DR. NAVDEEP SINGH DHILLON

Dr. Navdeep Singh Dhillon joined the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at CSULB as an Assistant Professor in Fall 2016. Dr. Dhillon received his Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering and M.S. in Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences from University of California, Berkeley in 2012, with a focus in Thermal-Fluids and Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems (MEMS). He has a B.Tech. in Ocean Engineering and Naval Architecture from Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur and a M.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Purdue University, West Lafayette. Dr. Dhillon's doctoral research focused on the design and fabrication of phase change-based microfluidic devices for high-heat-flux electronics cooling.

Prior to joining CSULB, he served as a Shapiro Postdoctoral Fellow (2012-2013) and Postdoctoral Associate (2013-2016) at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, teaching courses in Thermal-Fluids and conducting experimental & theoretical research in boiling heat transfer.

Dr. Dhillon's research interests lie in the use of experimental high-speed optical & infrared imaging techniques as well as Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) methods to understand and enhance critical thermo-fluidic and phase change (e.g. evaporation, boiling, condensation, and melting) processes of industrial and technological importance. These performance enhancements, brought about using surface micro/nano-engineering and multiphysics approaches, will enable renewable solar-thermal energy technologies, make nuclear power plants safer to operate, and reduce carbon emissions from fossil fuel-powered industries. He is also interested in developing MEMS & Microfluidic systems for applications such as electronics thermal management, nanoparticle synthesis, medical diagnostics, and bio-fluid manipulation. Dr. Dhillon's recent work, published in the Journal Nature Communications, resulted in a major breakthrough in the fundamental understanding of the boiling crisis phenomenon. He serves as a reviewer for important engineering and scientific journals such as Nature Scientific Reports, RSC Advances, International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer, etc. Dr. Dhillon has worked on both government and industry sponsored research projects, including DARPA and the Chevron Corporation. He is a member of the ASME, APS, and MRS.