08/27/2019 – ME WELCOMES FIVE NEW FACULTY
Solomon Adera – Assistant Professor
Adera obtained his Ph. D. in Mechanical Engineering from MIT and worked as a postdoc at Harvard University before joining the University of Michigan. His current research focuses on the fundamental studies of heat and mass transfer, fluid-structure interactions, thermal management, and micro/nano fabrication. He seeks to creatively design material systems that can improve existing engineering systems in the water-energy nexus for a sustainable future.
07/24/2020
ETL welcomes its first members, Wei Lu and Yimin Zhou. Both Wei and Yimin will join ETL in fall 2020. We are excited to have you onboard.
Welcome to ETL.
08/14/2020
Solomon chaired a session on the 2nd Solar Energy Systems Conference at the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE).
11/20/2020
Solomon gave an invited talk titled “Micro/nanoengineered surfaces for energy systems,” at the Florida International University, Miami, FL.
01/10/2021
Our lab welcomes Hunter Gandee. Hunter is an undergraduate student in MechE. He will be working on icephobic surfaces.
Welcome to our group.
01/21/2021
Our lab welcomes Juan Chomali. Juan is an undergraduate student in MechE. He is also double majoring in Economics. He will be working on characterizing the motion of water droplets on nanostructured lubricated surfaces.
Welcome to ETL.
03/23/2021
The Chair of the Mechanical Engineering Undergraduate Program and the ME Department has announced today that Hunter is the winner of the S. Jack Hu Family and Friends Undergraduate Research Award. Well deserved award. Congratulations Hunter.
ETL thanks the Mechanical Engineering Undergraduate Program and the ME Department for this award. This will allow Hunter to continue his work over the summer. Hunter’s work looking into ice adhesion strength on various surfaces. The insights gained from his work will guide material design for icephobic surfaces.
03/24/2021
Our paper on interfacial water ordering is published on ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces. In this paper, we looked at the molecular origins of the exceptional omniphobicity of nanostructured lubricated surfaces. We showed that the presence of nanostructures alters the molecular ordering of the water molecules at the liquid-vapor interface when it comes in contact with an oil film.
03/29/2021
Hunter is elected to the Corporate Relations Officer (CRO) position on the Executive Board of the MIchigan Mars Rover Team (MRover). As a member of the team’s Executive Board, Hunter will play a large role in team decision making and organization. Congratulations Hunter.
04/02/2021
Yimin performed in an orchestra at the 2021 graduation gala for the graduating class of 2021 at SJTU. In the orchestra, Yimin player Erhu, a Chinese traditional two-stringed bowed vertical fiddle. Yimin is an active member of the college’s orchestra. The performance was at the Minhang Campus Stadium, Shanghai, China. Great honor for Yimin to perform at the SJTU’s graduation gala, her alma mater. Congratulations Yimin.
Venue information
Date: 03/21/2021
Venue: Shanghai Jiao Tong University Minhang Campus Stadium, Shanghai, China
Event: Graduation gala evening for graduating students for the class of 2021
04/06/2021
Prof. Adera gave an invited talk in the Mechanical Engineering Department (ME8863/ME6607: Interfacial Fluid Mechanics) at the Georgia Institute of Technology. The title of his Talk was “Motion of water droplets on lubricated surfaces.” Solomon would like to thank Prof. Hu for the invite. Prof. Hu was a faculty mentor when Solomon was an undergraduate student. Solomon’s first research experience was in Prof. Hu’s lab (Hu Laboratory for Biolocomotion). It is Prof. Hu’s mentorship and the research experience from Hu’s lab that influenced Solomon to pursue grad school.
04/14/2021
The Michigan Engineering Office of Student Affairs has announced today that Hunter has been selected as a recipient of the First-Generation Experiential Learning Fund. The ETL thanks our university’s College of Engineering program for this award. The fund will support Hunter’s work on icephobic surfaces over the summer. Congratulations Hunter.
04/15/2021
Hunter and Juan presented their work at the Mechanical Engineering Undergraduate Symposium (MEUS). Both of them did well presenting their work.
04/20/2021
Hunter and Juan won best poster presentation and best oral presentation, respectively at the Mechanical Engineering Undergraduate Symposium (MEUS). The title of Hunter’s poster presentation was “Icephobic material synthesis and experimental characterization” whereas the title for Juan’s oral presentation was “Motion of water droplets on oil-impregnated micro/nanostructured surfaces.” Congratulations to both Hunter and Juan.
