Engineering / Research

Nanofluidic Pumping Research with Dr. Dong Liu in the Mechanical Engineering Department at the University of Houston

When a high-powered laser is aimed at gold nano-embedded glass, it creates an excitation in a fluid adjacent to the glass. My assignment was to design and fabricate the flow direction device to be used in early flow experiments. This device is shown on the top right and bottom left below, in between two microscope slides. Though this research is in its early stages, when it is ready for application, pumpless water flow technology could have a huge impact on many industries

Dielectrowetting Research with Dr. Dong Liu in the Mechanical Engineering Department at the University of Houston

Dielectrowetting is the manipulation of the hydrophobic or hydrophilic properties of a surface using electric current. This technology is used to manipulate the contact angle of a vapor bubble interacting with a surface and improve the efficiency of thermodynamic cycles involving boiling. I honestly have very little understanding of the specifics of this manipulation process, but the experience I gained supporting the doctorate students conduct their laboratory experiments was incredibly helpful in my later laboratory classes when precise data measuring and recording was required.