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People Laura Schaefer

Associate Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science
Bicentennial Board of Visitors Faculty Fellow


Phone: 412-624-9793
Fax: 412-624-4846
Office: BENDM 153F

Education

PhD, Mechanical Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, 2000

Professional Interests

Laura Schaefer's research interests include:

  • Manufacturing and operational heat transfer characterization for three-dimensional chip architectures (NSF)
  • Two-phase binary zeotropic flow in microchannels (NSF)
  • Microscale PEM and direct methanol fuel cell heat and water management issues (PITA)
  • Algorithm and sensor development for optimal operation of building systems
  • Hybrid fuel cell-turbine power generation life-cycle assessment and optimization

For more details, visit her personal web site.

Selected Publications

Single Pressure Absorption Heat Pump Analysis, PhD Dissertation, May 2000. PhD Proposal, March 1999.

"Analysis of the Air Cooled Ammonia-Water Triple Effect Cycle," with S.V. Shelton and D. Jacob. Proceedings of the Advanced Energy Systems Division, AES—Vol. 39, 1999.

"Three Dimensional Graphic Analysis of Absorption Cycles," with S.V. Shelton and J. Vodenicker. Proceedings of the Advanced Energy Systems Division, AES-Vol. 39, 1999.

"Design Analysis of the Einstein Refrigeration Cycle," with S.V. Shelton and A.D. Delano. Proceedings, Renewable and Advanced Energy Systems for the 21st Century, 1999. (Awarded Best Paper in the area of Thermodynamic Analysis of Energy Systems, Advanced Energy Systems Division, American Society of Mechanical Engineers.)

"Second Law Study of the Einstein Refrigeration Cycle," with S.V. Shelton and A.D. Delano. Proceedings, Renewable and Advanced Energy Systems for the 21st Century, 1999.

"The Economic Payoff For Global Warming Emissions Reduction," with S.V. Shelton. Greenhouse Gas Control Technologies, B. Eliasson et al, eds., Elsevier Science Ltd., 1999.

"Heat Exchanger Mean Temperature Differences for Refrigerant Mixtures," with S.V. Shelton. Proceedings of the ASME Advanced Energy Systems Division, AES—Vol. 38, H. Metghalchi et al., ed., 1998.

Heat Exchanger Mean Temperature Differences for Refrigerant Mixtures, M.S. Thesis, December 1997.

"The State Principle: Foundations and Consequences," Journal of Energy Resources Technology Vol. 119, pp. 205–207, 1997.

Li, P.-W., Schaefer, L., and Chyu, M.K., 2003, "Multiple Transport Processes in Solid Oxide Fuel Cells," Transport Phenomena in Fuel Cell Systems, B. Sunden and M. Fahgri, eds., Southampton: Wit Press.

Li, P.-W., Schaefer, L., Wang, Q.-M., Zhang, T., and Chyu, M.K., 2003, "Multi-gas Transportation and Electrochemical Performance of a Polymer Electrolyte Fuel Cell with Complex Flow Channels," Journal of Power Sources, vol. 115, 90–100.

Li, P.-W., Zhang, T., Wang, Q.-M., Schaefer, L., and Chyu, M.K., 2003, "The Performance of PEM Fuel Cells Fed with Oxygen through the Free-convection Mode," Journal of Power Sources, vol. 114, 63–69.

Cain, J.T., Clark, W.C., Schaefer, L.A., Mandecki, W., Ulinski, D., and Mickle, M.H., 2001, "Energy Harvesting for DNA Gene Sifting and Sorting," International Journal of Parallel and Distributed Systems and Networks, Special Issue on Energy Harvesting, vol. 4, no. 3, 140–149.

faculty

The Department of Mechanical Engineering has 16 full time, 6 adjunct, and 5 emeritus faculty members