Student Defenses

Author: Murilo NicoluzziDate/Time: October 27th, 2025 at 3:30 PM ESTLocation: Martin Hall, Rm. 2164 Committee Members: Title of Dissertation: Air-Cooled Heat Sink for an Electric-Propulsion Aircraft Application Based on the Manifold-Minichannel Concept Abstract: The growing demand for efficient thermal management in high-power electric propulsion systems has driven the exploration of innovative cooling solutions for aircraft applications. This research investigates the feasibility of […]

Author: Alejandro JimenezDate/Time: October 16th, 2025 at 2:00 PM ESTLocation: EGR-0151, Glenn L. Martin Hall Committee Members: Title of Dissertation: Evaluating the Risk Trade-Offs of Pressure Relief Devices in Hydrogen Systems Abstract: Hydrogen is increasingly being used as an energy carrier because of its potential to reduce carbon emissions in transportation and heavy industry. Nevertheless, this transition necessitates establishing an infrastructure

Author: Joy ShenDate/Time: October 2nd, 2025 at 12:30 PM ESTLocation: EGR-1179, Glenn L. Martin Hall Committee Members: Title of Dissertation:  A Monte Carlo Augmented Bayesian Network Approach to External Flood Probabilistic Risk Assessments Abstract: Nuclear power plant (NPP) sites are vulnerable to external flooding, which can impact the safe operation and shutdown of reactors. Flood protection features mitigate flood

Author: Samarpan Chakraborty Date/Time: September 24th, 2025 at 2:00 PM ESTLocation: EGR-3164, Glenn L. Martin Hall | Zoom Committee Members: Title of Dissertation: PHYSICS-BASED AND DATA-DRIVEN INVESTIGATIONS INTO RAPID WAVE FORMATIONS IN OCEANS Abstract: attached

Author: Raashiq Ishraaq Date/Time: September 15th, 2025 at 1:00 PM ESTLocation: ERF-1207, IREAP Committee Members: Title of Dissertation: Atomistic Description of Cationic Polyelectrolyte Brushes Using Molecular Simulations and Machine Learning Abstract:  Densely grafted polymer and polyelectrolyte (PE) brushes, owing to their significant abilities to functionalize surfaces for a plethora of applications such as sensing, diagnostics, current rectification, surface-wettability

Author: Vedant Kumar Date/Time: July 18th, 2025 at 11:00 AM ESTLocation: EGR-2164, Glenn Martin Hall | Zoom Committee Members: Title of Dissertation: Modeling and analysis of canonical turbulent shear flows Abstract: Turbulent flows are ubiquitous in engineering systems, however analyzing such flows around engineering-relevant geometries using turbulence-resolving simulations is difficult due to computational cost constraints. Therefore, to advance our ability to

Author: Olivia Young Date/Time: July 17th, 2025 at 10:00 AM ESTLocation: EGR-2164, Glenn Martin Hall | Zoom Committee Members: Title of Dissertation: DIRECT LASER WRITING FOR SOFT ROBOTIC COMPONENTS Abstract:

Author: Elizabeth JordanDate/Time: July 10th, 2025 at 1:00 PM ESTLocation: EGR-2164, Glenn Martin Hall Committee Members: Title of Dissertation: Scenario Generation-Based Single- and Multi-Objective Robust Optimization under Fixed and Variable Interval Uncertainty Abstract: Multi-objective robust optimization is a prominent field of optimization that deals with problems that have multiple, at least partially conflicting objectives, are subject to some constraints, and

Author: Janel Niska Date/Time: June 13th, 2025 at 10:00AM EST Location: EGR 2164, Glenn Martin Hall Committee Members: Title of Dissertation: Process and Techno-Economic Modeling for Waste-to-Energy Processes to Identify Effective Facility Scaling  Abstract: This dissertation presents a techno-economic analysis (TEA) of waste-to-energy (WTE) biofuel production using hydrothermal liquefaction (HTL). The study focuses on facility scaling, feedstock dynamics, unpiling strategies,

Author: Yiren Qin Date/Time: June 19th, 2025 at 11:00 AM – 1:00 PM EST | Zoom: Meeting ID: 437 810 4474   Passcode: DZ24RZ Location: JMP 3106B, J.M. Patterson Committee Members: Title of Dissertation: A Physics-Based Eulerian Framework for Modeling Firebrand Showering in Regional-Scale Wildland and Wildland-Urban Interface Fire Simulations Abstract: Landscape-scale fire risk modeling plays a vital role in fire management