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At IPHEL, our goal is to develop a fundamental understanding of transport processes across interfaces. We investigate how the interactions at the atomic level govern the underlying mechanisms of mass, momentum, friction, and thermal energy transport at interfaces. By focusing our research on the lowest levels of the length scale hierarchy, we attempt to: 1) gain insight into the most basic principles of interfacial phenomena and 2) provide the guidelines to engineer surfaces and microscale systems from the bottom up. Since our research is mostly focused on solid-liquid interfaces, our findings find application in areas such as: nanofluidics, microscale gaps lubrication, drug delivery systems, thermal treatment of diseased tissue with micro-particles, among others.

Our research interests span different length scales and multiphysics systems, we also specialize in:

• Analysis and optimization of flow distribution systems for applications in solar thermal collectors, microchannel distribution systems, fuel cells, etc.

• Thermal management of high power electronics using active liquid cooling systems.

• Thermal characterization of electronic packages.

• Dielectric and thermal properties of polymers and composites.

• Mechanical characterization of materials through molecular-level modeling.

• Water management and optimization of PEM Fuel Cells.