Principal Investigator
Andrej Lenert
Assistant Professor of Chemical Engineering
Ph.D., MIT, 2014
S.M., MIT, 2010
B.S.Eng., University of Iowa, 2008
alenert@umich.edu
NCRC Building 28, 2046
Bio: Andrej Lenert is currently an assistant professor in the Department of Chemical Engineering at the University of Michigan. His research is at the intersection of heat transfer, optics, and nanomaterials, and focuses on developing new approaches for control of energy transport with the goal of enabling greater integration of renewables. He received his PhD from MIT in 2014, where he worked under the supervision of Evelyn N. Wang, and was a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Michigan prior to his appointment there. Dr. Lenert is the recipient of several awards including the 3M Non-Tenured Faculty Award, Forbes 30 under 30 (Science), Silent Hoist and Crane Award, Martin Family Fellowship for Sustainability, and the Ormat-MIT Energy Fellow. His work on thermophotovoltaic materials and devices has been cited as one of the “10 Breakthrough Technologies of 2017” and the “Biggest Clean Energy Advances in 2016” by the MIT Tech Review. Outside of research, Dr. Lenert is passionate about teaching fundamentals through real-world applications, making academic communities more diverse and inclusive, and maximizing the potential of his mentees.
Post Doctoral Researchers
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Venkata Yarlagadda Venkata’s research focuses on developing and applying in-situ electrochemical diagnostics to understand the performance of low-Pt electrodes and identify their key limiting factors. This work is done in collaboration with General Motors (GM) Fuel Cell Lab in Pontiac, MI. |
Graduate Students
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Zachary Berquist Zach’s current research is on optimizing the physical and optical properties of silica aerogels for use as an insulator in high-temperature systems. |
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Tobias Burger Tobias is currently working to simulate a thin film TPV system in order to predict and optimize theoretical conversion efficiency. He is also working to fabricate thin-film devices. |
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Alexander Hill As part of a co-advisement with Dr. Lenert and Dr. Johannes Schwank, Alex is investigating thermal and photo co-catalysts for environmental remediation. |
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Hannah Kim Hannah’s research aims to develop selectively transparent and thermally resistive materials for application in passive radiative cooling. |
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Bosun Roy–Layinde Bosun’s work focuses on developing methods of enhancing the efficiency of thermophotovoltaic devices. |
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Sean McSherry Sean is currently investigating radiative energy transfer in 2-dimensional hyperbolic metamaterials. |
Undergraduate Students
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Spencer Cira Spencer is working on the radiative cooling project. He is supported in part by the EI UROP program. |
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Zhewen Deng JD is working on making lab codes available online for research and educational purposes. |
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Rachel Fetter Rachel is working on understanding the role of water in thermal transport within mesoporous silica aerogels.
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Past Members (Alumni)
MASTERS
Ziting Fan, M.S., Chemical Engineering, University of Michigan, 2019. (Currently a PhD student at the National University of Singapore)
Krutarth Dhananjay Jhaveri, M.S., Chemical Engineering, University of Michigan, 2018. (Currently at Rocky Mountain Institute – Advanced Technologies)
Yulei Zhang, M.S., Chemical Engineering, University of Michigan, 2017. (Currently a PhD student at the University of Michigan)
UNDERGRADUATE
Oluka Okia, Case Western Reserve University.
Kevin Turaczy, B.S., Chemical Engineering, University of Michigan, 2020. (Currently a PhD Student at Columbia University).
Vinod K. Raman, dual B.S., Chemical Engineering, Computer Science, University of Michigan, 2020. (Currently a Research Intern at the University of Michigan).
Brendon Brown, B.S., Chemical Engineering, University of Michigan, 2020. (Currently at Trucent Separation Technologies)
Apoorva Gupta, B.S., Birla Institute of Technology and Science in Pilani, India. (Currently an MS student at UCSD).
Alejandro Owen Aquino, B.S., Case Western Reserve University. (Currently a PhD student at Georgia Tech).
Caroline Sempere, B.S., Chemical Engineering, University of Michigan, 2019. (Currently at ExxonMobil)
Michael Veksler, B.S., Chemical Engineering, University of Michigan, 2019. (Currently a PhD student at the University of Michigan).
Silva Zhang, B.S., Chemical Engineering, University of Michigan, 2019.
Brandon Woo, B.S., Chemical Engineering, University of Michigan, 2018. (Currently Staff at the Lurie Nanofabrication Facility)
Allison Goss, B.S., Chemical Engineering, University of Michigan, 2018. (Currently at rand*)