| Natalie Field | MASc Candidate BASc (Mechanical Engineering) University of Waterloo |
 | Natalie is developing a pilot scale direct contact heating apparatus to demonstrate the feasibility of this technique for hot forming die quenching (HFDQ), in collaboration with F&P Manufacturing Inc. Natalie is co-supervised by Prof. Adrian Gerlich. |
| Sam Grauer | PhD Candidate BSc (Mechanical Engineering) University of Manitoba |
 | Open path absorption measurements can be used to tomographically-reconstruct the instantaneous concentration distribution of a gaseous species. Since the number of measurements is inadequate by themselves to define a unique concentration, it is necessary to introduce additional information into the reconstruction. Sam is developing a Bayesian technique that uses priors derived from turbulent flow physics. This project is sponsored by Imperial Oil. |
| Paul Hadwin | Postdoctoral Fellow BSc (Math) University of Auckland |
 | Laser-induced incandescence can quantify both the concentration of aerosolized black carbon, and the size distribution of primary particles. When used in a regulatory context, however, it is essential to quantify uncertainties associated with these estimates, which is caused by both model parameter uncertainty and measurement noise. Paul is applying stochastic inverse analysis techniques to quantify these uncertainties, in collaboration with the National Research Council Canada. |
| Kamalpreet Jhajj | MASc Candidate BASc (Mechanical Engineering) University of Waterloo |
 | Kamal is developing a heat transfer model of a roller hearth furnace at Formet Industries, a subsidiary of Cosma International. The furnace is used to heat Usibor® 1500 P blanks for HFDQ. Formet will use this model to predict the heater settings needed for various blank geometries and thicknesses. |
| Cody Prodaniuk | MASc Candidate BASc (Mechanical Engineering) University of Waterloo |
 | Cody is working with GenTex Oilfiled Mfg. Ltd. to implement an advanced control algorithm on their process heaters, with the objective of improving thermal efficiency, reducing pollutant emissions, and improving operational safety. |
| Josh Rasera | MASc Candidate BASc (Mechanical Engineering) University of Waterloo |
 | The majority of HFDQ manufacturing lines use roller hearth or low profile batch furnaces to heat blanks prior to forming and quenching. Josh is working with F&P Manufacturing Inc. to develop an alternative direct contact heating apparatus that uses less space and energy compared to furnace-based heating. This procedure may also avoid the protective Al-Si coating that is normally needed to prevent scaling and decarborization in the furnace. |
| Cang-ji Shi | Postdoctoral Fellow PhD (Materials Science) Université du Québec à Chicoutimi |
 | Most hot forming die quenching is carried out on coated steels. Usibor 1500 P is dip coated with a protective Al-Si layer that, upon heating, transforms into a pernament Al-Si-Fe coating that prevents oxidation and decarborization during furnace heating and provides long-term corrpsion protection. Cang-ji is working to understand the coating formation process, which involves diffusion of iron from the substrate steel into the coating and solid state chemical reactions. |
| Nigel Singh | MASc Candidate BASc (Nanoengineering) University of Waterloo |
 | Extending TiRe-LII to novel aerosols requires detailed understanding of the heat transfer between the laser-energized particles and the surrounding gas; evaporation heat transfer is often important shortly after the laser pulse. Nigel is developing theoretical models of evaporation heat transfer from metal nanoparticles, which he will compare with experiments carried out on aqueous nanoparticles aerosolized using a pneumatic atomizer. |
| Tim Sipkens | PhD Candidate MASc (Mechanical Engineering) University of Waterloo |
 | For his PhD, Tim is developing robust Bayesian techniques for analyzing TiRe-LII measurements made on synthetic nanoparticles, and to develop heat transfer models used to interpret TiRe-LII data. |
| Roger Tsang | MASc Candidate BASc (Mechanical Engineering) University of Waterloo |
 | Fugitive hydrocarbon emissions from oil and gas facilities present a health and safety risk, and also contribute to climate change. Consequently, there is a pressing need for technology that can detect, localize, and quantify these emissions. For his MASc research, Roger is developing an experimental apparatus to carry out optical line-of-sight absorption spectroscopy tomography on BTEX (benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylene) plumes. This project is sponsored by Imperial Oil. |
| PAST MEMBERS | |
|---|---|
| Emil Åkesson | Development Engineer, Gambro (SW) MSc (Engineering Physics) Lund Institute of Technology |
 | Emil developed Tikhonov regularization algorithms for deconvolving data collected from axisymmetric flames. The diffusion-dominated physics of this problem makes it well-suited to Tikhonov regularization, but it is crucial to choose a regularization parameter that gives both a smooth solution and one that explains the observed data. Emil compared the L-curve curvature, discrepancy, and generalized cross-validation parameter selection methods, and published his findings in Applied Optics. |
| David Burr | MASc (Mechanical Engineering) University of Waterloo BAScE (Applied Math) Queen's University |
 | David investigated inversion techniques for recovering the size distribution of soot aggregates from multi-angle elastic scattering measurements. He also applied design-of-experiment theory to find the optimal set of measurement angles. His project was a collaboration with the Combustion Diagnostics group at the National Research Council Canada. |
| Etienne Caron | Postdoctoral Fellow PhD (Materials Science) University of British Columbia |
