NSF CAREER award funds innovator investigating nanodevice heat control
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Associate Professor Mohammad Ghashami wants to solve problems related to heat control in nanodevices with his four-year NSF CAREER award titled “CAREER: Understanding Nanoscale Radiative Transport in Multi-Body Systems.”
Ghashami received the $629,702 grant to investigate better ways to regulate heat in nanodevices. These extremely small engineering machines are used in advanced technologies such as aerospace electronics, energy conversion technology, and information processing.
“These tiny devices can easily get too hot, and they will stop working. To keep them running safely and efficiently, we need to figure out how to manage heat at very small scales,” said Ghashami, who joined the mechanical and industrial engineering faculty at UIC in August 2024.
Until now, most experiments have focused primarily on the “two-body system,” which is how heat moves between two objects. However, in real-world devices, there are usually more than two parts involved. To address this issue, Ghashami is investigating multi-body systems to understand how heat flows between several tiny objects simultaneously.
“Understanding how this works can help engineers design better, faster, and more powerful technology,” said Ghashami, director of the Chicago Energy Engineering and Thermal Applications Lab at UIC.
He plans to apply the physics of radiative transport in multi-bodies to solve thermal control problems. Specifically, Ghashami will experimentally uncover the governing physics that drives electromagnetic waves-matter interactions in multi-body systems to identify the contributing factors in near-field radiative heat transfer, which is the movement of heat in the form of electromagnetic waves, such as light, instead of through direct contact.
“At the nanoscale, these waves behave differently than they do at larger sizes,” he said. “My team will investigate how material, shape, and the spacing between objects affect how this heat flows. We’ll use high-precision tools to measure the heat and uncover new scientific knowledge.”
Ghashami has added strong educational objectives for this project by creating an academic-industry bridge initiative for undergraduate and graduate students. The collaboration brings classroom theories and practical applications to the real world, prepares students for the workforce, and develops mutually beneficial relationships between UIC and industry.
He also wants others to benefit from the research beyond the UIC classrooms. He plans to create hands-on activities and interactive tools for high school students to explore science and engineering.
“The goal is not only to improve nanotechnology, but also to help prepare future scientists and engineers by giving them learning experiences early on,” he said. “In the end, we want this research to lead to better technology and inspire the next generation of innovators.