Teaching
ME 339: Heat Transfer
Offered: Spring 2026, Spring 2027
Heat transfer plays a central role in nearly every engineering system or process and is encountered routinely in industries as diverse as automotive, oil and gas, aerospace, chemicals and materials processing, energy, microelectronics, biomedical, power, and many others. ME 339 will enable you to develop a firm understanding of the physical processes underlying the transfer of heat and to develop the analytical skills necessary to solve real-world heat transfer problems. The course introduces the three modes of heat transfer: conduction, convection, and radiation, and their place in the analysis of real-world systems.
Educational Activities
Luminescence Thermometry Lab Activity
With support from a Wadsworth C. Sykes Faculty Engineering Award at the University of Rochester, we developed a hands-on laboratory activity on luminescence thermometry for undergraduate heat transfer students. The lab is based on the Thermographic Phosphor LabKit from Emerging Measurements and allows students to perform their own luminescence lifetime thermometry measurements, providing a unique introduction to fundamental principles of transient heat conduction and temperature measurement methodology.
Phosphorescence (“Glow in the Dark”) Kits
With support from an NSF CAREER Award and in partnership with Innova Girls Academy, a STEAM-focused elementary school, we have developed hands-on educational kits that introduce basic principles of light and luminescence to elementary school-aged students. The kits introduce several key concepts, including: that optical filters only allow certain colors of light to pass through, that white light consists of many colors, that phosphorescent materials must be exposed to light before they can glow, and that certain colors of light have more energy than others.
Each kit includes a rotating filter wheel, colored bandpass filters, a white LED light source, and phosphorescent paper. Student and instructor manuals guide participants through structured activities that build intuition about the nature of light and luminescent materials.