05/28/2021
Our paper entitled “Enhanced condensation heat transfer using porous silica inverse opal coatings on copper tubes” is published in Scientific Reports. This work characterizes the improvements in heat transfer when copper tubes are coated with inverse opals (≈8-12 μm thickness).
07/23/2021
Prof. Adera gave a talk at the Engineering Pathways Workshop for local high school students. He talked about STEM education and the path to Mechanical Engineering.
10/06/2021
John presented his research work in the Michigan Fluid Mechanics Research Seminar. The title of his presentation was, “Using fractal dimensions to quantify ice dendrite morphologies on lubricant-infused surface.” Congratulations John.
10/26/2021
Yimin presented her work in the InterPACK2021 virtual conference. She participated in the poster session that was held on gathertown. The title of her poster was, “Numerical modeling of thin film evaporation in wicking structures.”
10/28/2021
Prof. Adera served as a chair for the poster session at the InterPACK2021 virtual conference.
11/01/2021
Prof. Adera gave an interview to a local high school (Community High School of Ann Arbor) newspaper as part of the National Action Council for Minorities in Engineering (NACME) Engineering OnRamp Program at University of Michigan.
11/02/2021
Prof. Hu from Georgia Institute of Technology (http://hu.gatech.edu/) visited our lab. Prof. Hu was the invited speaker for the MechE seminar at the University of Michigan. The title of his talk was, “Fire ant rafts, cubic poop, and the Ig Nobel Prize.” His talk was well received amongst faculty and students alike.
11/09/2021
Congratulations to Yimin on passing her PhD qualifying exam. The title of her presentation for the qualifying exam was, “Numerical Modeling and optimization of well-defined silicon micropillars for thin film evaporation.”
12/09/2021
Congratulations to Hunter on presenting his work on dendrite growth to the ME Undergrad Symposium. This is a venue that allows undergraduate students to showcase their project through the RISE (Research, Innovation, Service and Entrepreneurship) program.
12/09/2021
Congratulations to Justin on presenting his poster on fog/water harvesting to the ME Undergrad Symposium through the RISE (Research, Innovation, Service and Entrepreneurship) program.
12/15/2021
We celebrated the end of the semester with a group outing
12/19/2021
Congratulations to John on finishing his Masters with great distinction. John worked on experimental characterization and modeling of dropwise condensation. Starting from January 2022, John will be joining the controls team at AVL; a local company that develops simulation and testing platform for the automotive sector and in other industries. Congratulations John.
02/07/2022
Congratulations to Mohammed Asaker. Mohammed successfully completed the IRENA student leaders program 2021. IRENA (International Renewable Energy Agency) student leaders program aims to build the capacity of future energy professionals by providing them with the knowledge and skills necessary to address urgent energy challenges. Mohammed is one of the 100 students (from more than 80 countries around the world) who have been accepted for Fall 2021. Congratulations Mohammed.
02/10/2022
Yimin presented her research work in the Michigan Fluid Mechanics Research Seminar. The title of her presentation was, “Numerical modeling of thin film evaporation in wicking structures.” Congratulations Yimin.
03/22/2022
Professor Srinivas Garimella from the Georgia Institute of Technology visited our lab. He was invited to speak to our MechE Departmental Seminar. The title of his talk was Practical Pathways to Energy Decarbonization, Frugal Water Use, and Food Preservation. His talk was well received with a big turn out. Thank you for the excellent and inspiring talk. It is an honor and a great privilege to host his visit.
03/23/2022
Yimin performed with Qingyun Chinese Musical Ensemble in the William P. Malm Performance Series: Celebrating the Stearns Collection of Musical Instruments. In the ensemble, Yimin plays Erhu, a Chinese traditional two-stringed bowed vertical fiddle. The performance was at the Walgreen Drama Center in Stamps Auditorium at University of Michigan. Congratulations Yimin.
Venue information
Date: 02/23/2022
Venue: Walgreen Drama Center, Stamps Auditorium, Ann Arbor, Michigan
Event: The William P. Malm Performance Series: Celebrating the Stearns Collection of Musical Instruments
03/23/2022
Congratulations to Justin. Justin is accepted to the New York University Tandon School of Engineering graduate program in Mechatronics. Justin is passionate about Robots. NYU is lucky to have him. No doubt Justin will do a great job at NYU. Good luck with grad school. Congratulations Justin.
03/25/2022
Big congratulations to Juan. Juan won the prestigious Robert M. Caddell Memorial Scholarship Award. This is one of the most prestigious awards in MechE. This is a recognition of his work and his academic excellence. Congratulations Juan.
