational transport phenomena, combustion, radiative heat transfer Dr. Sarma Rani Professor
Materials Engineering and Solid Mechanics
SpecializationFacultyTitle
Experimental solid mechanics, finite element analysis, strain rate sensitivity and thermal softening, multiphysics modeling of couple mechanical-thermal-electrochemical response
 Dr. Nathan Spulak Assistant Professor
Computational mechanics of materials, microstructure-property relationships, multiscale modeling of plasticity and damage, nonlocal continuum mechanics, dynamic material response Dr. Nickolas Ginga Assistant Professor
Mechanical behavior and characterization of materials, polymeric composites, friction stir welding, additive manufacturing Dr. Judith Schneider Professor
Adaptive structures, structural dynamics and health monitoring Dr. Gang Wang Associate Professor

Experimental chemistry and sonochemistry, hydrometallurgy and non-aqueous metallurgy, interfacial science and engineering, thermochemistry, materials science

 Dr. Natalie Click Assistant Professor
Mechanics of materials, multiphysics modeling, electrochemical materials, organic transistors, advanced electron diffraction (4D-STEM, electron tomography) Dr. Xiaokang Wang Assistant Professor
Additive manufacturing with a focus on porous media, advanced materials for space applications, and nanoscale heat transfer. Dr. Yue Xiao Assistant Professor
Unmanned Vehicles
SpecializationFacultyTitle
Aerodynamics, propulsion, vehicle design † Dr. D. Brian Landrum (1992-2022)
 Associate Professor
Control theory and robotics applied to autonomous ground, marine, and aerial vehicles Dr. Farbod Fahimi Associate Professor
Fluid-structure interactions, flapping-wing aerodynamics Dr. Chang-kwon Kang Associate Professor
Autonomous spacecraft guidance, navigation, and control, decision-making under uncertainty, space robotics, artificial intelligence, astrodynamics, space domain awareness Dr. Lorenzo Federici Assistant Professor