Faculty News
Malen Receives Young Investigator Award
Assistant Professor Jonathan Malen recently received a three-year, $360,000 Young Investigator Award from the U.S. Air Force to fund his work on technolo- gies related to energy conversion, ther- mal management, and high-resolution imaging. He was one of 43 researchers who won grants totaling more than
Malen’s Young Investigator funding will support his efforts to under- stand the fundamental heat-gener- ating interactions among electrons, phonons, and protons in a variety of devices.
$16 million from the Air Force Office of Scientific Research. More than 200 investigators applied. “I am elated to receive this award, which will help me continue my basic research into how the vibrational prop- erties of small organic molecules can redefine thermal management and strategies,” says Malen. Malen’s research proposes that, like optics filtering colors of light, thin layers of small molecules sandwiched between solids may filter the vibrations that carry heat across the interface. This may allow more precise thermal management devices that cool sensitive electronic components in aircraft and other transporta- tion systems. “The Young Inves- tigator Award is a wonderful honor for such an innovative and hardworking research- er. We are extremely proud of Jonathan Malen’s accomplish- ments—and are certain that this award will lead to many addi-
tional breakthroughs in the future,” says Department Head Nadine Aubry. Before joining MechE in 2009, Malen was a National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate Fellow at the University of California at Berkeley, where he earned a Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering. He also holds a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Michigan and an S.M. in Nuclear Engineering from the Massachu- setts Institute of Technology. Malen was won other prestigious awards, including
being recognized as the James B. Angell Scholar at Michi- gan in 1999, winning the National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate Fellowship in 2005, and earning the “Best Presentation” award at the American Society of Engineers Energy Nanotechnology Conference in 2008.•
8 CARNEGIE MECH
Litster Wins NSF CAREER Award
Assistant Professor Shawn Litster has received a $400,000 Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Award from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to pursue fuel cell and lithium-ion bat- tery research. Since joining the Depart- ment in August 2008, Litster has been focusing on developing and improving
transformative energy technologies, as well as teaching undergraduate and graduate courses in energy systems and thermodynamics. “I’m delighted to receive this award, which provides important support for study- ing transport phenomena in fuel cell and battery electrodes using unique micro-scale approaches,” says Litster. “With more than 100 fuel cell equipped vehicles in the U.S., fuel cells continue to make important advances toward commercialization. They are an interesting energy technology because of their high efficiencies and fuel flex- ibility, including fuels derived from renewable resources. Likewise, advanced batteries for vehicles present an op- portunity to improve efficiency and increase energy indepen- dence.”
Department Head Nadine
Optimal fuel cell performance is achieved when the compo- nents are carefully balanced for transport of gas species, pro- tons, and electrons. Litster’s CAREER Award will support the development of new tools that improve the understand- ing of catalyst layer transport phenomena.
Aubry is quick to praise Litster for his innovative and timely research. “We are fortunate to have such outstanding faculty who pursue state-of- the-art research and work incessantly to translate their leading-edge work into important classroom curricula,” says Aubry. She also notes that Litster is becoming part of a new MechE tradition. He is the eleventh professor to win a CAREER or Young Investigator Award since 2002. A native of Canada, Litster earned his B.Eng. and
M.A.Sc. degrees in Mechanical Engineering from the Uni- versity of Victoria, in British Columbia. He earned a Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering in 2008 from Stanford University.•
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