 | In Hot Forming Die Quenching (HFDQ), ultra-high strenth steel blanks are heated in a furnace, and then simultaneously formed and quenched in a water-cooled die. In principle, distributed as-formed properties can be realized by controlling the localized cooling rate within the die; this requires knowledge of the heat transfer coefficient between the die and the part, however, which is presently unknown. Etienne characterized this parameter through inverse heat conduction analysis. Etienne was jointly supervised with Prof. Mary Wells |
| Sam Grauer | BSc (Mechanical Engineering) University of Manitoba Undergraduate Student Research Assistant |
| Steel blanks processed by HFDQ are dip-coated with a protective Al-Si layer to prevent oxidation and decarborization in the furnace. At higher temperatures the Al-Si coating transforms into a permanent, robust Al-Si-Fe intermetallic layer. Sam investigated the Al-Si transformation dynamics using a differential scanning calorimeter (DSC) and scanning electron microscopy/energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (SEM-EDS). Sam was co-supervised by Prof. Mary Wells. |
| Adam Horsman | MASc (Mechanical Engeineering) University of Waterloo BASc (Mechanical Engeering) University of Waterloo |
 | Adam developed design optimization methodology for porous radiant burners. In these burners a mixture of fuel and air flows through a porous ceramic matrix and then ignites within or above the ceramic. The hot ceramic both radiates its surroundings and preheats the fuel approaching the flame front, permitting stable combustion of lean fuel-air mixtures and alternative low-heating-value (LHV) fuels. |
| Sam Huberman | MASc (Mechanical Engineering) University of Toronto BASc (Mechanical Engineering) University of Waterloo |
 | For his NSERC USRA, Sam is modeling transition regime conduction heat transfer from aerosolized nanospheres through Direct Simulation Monte Carlo (DSMC). The objective of his work is to determine the influence of selective accommodation on the Knudsen layer thickness, and to compare different analytical models that interpolate between continuum and free-molecular regime results. This information is critical for carrying out particle sizing through time-resolved laser-induced incandescence. Sam is presently pursuing his PhD at MIT |
| Gandhali Joshi | MSc (Physics) University of Waterloo BASc (Mechanical Engineering) University of Waterloo |
 | For her ME482 project, Gandhali investigated the application of time-resolved laser-induced incandescence to size molybdenum nanoparticles formed by laser-induced photolysis in mixtures of Mo(CO)6 and different buffer gases. Her work illucidated the effect of buffer gas structure on thermal accommodation between metal nanoparticles and different gases. |
| Andrew Marston | MASc (Mechanical Engineering) University of Waterloo BSc (Mechanical Engineering) University of Toronto |
 | Andrew developed a design optimization methodology for solar collector concentrators that uses Monte Carlo to evaluate the collector geometry performance. In this approach discrete photon “bundles” are ray-traced through surface reflections until they are absorbed by a surface or exit the aperture. Because Monte Carlo provides a statistical estimate of the collector performance, the design problem must be solved through stochastic programming. Andrew was co-supervised by Professor Mike Collins. |
| Farzan Memarian | MASc (Mechanical Engineering) University of Waterloo BSc (Mech. Eng.) Amirkabir University of Technology |
 | In high fluence TiRe-LII sublimation plays an important role in nanoparticle cooling, but all existing models assume sublimed nanoclusters leave the nanoparticle in the free molecular regime. Farzan used transient DSMC simulations to elucidate the complex gas dynamics between the subliming species and the surrounding bath gas molecules. |
| Sean O'Neill | BASc (Nanoengineeing) University of Waterloo |
 | As part of his summer research internship, Sean characterized the heat conduction and hot surface ignition properies of thermal barrier coatings for the automotive industry. He was co-supervised with Professors Bill Epling and Beth Weckman. |
| Will Richards | BASc Candidate (MTE) University of Waterloo Undergraduate Student Research Assistant |
 | Fugitive emissions from the upstream oil and gas industry threaten human health, safety, and contribute to Canada's greenhouse gas inventory. Optical absorption tomography is a promising technique to image fugitive emissions, but it is first necessary to quantify the spectral absorptivity of the target species. Will developed a new technique for determining the effective absorption spectra of benzine toluene ethylbenzene and xylene (BTEX) using published absorption spectra. |
| Tim Sipkens | MASc (Mechanical Engineering) University of Waterloo |
| At longer cooling times heat transfer from laser-energized nanoparticles is dominated by free molecular conduction. This, in turn, depends on the thermal accommodation coefficient (TAC), which specifies the average energy transferred when a gas molecule scatters from the laser-energized nanoparticle. For his MASc Tim worked with Prof. Daun and Prof. Mikko Karttunen to derive TACs using molecular dynamics, which he is comparing with experimentally-derived values. |
| Brandon Tulloch | Engineer, Apple Inc. BASc (Mechanical Engineering) University of Waterloo |
 | For his NSERC USRA internship, Brandon carried out a CFD (Large Eddy) simulation of a buoyant methane plume. His simulation data will be used to develop novel infrared species topography algorithms based on line-of-sight-attenuation of infrared lasers. |
| Matthew Twynstra | MASc (Mechanical Engineering) University of Waterloo BASc (Mechanical Engineering) University of Waterloo |
 | The accuracy of reconstructions obtained through laser absorption tomography depends strongly on the arrangement of the laser beams transecting the flow field. Matt is presently developing the first design tool for optimizing the beam arrangement, based on the mathematical properties of the underling linear problem. He is also improving reconstruction accuracy by incorporating additional information about the turbulent flow physics into the tomography algorithm. |