03/29/2022
Congratulations to Hunter for winning this year’s (Fall 2021) RISE Best Paper Award on his work on Unique Dendrite Morphology on Lubricated Icephobic Surfaces. Congratulations Hunter.
04/14/2022
Congratulations to Haobo and Shawn on presenting their work at the Mechanical Engineering Undergraduate Symposium (MEUS). Both of them did a great job presenting the work they have done this academic term.
04/15/2022
Shawn is awarded the prestigious Wang Chu Chien-Wen Research Award from the College of Engineering and the Engineering Scholarship Office. Congratulations Shawn. He will be working in the lab in the summer 2022.
04/19/2022
Prof. Samuel Graham (Dean, A. James Clark School of Engineering Nariman Farvardin Professor Mechanical Engineering University of Maryland) gave a departmental seminar entitled “Thermal Management Strategies to Enable Ultrawide Bandgap Electronics” and visited our lab. Thank you for the great talk.
05/11/2022
We celebrated the end of the semester with a group outing
06/02/2022
Miles Phillips joined our lab this summer through the University of Michigan’s Research Experience for Undergraduate (REU) program. Miles is an undergraduate student majoring in Mechanical Engineering with a minor in Mathematics at Howard University in Washington DC. He will be working on understanding droplet impact dynamics on oil-impregnated surfaces. Welcome to the Energy Transport Lab.
06/22/2022
Amira Hamilton joined our lab this summer through the University of Michigan’s Summer High School Apprentice Researchers Program (SHARP). Amira is a high school student. She goes to East Kentwood High in Kentwood Michigan. Amira is working on understanding oil wicking on ice dendrites.
08/23/2022
We are excited to welcome our newest member Biruk Teka to the Energy Transport Lab at the University of Michigan.
Biruk obtained his BS in MechE with highest honors from Pusan National University in South Korea (2020) and his MSc in MechE from Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) in 2022.
Biruk’s research interests include fluid-structure interaction, droplet dynamics, and wetting and roughness.
Welcome to our group.
09/10/2022
Yimin performed with Qingyun Chinese Musical Ensemble at the Mid-autumn Festival Gala held by DCUM. In the ensemble, Yimin is the president and plays Erhu, a Chinese traditional two-stringed bowed vertical fiddle. The performance was at the Lydia Mendelssohn Theatre at University of Michigan. Congratulations Yimin.
Venue informationProfessor Srinivas Garimella from the Georgia Institute of Technology visited our lab. He was invited to speak to our MechE Departmental Seminar. The title of his talk was Practical Pathways to Energy Decarbonization, Frugal Water Use, and Food Preservation. His talk was well received with a big turn out. Thank you for the excellent and inspiring talk. It is an honor and a great privilege to host his visit.
Date: 09/10/2022
Venue: Lydia Mendelssohn Theatre, Ann Arbor, Michigan
Event: Mid-autumn Festival Gala
10/12/2022
Haobo presented his research work in the Michigan Fluid Mechanics Research Seminar. The title of his presentation was, “Droplet dynamics on lubricated surfaces.” Congratulations Haobo.
11/22/2022
Yimin, Haobo, and Shawn gave oral presentations at the 75th Annual Meeting of the Division of Fluid Dynamics, Indiana Convention Center, Indianapolis, Indiana, November 20–22, 2022.
The titles of their presentations were, “Wetting ridge migration and oil wicking during condensation frosting on oil-impregnated surfaces”, “Droplet-droplet interaction and coalescence mechanism of water droplets on textured oil-impregnated surfaces”, and “Drop friction on state-of-the-art micro/nanoengineered oil-impregnated silicon micro-pillars and micro-holes”, respectively.
12/06/2022
Professor Sushil H. Bhavnani from Auburn University visited our lab. He was invited to speak at our MechE Departmental Seminar. The title of his talk was “Enhancement of Phase-Change Thermal Management of Microelectronics Using Engineered Surface Structures”. His talk was well received with a big turnout. We thank Professor Bhavnani for the excellent and inspiring talk. It is an honor and a great privilege to host his visit.
12/08/2022
Haobo, Shawn, Keith, and Jack presented their research works at the ME Undergrad Symposium (MEUS). Congratulations on their presentations!
1/10/2023
Congratulations to Hunter et al for publishing the icing work entitled “Unique ice dendrite growth and morphology on oil-impregnated surfaces” on Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America (PNAS).
