News Release

Sunmi Shin Wins 2020 Chancellor's Dissertation Medal

Sunmi Shin, a Materials Science and Engineering PhD student, recently won the 2020 Chancellor’s Dissertation Medal which recognizes outstanding doctoral research at UCSD. Sunmi's research focuses on how to better control heat. The heat conduction process is often difficult to control due to its diffusive nature. This feature is distinct from optical and electrical energy transport with highly advanced technologies. If one could engineer the transport of thermal energy,  which is arguably the most ubiquitous form of energy, a variety of energy transport and conversion technologies could be improved. Active control of thermal transport is of significant interest for a wide range of applications, such as thermoregulation of individuals, buildings, vehicles and batteries, renewable energy conversion, bio/chemical sensing, and micro/nanomanufacturing. Sunmi's work aims to actively manipulate heat transport using multidisciplinary approaches, including thermo-electric and thermo-photonic engineering.