Faculty
Dr. Hadi Ghasemi
Cullen Distinguished Professor of Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering
Office Location N214 Engineering Building 1
Phone 713-743-6183
Fax 713-743-4503
Email hghasemi [at] uh.edu
Website NanoTherm Research Group
Education
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Postdoctoral Associate (Oct. 2012 – July 2014); Advisor: Prof. Gang Chen; Conducted research on “Aerogel-based solar collectors”; Conducted research on “Heat localization concept”; Conducted research on “Full-spectrum solar collectors”; Conducted research on “High thermal conductive polyethylene thin films”
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Postdoctoral Associate (Dec. 2011 – Dec. 2012); Advisor: Prof. Alexander Mitsos; Conducted research on “Hybrid solar-geothermal power generation”; Conducted research on “Dual extremum principle in thermodynamics”
University of Toronto, Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering (2007 – 2011); Dissertation: “Sessile Water Droplets: Equilibrium and Evaporation”; Advisor: Prof. Charles A. Ward
Sharif University of Technology, M.Sc. in Materials Science and Engineering (2004 – 2006)
Iran University of Science and Technology, B.Sc. in Materials Science and Engineering (1999 – 2003)
Professional Experience
Cullen Distinguished Professor (Sep. 2024- Present)
Cullen Distinguished Associate Professor (Sept. 2019- Aug. 2024)
Bill D. Cook Assistant Professor (Sept. 2014- Aug. 2019)
Courses Taught
Thermodynamics: This course presents the laws that govern energy and entropy transfer and the ways that these transports manifest themselves in the system behavior. The objectives of are as follow: (1) To develop the fundamental principles and laws of thermodynamics and explore these principles in the system behavior, (2) To formulate the models necessary to study, analyze and design the thermo-fluid systems through the application of these principles, (3) To develop problem-solving skill essential to good engineering practice in the thermo-fluid system field, (4) To develop an understanding of sound engineering design of thermo-fluid systems.
Heat Transfer: Heat transfer studies the physical processes occurring in temperature-driven transport of energy or entropy in the system or between the system and the environment. The objectives of this course are as follow: (1) To understand fundamentals of various modes of heat transfer, (2) to formulate the governing differential equations of heat transfer in a system and properly define the boundary conditions, and (3) to obtain a sound understanding of design of heat transfer systems.
Conduction and Radiation: This course covers advanced fundamental aspects of conduction and radiation. In the first part, solution of heat equation in one and multi-dimensional geometries exposed to a range of boundary conditions are discussed. In the second part, fundamentals of radiative heat transfer among surfaces and in enclosures, the radiative properties of surfaces, multi-mode heat transfer, and near-field and far-field electromagnetic wave theories are presented.
Convective Heat Transfer: This course covers conservation of mass, momentum and energy; Heat transfer in laminar boundary layers; Heat transfer in laminar duct flow; Some basic ideas on turbulence; Heat transfer in boundary layer and duct flow in the presence of turbulence; Natural convection.
Interfacial Phenomena: As the size of instruments and structures are demandingly shifted to- ward micro-nano scales, the role of interfaces become paramount. That is, physical principles governing the operation of these instruments should be modified to include interface roles. This course presents a theoretical framework to study the characteristics of interfaces and their contribution to the small-scale systems. The theory will be accompanied by classroom demonstrations.
Research Interests
- Physics-based machine learning: Study energy transport phenomena using machine learning tools to discover new material architecture for thermal management of photonics and electronics
- Surface physics and coating materials: Study physics of interactions between external objectives (Ice, frost, dust, scale, bacteria and bio species) with a surface and development of durable coating materials including anti-icing, anti-frosting, anti-fouling, anti-scaling, anti-microbial and anti-biofouling
- Interfacial Energy Transport: Study of energy transfer at interfaces between different phases or materials, focusing on the impact of these interfaces on overall system performance.
- Sustainable Energies (Solar and Hydrogen Energy): Research into solar energy technologies and methods for enhancing the efficiency and sustainability of solar power generation. Research on materials for safe hydrogen storage and transport.
- Physics of Wetting: Analysis of how liquids spread on or interact with surfaces, including contact angles, spreading dynamics, and related phenomena.
- Physics of Adsorption: Study of how molecules adhere to surfaces, including adsorption processes and their effects on material properties and applications.
Awards & Honors
Senior Member of National Academy of Inventors (2022)
Rising Innovator Award (2021)
Cullen College Professorship (2020)
Second place winner of Texas New Venture Competition (2019)
TEEX Product Development Center Prize (2019)
Early Innovator Award (2019)
University Excellence in Research, Scholarship and Creative Activity Award (2019)
Co-Founder of Elemental Coatings Company (2018)
College Research Excellence Award (2018)
NASA iTech Top Three Innovator (2017)
University Teaching Excellence Award (2017)
Bill D. Cook Professorship (2016)
AFOSR Young Investigator Award (YIP) (2016)
College Teaching Excellence Award, UH (2016)
Finalist for World Technology Award in Energy Category (2014)
Professional Activities
Vice Chair, Nanoengineering for Energy and Sustainability (NEES) Steering Committee of ASME, 2015-2017
Topic Organizer, Micro-Nano Poster Forum, IMECE 2015 and IMECE 2016
Guest Editor, Journal of Nanotechnology in Engineering and Medicine (JNEM)
Topic Organizer, IMECE 2014, IMECE 2015, IMECE 2016, ICNMM 2016, ICNMM 2017
Member, American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME)
Member, American Physical Society (APS)
Member, American Chemical Society (ACS)
Reviewer: Nature, Science, Nature Energy, Nature Materials, Nature Sustainability, Nature Communications, Science Advances, Nano Letters, Advanced Materials, Advanced Functional Materials, ACS Nano, Nano Energy, PNAS, Joule and others
Selected Publications
- Jahanbakhsh, A., Firuznia, R., Nazifi, S., Ghasemi, H. (2024). Physics-informed neural network for thin-film evaporation in hierarchical structures. International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer, 224, 125296.
