POSTPONED: Small Science, Big Impact: Engineering lab celebrates 30-year anniversary

UPDATE: March 11: The Thermal Analysis and Microfluidics Lab Anniversary symposium originally scheduled for March 20-21 is being postponed. As a new date is scheduled, information will be posted to the symposium website.

Jacqui Sergi and Michael Daino’s research as graduate students in RIT’s Thermal Analysis and Microfluidics Lab was a key reason they were selected to attend the prestigious Fuel Cell Manhattan Project Conference sponsored by the Department of Defense.

Alyssa Owens and Jose Luis Gonzalez Hernadez contributed a new infrared imaging process to Rochester Regional Health to assist in breast cancer detection. That life-saving research began in the lab, too.

They are only a handful of the 300-plus current students and alumni that have worked on significant projects in Thermal Analysis and Microfluidics Lab in RIT’s Kate Gleason College of Engineering over its 30-year history. To celebrate the milestone, the lab team is hosting a daylong symposium and bringing back some of its most successful alumni to lead conference sessions about current work.

The event takes place from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Friday, March 20, in RIT’s Golisano Institute for Sustainability.

Lab alumni will discuss topics related to automotive fuel cells, microfluidic systems and infrared imaging for breast cancer. They will be joined by corporate partners such as L3 Harris Technologies, General Motors and Carrier Co., long-time supporters of the college and various lab projects of the years.

“There have been many important discoveries in the lab, and the students have worked to bring many of them about. They have been among some of our best students in the college and have gone on to companies around the country making a big difference in how new automotive systems are designed to how we treat breast care patients today,” said Satish Kandlikar, professor of mechanical engineering and director of the Thermal Analysis and Microfluidics Lab. His research areas include fuel cells, flow boiling, critical heat flux, contact line heat transfer and advanced cooling techniques.

Additional events during the symposium day include:

• 4 p.m. March 20: The lab team will host a cake-cutting and networking event in the Gordon Atrium in the James Gleason Building.
• 5:30 – 6:30 p.m. March 20: Student posters presentations and networking for conference guests takes place at the Lobozzo Alumni House, followed by a banquet. 
• 8 a.m. to noon Saturday, March 21: Tours of the engineering labs will take place and open to the campus local communities.

More information about the symposium and a history of the lab can be found online.