See the link below: Unique ice dendrite morphology on state-of-the-art oil-impregnated surfaces | PNAS
See media articles about the publication below:
What do the shapes of frost on frozen droplets teach us about next-generation icephobic surfaces?
01/12/2023
Lauren Carrannanto joined our group. Lauren will work on oil wicking in ice dendrites. Welcome to ETL.
01/19/2023
Solomon is awarded the 2023 North Campus Deans’ MLK Spirit Award. See link below: Dr. Solomon Adera – Office of Culture, Community and Equity (OCCE)
02/01/2023
Hunter Gandee presented his dendrite work in the Michigan Fluid Mechanics Research Seminar. The title of his talk was, “Unique ice dendrite morphology on state-of-the-art oil-impregnated surfaces.”
04/07/2023
Congratulations to Hunter on being selected as the winner of the Mechanical Engineering Department Spirit Award! This award is given to a deserving ME senior or seniors who best embody the character and leadership critical to a successful career in mechanical engineering.
04/19/2023
Congratulations to Yimin and Solomon on publishing an article entitled “Synergistic Benefits of Micro/Nanostructured Oil-Impregnated Surfaces in Reducing Fouling while Enhancing Heat Transfer” on Langmuir as co-authors.
See the article link below: https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.langmuir.3c00148
The cover art of this article is selected as the front cover of Volume 39, Issue 19: https://pubs-acs-org.proxy.lib.umich.edu/toc/langd5/39/19
See the media promotions for this publication: https://acs.altmetric.com/details/146145421/twitter
04/29/2023
Congratulations to Haobo, Shawn, Keith, Jack, and Lauren on finishing their Bachelor’s degrees with great distinction. Haobo is admitted to PhD program at Cornell. Shawn is admitted to PhD program at UC Berkeley. Keith will be joining Lockheed Martin Corporation. Congratulations!
05/28/2023
ETL welcomes its new member Jerry Huang. Jerry is a master’s student in Mechanical Engineering. He started at the University of Michigan in the fall of 2022. Welcome to ETL Jerry.
06/02/2023
Professor Dan Daniel from King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) visited our lab and gave a seminar talk about his research on the collective motion of condensate droplets.
08/04/2023
ETL welcomes its new member Lisa Kong. Lisa is an undergrad student in Mechanical Engineering. She will start at the University of Michigan in the fall of 2023. Welcome to ETL Lisa.
08/18/2023
Congratulations Haobo. Haobo published his work on droplet-droplet interaction and coalescence on micro/nanotextured oil-impregnated surfaces on Nature Communication (Xu, H.; Zhou, Y.; Daniel, D.; Herzog, J.; Wang, X.; Sick, V.; Adera, S., Droplet attraction and coalescence mechanism on textured oil-impregnated surfaces. Nat. Commun. 14, 4901 (2023)).
This is the first report that shows three distinct stages of droplet coalescence: remote droplet attraction, lubricant draining, and droplet merging. We also modeled and validated experimentally the droplet coalescence mechanism using the classical mass-spring system. The insights gained from this work inform strategies to further manipulate droplet-droplet interaction and coalescence to improve water harvesting and condensation heat transfer.
See the ME department news article: Down to the Last Drop
See the PNAS Journal Club post: How droplets converge on a slippery, nature-inspired surface
See the ME department tweet.
See other media coverage: https://nature.altmetric.com/details/153079931
Haobo’s second paper on wrapping layer is under review in ACS Nano.
08/31/2023
ETL welcomes its new member Devika Harikrishnan. Devika is a master’s student who plans to transition to the PhD program. She started at the University of Michigan in the fall of 2023. Welcome to ETL Devika.
09/01/2023
ETL welcomes its new member Minjeong Kim. Minjeong is an undergrad student in Mechanical Engineering. She will be working on wetting ridge dynamics on lubricant-infused surfaces. Welcome to ETL Minjeong.
09/14/2023
Solomon gave a seminar in the Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering Department at The Ohio State University. The title of his talk was, “Lubricant infused surfaces for improving condensation and boiling heat transfer.”
09/15/2023
ETL welcomes its new members Matthew Lajoie and Mobin Mazloomian. They are senior undergrad students in Mechanical Engineering. Matthew will be working on visualizing ice attachment mechanisms, and Mobin will be working on planar laser-induced fluorescence imaging. Welcome to ETL Matthew and Mobin.
09/22/2023
ETL welcomes its new member Jared Liebetreu. Jared is a senior undergrad student in Mechanical Engineering. Jared will be working on droplet impact dynamics on oil-impregnated surfaces. Welcome to ETL Jared.
