Andrei Afanasev
Gus Weiss Associate Professor of Theoretical Physics, Lead Physicist, Energy Research,
Ph.D., Kharkov National University of Ukraine
Department: Physics
Research Areas: Nuclear & Particle Physics; Physics of Particle Accelerators; Quantum Electrodynamics; Condensed Matter Physics
Lab: Photo Emission Advanced Research Lab (PEARL), opening in the winter of 2011-2012
Andrei Afanasev currently leads the physics effort for the GWU energy initiative. He is an author of over 100 scientific papers and an editor of two books,
Radiation Acoustics and Physics with CEBAF at Jefferson Lab. He has made significant research contributions in the field of nuclear and particle physics
probed with high-power electron accelerators and free-electron lasers.
Presently Prof. Afanasev contributes to energy research in three areas:
(a) High-power particle accelerators that may serve as drivers for accelerator-driven subcritical nuclear reactors (ADSR), as well as probes of new materials for energy applications;
(b) Development of novel techniques in photovoltaics, including nanostructures, quantum dots, and surface acoustic waves;
(c) New technologies for non-proliferation of nuclear materials.
Prof. Afanasev is the Director of the Photoemission Research Laboratory where new solutions for particle accelerator sources and photovoltaics are being
developed and tested.
Philippe M. Bardet
Assistant Professor
Ph.D., UC Berkeley
Department: Mech. & Aerospace Eng.
Research Areas: Thermal energy storage, high-temperature heat transfer for solar, Thermal & Nuclear Energy, Free-Surface Turbulence
Lab: Thermo-Fluids Lab
Philippe Bardet is an assistant professor in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering. He holds a Ph.D. in nuclear engineering from the University of California, Berkeley. His research interests are in experimental fluid mechanics and thermal-hydraulics, and he is particularly interested in turbulent free surface heat and mass transfer, in chemically reacting flows, and in high-temperature transfer for nuclear and solar thermal energy. Bardet teaches courses in fluid mechanics and heat transfer.
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Stephen Hsu
Ph.D., Pennsylvania State University
Department: Mech. & Aerospace Eng.
Research Areas: Energy and sustainability; wind; solar; energy efficient buildings, integrated surface design for friction reduction, hydrophobicity, and drag reduction, self-healing and self-repairing materials design, nanometrology; nanoparticles and nanocomposites; artificial joint replacement materials
Labs: Energy Efficiency Research Lab, Nanomaterials & Nanomechanics Lab
Stephen Hsu, Professor of Engineering and Applied Science, is leading the energy initiative for the School of Engineering and Applied Science (SEAS). He was a Sr. Scientist at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) for over 25 years and held academic appointments at Penn State University, UMD, and Northwestern University before joining GWU. He has published more than 250 papers, edited books and special publications, and holds 7 US patents with 4 provisional patents while at GWU. He is a world authority on tribology, lubrication science, advanced materials, and material metrology/standards with over 40 Plenary Lectures in major international conferences. He led a congressionally mandated program on oil recycling and the standards developed are still in use today. He received numerous honors and has been elected Fellows of several societies.
Hsu is active in international materials research and standards. He is a member and former Chair of the Versailles Project on Advanced Materials and Standards of the G7 countries for many years. He is the current Vice-chair and operating agent for the International Energy Agency, Implementing Agreement on Advanced Materials coordinating research on advanced materials among the U.S., Canada, U.K, Germany, China, Finland, Israel and Australia on lightweight materials, friction reduction, low-cost carbon fibers, and nanomaterials. He is responsible for producing over 75 ASTM and ISO standards over the years. Download CV
Megan Leftwich
Assistant Professor
Ph.D., Princeton University
Department: Mech. & Aerospace Eng.
Research Areas:Experimental fluid dynamics, biological flows: swimming and flying, the aerodynamics of groups, wind farm designs, high-energy fluid instabilities, shock-driven turbulence and mixing
Lab: Biologically Inspired Energy Lab, opening spring 2013
Dr. Leftwich is currently an Agnew National Security Postdoctoral Fellow working for the Extreme Fluids Team at Los Alamos National Lab. She received her Ph.D. in 2010 from Princeton University, where she held a Presidential Scholarship and served as the Senior Graduate Fellow at the McGraw Center for Teaching and Learning. Her research interests include: shock-driven fluid instabilities, mixing and turbulence, experimental techniques, and unsteady biological propulsion. In 2012, she began an Assistant Professorship at The George Washington University.
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Stuart Licht
Professor
Ph.D., Weizmann Institute of Science
Department: Chemistry
Research Areas: Renewable energy chemistry, physical and analytical chemistry.
Lab: Renewable Energy R & D Solutions
Solar, environmental, and electrochemist Stuart Licht specializes in clean, renewable energy solutions. Former program director in the chemistry division of the National Science Foundation, Licht is a leading chemist in this field with expertise in the fields of solar energy, batteries, and fuel cells. He has published more than 300 papers and holds patents ranging from novel efficient solar semiconductor/ electrochemical processes to the development of unusual, highest capacity batteries. Licht's books include the 2001 volume Semiconductor Electrodes and Photoelectrochemistry and in 2008 The Solar Generation of Hydrogen: Towards a Renewable Energy Future.
Licht, who received the 2006 Energy Award of the Electrochemical Society, was Chair of Chemistry at UMass, was a postdoc at MIT, has served as chair of a Massachusetts section of the American Chemical Society, and founded and served as chair of the Israel Section of The Electrochemical Society.
Michael W. Plesniak
Professor, MAE Department Chair,
Director, Center for Biometrics and Bioinspired Engineering (COBRE)
Ph.D., Stanford University
Department: Mech. & Aerospace Eng.
Research Areas: Turbulence and complex flows, Mixing phenomena, Biological flows: cardiovascular and phonation.
Lab: Turbulence, Fluid Dynamics, and Wind Energy Lab
Prof. Plesniak has made significant contributions to education and research in the discipline of fluid dynamics. His specific contributions are in the field of turbulent flow physics for applications ranging from gas turbine cooling to biological flows. Current research interests include: bio fluid mechanics, turbulence transport and mixing enhancement, cavitation, three-dimensional boundary layers, gas turbine cooling, environmentally-benign consumer aerosol sprays, and entrainment control. Dr. Plesniak has studied contaminant transport in aircraft cabins. His research group is currently studying the physics of phonation and cardiovascular flows. An overarching motivation for studying hemodynamics and speech production is to facilitate surgical planning, i.e. to enable physicians to assess the outcomes of surgical procedures by using faithful computer simulations. Dr. Plesniak is the director of GW’s Center for Biomimetics and Bioinspired Engineering. Download Bio
Adam Wickenheiser
Assistant Professor
Ph.D., Cornell University
Department: Mech. & Aerospace Eng.
Research Areas: Mechatronics and embedded systems for UAVs and energy harvesters, smart material transduction, adaptive/reconfigurable aircraft mechanisms and flight control
Lab: Smart Systems Lab
Adam Wickenheiser received a Ph.D. in Aerospace Engineering in 2008 from Cornell University. His dissertation focused on morphing aircraft dynamics and trajectory optimization for perching maneuvers. From 2008-2009 he served as a postdoctoral associate and visiting lecturer at Cornell, studying piezoelectric energy harvesting. He joined the faculty as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering at George Washington University in January 2010. His research interests are in the areas of bio-inspired aircraft and control architectures, adaptive structures, smart materials, fluid-structure interactions, and energy harvesting.