The Department of Mechanical Engineering is excited to welcome Dr Tianli Feng as an Assistant Professor this fall. Dr Feng received his M.S. and Ph.D. degrees from the School of Mechanical Engineering at Purdue University. He received his B.S. degree in Physics from the University of Science and Technology of China (USTC). Before joining the U, Dr Feng was an R&D Associate Staff Scientist at Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

Dr Feng’s research is pushing the frontiers of thermal energy transport, conversion, and storage in complex systems to extremes. Specifically, he targets material properties for ultra-high temperatures (1000-3000 °C), ultra-low temperatures (-270 °C), ultra-high thermal conductivity (2000 W/mK), ultra-low thermal conductivity (<0.01 W/mK), ultra-high power density, and ultra-fast energy transfer rate, from the atomic level to human scale.

“We aim to solve the long-standing challenges in ultra-high-temperature thermal barrier coatings, thermal protections of hypersonic vehicles, nuclear materials, thermal management of electronic devices, thermoelectric energy harvesting, building energy efficiency, lithium-ion batteries, etc.” said Dr Feng. “Our research methods include both advanced simulations and experiments, aiming for both fundamental sciences and cutting-edge technologies.”

Dr Feng is currently working on multiple projects including:

  1. The simulation of thermal transport in nuclear materials at ultra-high temperatures
  2. Thermal transport simulation of ultra-high temperature ceramics
  3. Developing new thermal insulation materials for building energy efficiency
  4. Developing thermal barrier materials for high temperatures
  5. Memristors and batteries

“I am thrilled to start my new journey at the U!” said Dr Feng. “I will be establishing my first experimental lab here. I can’t wait to get to know new people, get involved in the department, and get in touch with the students!”

You can find out more on the Feng MEX Lab Website.