
Peng Zhao
Associate Professor
Peng Zhao is an associate professor in the Department of Mechanical, Aerospace and Biomedical Engineering and University of Tennessee Space Institute. He obtained his PhD from the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at Princeton University in 2015. From 2015-2020, he was an assistant professor of mechanical engineering at Oakland University.
Zhao’s research interests primarily focus on fundamental-based and application-oriented problems in the frontier areas of combustion, propulsion, energy conversion and fire safety. His current research activities include reacting flow CFD, open-source multi-physics modeling, Li-ion battery safety and thermal management, low carbon fuels, advanced engine combustion strategy, etc. He has published around 50 peer-reviewed articles in leading combustion and energy journals and 1 book chapter.
Zhao is a Bernard Lewis Fellow of the International Combustion Institute, session chair of the International Combustion Symposium, session organizer of SAE World Congress on advanced propulsion and powertrain, member of the Early Career and Diversity Development Committee of the US Combustion Institute.


Ahmad Hadi Bakir
PhD Student
About Bakir
Ahmad Hadi Bakir graduated from Texas Tech University in December 2020 with a Bachelor of Science in mechanical engineering. During his undergraduate, Bakir did research in combustion and heat transfer where he was able to be included in a published research project and received funding for the National Science Foundation to conduct research in Heat Transfer in Nano fluids. This encouraged him to join the University of Tennessee Space Institute in August 2021 as a PhD student.
Bakir am a first-place winner of the 6th Wu student presentation competition at UTSI. His interests are in combustion in power and propulsion systems. Specifically, using scientific computations to develop CFD and combustion simulating code. His goal is to develop tools others can use to further explore and understand combustion.
Publications:
- Ge, H.W., Bakir, A.H., Yadav, S., Kang, Y.S., Parameswara, S., Zhao, P., “CFD optimization of the pre-chamber geometry for a gasoline spark ignition engine”, Frontier in Mechanical Engineering, submitted, 2020.
- Moran, D., Gulbulak, U., Ertas, A., Yancey, S., Cody, C., Puente, K., Zinsmeyer, J., Agbontaen , I., Alejandra, C., Bakir, A. H., Baucum , H., Daniel, M. E., Gabriel, R., Heriberto, M., Kodwo, T., Lopez, E. G., Melendez, O., Nicholas, E., Rippert, J., Suren, Y., Watts, R., Yunseon, K., Zatloka, M., “Complexity of Global Refugee Crisis: Needs for Global Transdisciplinary Collaboration”, Transdisciplinary Journal of Engineering & Science, submitted, 2020.

Han Yu
Research Assistant
About Han
More information coming soon.

Mohammad Ahmadian Elmi
Postdoctoral Research Associate
Email Mogammad Ahmadian Elmi
Phone: (931) 393-7129
LinkedIn
Google Scholar
About Mohammad
Mohammad Ahmadian Elmi is a Postdoctoral Research Associate in the Department of Mechanical, Aerospace, and Biomedical Engineering at the University of Tennessee Space Institute. He obtained his Ph.D. from the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Amirkabir University of Technology. After spending a period at the University of California, Riverside, he joined the LAMP group in July 2023.
Mohammad’s research interests primarily focus on Thermal sciences including thermal management, electronic cooling, multiphase flow, and optimization. Currently, he works on thermal management and thermal runaway of Lithium-Ion Batteries in the LAMP group.
He has published several papers in his research field, some listed below. Please refer to his Google Scholar profile for his up-to-date publications.
Publications:
- M. Ahmadian-Elmi, M. R. Hajmohammadi, S. S. Nourazar, K. Vafai, M.B. Shafii ” Introducing a novel cooling system with combined utilization of microchannel heat sinks and pulsating heat pipes.” Applied Thermal Engineering 232 (2023) 121102.
- M. Ahmadian-Elmi, A. Mashayekhi, S. S. Nourazar, and K. Vafai. “A comprehensive study on parametric optimization of the pin-fin heat sink to improve its thermal and hydraulic characteristics.” International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer 180 (2021): 121797.
- M. R. Hajmohammadi, M. Bahrami, and M. Ahmadian-Elmi. “Thermal performance improvement of microchannel heat sinks by utilizing variable cross-section microchannels filled with porous media.” International Communications in Heat and Mass Transfer 126 (2021): 105360.
- M. R. Hajmohammadi, M. Ahmadian, and S. S. Nourazar. “Introducing highly conductive materials into a fin for heat transfer enhancement.” International Journal of Mechanical Sciences 150 (2019): 420-426.
Alumni
- Liwen Zhang
- Virendra Talele