Microscopic Thermal-Fluids Engineering for Next-generation Electronics and Water

Dr. Yangying Zhu

Associate Professor
University of CA, Santa Barbara

Seminar Information

Seminar Series
Mechanics & Materials

Seminar Date - Time
February 23, 2026, 11:00 am
-
12:15

Seminar Location
EBU, room 479

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Abstract

Effective management of thermal and fluid transport has become a critical challenge in many electronics, energy, water, and manufacturing systems due to the increasing power density and ever-shrinking materials length scale. We combine micro/nanoengineering with in situ measurement techniques to provide insights on phase-change liquid-vapor thermal transport. Using micro-Raman spectroscopy, we probe the temperature at the liquid-vapor-solid three- phase contact line region during evaporation to probe the spatial heterogeneity of evaporation flux. We show that both thin-film evaporation and capillarity contribute to up to 100% enhancement in the heat transfer coefficient during microchannel flow boiling by introducing microstructures with tunable geometry. In addition, the friction introduced by the surface structures effectively suppress density wave oscillation flow instability. These examples demonstrate the potential of combining fundamental thermo-fluid science and advanced micro/nano engineering approaches to address many of the pressing thermal challenges for energy and sustainability.

Speaker Bio

Yangying Zhu is an associate professor in the Mechanical Engineering department at University of California, Santa Barbara. Her work focuses on fundamental understanding of the thermofluids process for energy and water sustainability and advanced manufacturing. She obtained her PhD from MIT where she developed microsystems for aggressive cooling of electronics. During her postdoc at Stanford University, she investigated thermal effects in lithium-based batteries. She
received early career awards from NSF, NASA, ONR, ARPA-E, and the ASME Pi Tau Sigma Gold Medal.