REU Site: Thermal Management on Multiple Scales

这个位于圣路易斯华盛顿大学的REU网站的主要目标是在多个规模上扩大学生对热管理研究的参与，并吸引不同类型的好奇、有抱负的学生投身工程职业。庞大和多样化的STEM劳动力对全球竞争力至关重要。这个REU网站将通过两个行之有效的策略帮助增加女性和代表性不足的少数族裔在工程职业中的参与：(1)提供本科生研究经验；(2)通过接触各种工业、创业和学术职业选择；参观；以及与工程师讨论，向学生传授工程学的社会重要性。学生将学习涉及热能和电力的研究课题，从新型电池技术到微电子和电力电子的强化冷却，再到碳捕获过程中的辐射。这将使学生面临一系列工程挑战、研究方法和职业，以满足对热流体工程师日益增长的需求。该网站将通过口头报告、海报和书面论文或报告教学生如何沟通，为他们的职业生涯做好准备。为了进一步扩大参与，学生们将开展一个外展项目，协助向华盛顿大学大学预科项目中未得到充分服务的高中生教授一门短期工程课程。控制温度和热能转移(热管理)的能力对于应对最重要的全球挑战至关重要：清洁和可再生能源生产；廉价、高效和可靠的运输；以及不断增长的数据存储和处理需求。这个REU站点将推进当前对基本热质传递的理解，同时将发现转化为纳米/微米级、组件和系统级的热管理应用技术。在夏季的10周时间里，学生们将沉浸在与新兴技术相关的研究项目中，例如金属-空气电池、纳米流体和微/纳米结构热传输增强，同时还将学习热流体工程师在微电子/电力电子、化学/材料加工、运输和能源行业中的作用。该网站将是跨学科的，从机械和化学工程的角度探讨热管理的主题。活动将包括与教职员工共进午餐、研究技能研讨会、实验室/行业参观、GRE准备工作和社会活动。参与者将与校长调查员进行多次一对一的咨询会议，以定义和制定实现个人目标的计划，并在暑期结束后跟踪学生的进度。暑期结束时，学生们将准备一份技术报告、会议记录或期刊文章，并在期末研究研讨会上通过海报和口头陈述来展示他们的研究成果。在暑期体验结束后的秋天，一些学生将可以选择在ASME的国际机械工程会议和博览会或Aiche的学生会议上展示他们的海报。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The primary objectives of this REU site at Washington University in St. Louis are to expand student participation in thermal management research on multiple scales and to attract a diverse pool of curious, motivated students into engineering careers. A large and diverse STEM workforce is critical to global competitiveness. This REU site will help increase the participation of women and underrepresented minorities in engineering careers through two proven strategies: (1) providing undergraduate research experience and (2) teaching students the societal importance of engineering through exposure to a variety of industrial, entrepreneurial, and academic career options; tours; and discussions with engineers. Students will study research topics involving heat and power, ranging from novel battery technologies, to enhanced cooling of micro-electronics and power electronics, to radiation in carbon capture processes. This will expose students to a range of engineering challenges, research methodologies, and careers that address the ever-expanding need for thermal-fluids engineers. The site will prepare students for their careers by teaching them how to communicate through oral presentations, posters, and written papers or reports. To further broaden participation, students will undertake an outreach project by assisting in teaching a short engineering course to underserved high school students in Washington University's College Prep program. The ability to control temperature and the transfer of thermal energy (thermal management) is critical to addressing the most important global challenges: clean and renewable energy production; inexpensive, efficient and reliable transportation; and ever-increasing data storage and processing demands. This REU site will advance the current understanding of fundamental heat and mass transfer, while translating discoveries to applied technologies for thermal management at the nano-/microscale, component, and system scales. For 10 weeks during the summer, students will be immersed in research projects tied to emerging technologies, such as metal-air batteries and nanofluidic and micro-/nanostructural thermal transport enhancement, while also learning the role of thermal-fluids engineers in the micro-/power electronics, chemical/material processing, transportation, and energy industries. The site will be interdisciplinary, approaching topics in thermal management from mechanical and chemical engineering perspectives. Activities will include lunches with faculty, research skills seminars, lab/industry tours, preparation for the GRE, and social activities. Participants will have multiple one-on-one advising sessions with the Principle Investigator to define and develop a plan for achieving personal goals, and students' progress will be tracked after the summer ends. The summer will culminate with students preparing a technical report, conference proceeding, or journal article as well as presenting their research results through a poster and oral presentation at a final research symposium. The fall after their summer experience, some of the students will have the choice of presenting their posters at ASME's International Mechanical Engineering Conference and Exposition or AIChe's Student Conference.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.