Location
MEC Room 307
122 Engineer's Way
Charlottesville, VA 22904
Google Scholar ResearchGate

About

David earned his B.S. and Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology. His dissertation focused on the thermal properties of two-dimensional materials and thin films utilized in nanoengineered systems. After graduation, David joined Raytheon Intelligence and Space in El Segundo, CA, and performed thermal design and analysis of spacecraft hardware. Following a brief stint in industry, he returned to academia as a postdoctoral fellow in the Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Department at the University of California, Los Angeles. Before joining the University of Virginia, he was a research fellow in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Michigan. David received multiple fellowships, including the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship, the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Minority Ph.D. Fellowship, and the University of California Chancellor’s Postdoctoral Fellowship.

David’s research group conducts experimental and theoretical studies of energy transport/conversion mechanisms and material properties across multiple length scales and temperature ranges. The primary motivation is the thermal management of hypersonic vehicles, electronic devices, and other engineering systems.

Education

B.S., Mechanical Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology

Ph.D., Mechanical Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology

Research Interests

Energy Transport and Conversion
Material Properties
Thermal Management
Hypersonics

Selected Publications

"A variational method for the sheath potential of hypersonic leading edges with space-charge limitations" Ghoniem, N. M., Brown, D. B., and Huang, Y., Phys. Plasmas, 31(10), 103511, 2024.
“Spatial mapping of thermal boundary conductance at metal-molybdenum diselenide interfaces” Brown, D. B., Shen, W., Li, X., Xiao, K., Geohegan, D., B., and Kumar, S., ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces, 11(15), 14418-14426, 2019.
“Oxidation limited thermal boundary conductance at metal-graphene interface” Brown, D. B., Bougher, T. L., Cola, B. A., and Kumar, S., Carbon, 139, 913-921, 2018.
“Silicon nanowire arrays based on-chip thermoelectric generators” Lee, K. Y., Brown, D., and Kumar, S., IEEE Trans. Compon. Packag. Manuf. Technol., 5(8), 1100-1107, 2014.

Courses Taught

MAE 2100 - Thermodynamics Fall 2024

Awards

University of California (Los Angeles) Chancellor’s Postdoctoral Fellowship 2021
IEEE ITherm Outstanding Paper Award 2018
Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Minority Ph.D. Fellowship 2015
National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship 2013