10/04/2023
Solomon presented to students and participated in a panel discussion at the Atlanta University Center Consortium – AUCC Graduate & Professional Fair. The Atlanta University Center Consortium, a non-profit corporation under the laws of the State of Georgia, formed in 1929 to operate on behalf of its member institutions–Clark Atlanta University, Morehouse College, Morehouse School of Medicine, and Spelman College—is the world’s oldest and largest association of historically Black colleges and universities (HBCU).
10/08/2023
ETL had a group outing at Nagomi Sushi and Korean BBQ in Ann Arbor. Alumni member Haobo, who is currently a PhD student at Cornell University, came back to visit our lab during his fall break.
10/23/2023
Congratulations to Yimin on job well done. Yimin performed in the QINGYUN CHINESE MUSIC ENSEMBLE. She played the Chinese traditional instrument Erhu. Venue was at the Michigan League Ballroom, Sunday (10/22) at 7-9 pm.
11/26/2023
Yimin presented her work (oral and poster presentation) on boiling at the InterPACK 2023 conference that was held in San Diego, California. Her oral presentation was titled, “Boiling limit on oil-impregnated surfaces” and her poster presentation was titled, “Pool boiling on textured oil-impregnated surfaces.” Congratulations Yimin.
11/14/2023
Biruk passed his PhD qualification exam and will advance to candidacy in Winter 2024. Job well done. Congratulations to Biruk.
11/14/2023
Professor Kripa K. Varanasi visited ETL and gave a seminar in the ME department entitled, “Innovations at Interfaces: Energy & Sustainability to Biomedical Applications”.
11/20/2023
Biruk presented his work on high velocity droplet impact on state-of-the-art micro/nanotextured oil-impregnated surfaces at the APS-DFD 2023 conference held in the Washington, DC (Sunday–Tuesday, November 19–21, 2023; Washington, DC). The title of his talk was, “High-velocity droplet impact dynamics on lubricant-infused surfaces.” https://meetings.aps.org/Meeting/DFD23/Session/ZC03.3
76th Annual Meeting of the Division of Fluid Dynamics, Session ZC03: Impact, Bouncing, Wetting and Spreading, 12:50 PM–3:00 PM, Tuesday, November 21, 2023
12/17/2023
Congratulations to Hunter on finishing his Bachelor’s degree with great distinction.
He is now working at the WEC Energy Group as a Power Plant Engineer in Marquette, Michigan.
12/18/2023
ETL had an end-of-semester group outing at Bigalora restaurant. We also invited alumni in Ann Arbor to join. We celebrated Hunter’s graduation.
01/23/2023
ETL welcomes its new members Priyanka Viswanath and Ayesha Saeed. Priyanka is a Master’s student in Mechanical Engineering. Ayesha is a Master’s student in Space Engineering. Welcome!
01/26/2024
Congratulations to Haobo, Yimin, and Solomon on publishing an article entitled “Visualization and Experimental Characterization of Wrapping Layer Using Planar Laser-Induced Fluorescence” on ACS Nano. [Article Link]
For the first time, we used planar laser-induced fluorescence (PLIF) to not only visualize the wrapping oil layer encapsulating the water droplet on oil-impregnated surfaces but also measure its thickness with good accuracy (∼tens of nm). The results presented in this study advance our mechanistic understanding of the wrapping layer with the potential to estimate the lubricant depletion rate by pendant droplets during dropwise condensation and water harvesting.
02/06/2024
Congratulations to Minjeong. Minjeong Kim receives 2024 North Campus Deans’ MLK Spirit Award. This award is given annually to students, student organizations, staff, and faculty in North Campus schools and colleges at the University of Michigan who exemplify the leadership and vision of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. through their commitment to social justice, diversity, equity, and inclusion, including within the context of the pandemic and our reignited sense of urgency to address root causes of social injustice. Congratulations Minjeong.
Minjeong Kim receives 2024 North Campus Deans’ MLK Spirit Award
04/25/2024
Tomasz (Tom) Kulakowski and Michal Remer, postdocs in our lab, attended last week’s 51st Midwestern Universities Fluid Mechanics Retreat (April 11-13, 2024, Geneva Center, Rochester, Indiana). In Indiana, they have presented two issues that were addressed in our laboratory. Tom’s talk is titled: Is there an optimal contact angle for condensation? showed the latest research on dropwise condensation, while Michal was talking about findings on liquid-impregnated surfaces – Water drop friction on the hemi-solid hemi-liquid surfaces.
