GRAHAM - Key Persons
Brian received his B.S. (2015) and M.S. (2018) in Mechanical Engineering at Washington State University Vancouver (WSUV). Brian's M.S. thesis research focused on the development of novel heat sinks for electronics thermal management. At the Advanced Energy Systems lab at WSUV, Brian assisted in the development of nanofluid use in pulsating heat pipes (undergrad), as well as, a novel radial pulsating heat pipe (master's thesis project). Brian started at EMRL in Summer 2018 and is currently investigating the feasibility of phase change material (PCM) utilization for peak temperature throttling of GaN HEMTs. In addition to Brian's research interests, he is a passionate educator and regularly tutors and mentors aspiring science and engineering students. Brian is also an avid strength athlete and an active member at the Citadel Nutrition Barbell Club (which was founded by the Georgia Tech Barbell Club). LinkedIn
Chao joined the group in May of 2019, is working on wide bandgap semiconductor materials and interface thermal characterization using optical techniques, including time-domain thermoreflectance (TDTR) and transient thermoreflectance (TTR). His past work at University of Bristol as a Post-Doctoral Fellow was focused on developments of GaN-on-Diamond microwave technology for high-efficiency microwave systems, and transducer-less TTR technique for non-invasively characterising GaN-based materials. He received his Ph.D. and B.E. in School of Power and Engineering from Huazhong University of Science and technology (China) in 2017 and 2012, respectively. His doctoral research involves developing highly thermal conductively thermal interface materials.
Chidinma received her B.S in Mechanical Engineering with a minor in Business Administration in 2013 and her Masters in Mechanical Engineering and Material Science in 2015 from Southern University Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Her NASA funded thesis project centered on the Automated Healing of Elastomer Particle Infused Polymer Composites. She is currently pursuing a PhD at Georgia Tech with a research focus on Transient Liquid Phase Bonding employed for durable and thermally efficient electronic packages.
Dr. Graham is the Eugene C. Gwaltney, Jr. School Chair and Professor in the Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering. He holds a courtesy appointment with the School of Materials Science and Engineering and a joint appointment with the Energy and Transportation Science Division at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Prior to joining Georgia Tech, he was a Senior Member of the Technical Staff at Sandia National Laboratories in Livermore, California. He is a Fellow of American Society of Mechanical Engineers and a member of the Air Force Scientific Advisory Board.
Gabe received his B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Maryland, College Park. After several years in the defense industry designing packaging and next-gen cooling systems for high power electronic systems, picking up a Masters from Johns Hopkins along the way, he decided to return to academia for a PhD. His research is in mechanics of thin films for flexible electronic applications.
Jason Hirschey graduated with his BS in mechanical engineering with a thermal, fluids, and energy concentration from Georgia Tech in 2016. His current research is thermal energy storage with phase change materials in collaboration with Oak Ridge National Lab. Outside of work, Jason enjoys backpacking and camping, cooking, walking his dog, and woodworking.
Jingjing received her B.E. in School of Aerospace Engineering from Tsinghua University, China in 2012. She received her Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from Purdue University in Fall 2018. Her doctoral research was focused on the atomic scale simulations of thermal transport across interfaces. Currently she is working on the modeling of heat transfer in materials like wide bandgap semiconductors.
Nick received a B.S. in Applied Physics from Morehouse College and a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering in May 2015 through the Atlanta University Center Dual Degree Engineering Program (AUC DDEP). He joined the group in the fall of 2015 receiving a President's Fellowship and a GEM PhD Fellowship supported by Corning Incorporated. Nick is currently working to complete his M.S. in Mechanical Engineering Thesis in pursuit of the Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering. His current research interests are dedicated toward the realization of advanced thermal management solutions for GaN-based electronic devices by leveraging optical and electrical techniques including Raman and Photoluminescence Spectroscopy, Electrical Resistance Thermometry, and Transient Thermoreflectance techniques for thermal and thermomechanical characterization of wide bandgap (WBG) semiconductor materials.
Job Titles:
- Co - Founder and Advisor for CalcHub
Riley joined the group in November of 2019 and is working on characterization of wide-band gap semiconductor devices. During his Ph.D. work at Northwestern University he was awarded the Weertman Fellowship from the NU Materials Science Department and the Graduate Student Award from the International Thermoelectric Society for his work on heat conduction in defective crystals. At the end of his Ph.D., he spent 5 months at Oak Ridge National Lab as a Science Graduate Research Awardee conducting neutron scattering experiments and developing new computational methods to simulate defective and complex crystals. Prior to his Ph.D. he received a B.S. from Iowa State University in Materials Engineering, and worked as Product Development Engineer at Bemis Company Inc. developing plastic food packaging.
Additionally, Riley is a co-founder and advisor for CalcHub, a company developing a simple yet powerful online math workspace.
Rob received his B.S in Mechanical Engineering from Georgia Tech in Spring of 2018 with a Micro- and Nano- Engineering Concentration. He joined EMRL is Fall of 2018, initially working on the thermal management and characterization of Gallium Nitride power electronics. He has since pivoted to primarily focus on the development, simulation, and characterization of memristors for use in neuromorphic computing. An active member of his community, Rob volunteers as a youth leader at Saint Anne's Episcopal Church, helping to supervise and guide young people. Outside of work, Rob enjoys marksmanship, bourbon collecting, programming, debate, and flying. Rob is co-advised by Dr. Satish Kumar.