- Nazifi, S., Hakimian, A., Ghasemi, H. (2024). Mechanisms of Heterogeneous Nanoscopic Ice Nucleation. Journal of Physical Chemistry C, 128(11), 4854–4858.
- Firuznia, R., Jahanbakhsh, A., Nazifi, S., Ghasemi, H. (2024). Hydrogen Solubility in Confined Water. Langmuir, 40(9), 4702–4708.
- Firuznia, R., Abutalib, A., Hakimian, A., Rimer, J.D., Ghasemi, H. (2023). High-capacity hydrogen storage through molecularly restructured and confined hydrogen hydrates. Materials Today Physics, 38, 101248.
- Nazifi, S., Firuznia, R., Huang, Z., Jahanbakhsh, A., Ghasemi, H. (2023). Predictive model of ice adhesion on non-elastomeric materials. Journal of Colloid and Interface Science, 648, 481–487.
- Hakimian A, Mohebinia M, Nazari M, Davoodabadi A, Nazifi S, Huang Z, Bao J, Ghasemi H. Freezing of few nanometers water droplets. Nature Communications, Nature Communications, 12, 6973, 2021
- Peyman Irajizad, Abdullah Al-Bayati, Bahareh Eslami, Taha Shafquat, Masoumeh Nazari, Parham Jafari, Varun Kashyap, Ali Masoudi, Daniel Araya and Hadi Ghasemi, “Stress-Localized Durable Icephobic Surfaces”, Materials Horizons, 6, 758-766, 2019.
- Irajizad P, Hasnain M, Farokhnia N, Sajadi S, Ghasemi H. “Magnetic slippery extreme icephobic surfaces”. Nature Communications. Nature Communications, 7, 13395, 2016.
- Ghasemi H, Ni G, Marconnet A, Loomis J, Yerci S, Miljkovic N, Chen G. “Solar steam generation by heat localization”. Nature Communications, 5:4449, 2014.
- Lee S, Yang Y, Lee H, Ghasemi H, Kraemer D, Chen G, Cui Y. “An electrochemical system for efficiently harvesting low-grade heat energy”. Nature Communications, 5:3942, 2014.
Patents
- P12. Hadi Ghasemi and Jeffrey D. Rimer, ”High-Capacity Hydrogen Storage by Molecularly Re- structured and Confined Hydrogen Hydrates”, US application 63/450,606, Pending.
- P11. Hadi Ghasemi and Rojan Firuznia, ”High Capacity Hydrogen Storage through Selective Nano- Confined and Localized Hydrogen Hydrates ”, US application 63230081. Pending.
- P10. Hadi Ghasemi, Brian Huskinson, Sahar Qavi, “Polyurethane-based ice shedding coatings“, US Application, 2020. Pending.
- P9. Hadi Ghasemi, Zixu Huang, “ Scalable Inter-diffused zwitterioinic polyurethanes for durable antibacterial coatings“, US Application, 63134780, 2020.
- P8. Hadi Ghasemi, Varun Kashyap, Siwakorn Sakunkaewkasem, T. Randall Lee, “Systems and Methods for full spectrum solar thermal energy harvesting and storage by molecular and phase change material hybrids“, US Application, 62866794, 2019.
- P7. Hadi Ghasemi, Varun Kashyap, Riddhiman Medhi, T. Randall Lee. “Materials, Systems, and Methods for CO2 Capture and Conversion”, US Application 62/624333, 2018. (UH Patent).
- P6. Hadi Ghasemi, Peyman Irajizad, Abdullah Al-Bayati. “Nano-Viscoelastic Anti-Icing Surfaces”, US Application 62/572708, 2017. (UH Patent)
- P5. Hadi Ghasemi, Peyman Irajizad, Munib Hasnain. “Magnetic Icephobic Surfaces”, United States Application 62/313893, 2016. (UH Patent)
- P4. Svetlana Boriskina, Kenneth McEnaney, Hadi Ghasemi, Selcuk Yerci, Andrej Lenert, Sungwoo Yang, Evelyn Wang, and Gang Chen. “Internally-Heated Thermal and Externally-Cool Photovoltaic Cascade Solar System for Full Solar Spectrum Utilization”, US Application: 61/868715, 2014.
- P3. Gang Chen, Hadi Ghasemi, Xiaopeng Huang, James Loomis, Jonathan Tong, and Jianjian Wang. “A Continuous Platform for Fabrication of Aligned Polymer Films”, United States 61/989588, 2013.
- P2. Seok Woo Lee, Yuan Yang, Hadi Ghasemi, Yi Cui, and Gang Chen. “An Electrochemical System for Highly Efficient Harvesting of Low-Grade Heat Energy”, US Patent 9559388.
- P1. Hadi Ghasemi, Amy Marie Marconnet, and Gang Chen. “Localized Solar Collectors”, US Patent 9459024.