The Role of Thermal Transport in Nanotechnology Applications
Professor Shannon Yee
George Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering
The Georgia Institute of Technology

Abstract: As devices are miniaturized, thermal transport limits are more routinely halting progress.  Microchip heat fluxes are approaching that of the surface of the sun.  Needless to say, our ability to manage those heat fluxes at the nanoscale is limited by our scientific understanding of thermal transport.  Beyond microchips, thermal transport issues also limit development in applications such as batteries, LEDs, PVs, and thermoelectrics.  In this talk, I will discuss limits of our fundamental understanding of nanoscale thermal transport and the hallmark questions that need to be answered.  I will outline approaches to answers these questions with examples from research in my lab and others. I will also focus on experimental techniques that can be used to investigate the science of thermal transport in a plethora of emerging nanomaterials.  The talk will specifically focus on examples of amorphous materials, thermal and thermoelectric transport in organic materials, and thermal transport in multilayers.

Bio: Shannon Yee is an Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology.  He obtained his PhD from the University of California, Berkeley in 2013. He graduated from The Ohio State University where he obtained his BS in Mechanical Engineering and his MS in Nuclear Engineering.  In 2007, he was named a U.S. DOE Advanced Fuel Cycle Initiative (AFCI) Fellow for his work on nuclear fuel cycle dynamics.  In 2008, he was named a Hertz Fellow to support his work on developing the next generation of energy technologies.  In 2010, Shannon was the first U.S. DOE Advanced Research Project Agency Energy (ARPA-E) Fellow where he helped to shape ARPA-E during its inaugural year.  Dr. Yee’s research focuses on translating new fundamental scientific discoveries into applied energy conversion technologies. By understanding how heat and energy flow through materials, energy conversion mechanisms and processes can be integrated into functional devices.