Faculty Spotlight

Dr. Baratunde A. Cola is a GT assistant professor whose research interest include the following:


Biography

May and Family

Dr. Cola's research is focused on fabricating and exploring the properties of nanostructured surfaces and interfaces to enhanced energy transport and conversion, improve heat transfer characteristics, and enable MEMS and nanotechnology devices. He is particularly interested in investigating energy transport through interfaces and nanosized contacts, which are ubiquitous in nanostructured devices.

Dr. Cola's research involves theoretical and experimental components, and he seeks to solve problems with high importance to applications in clean energy (e.g., direct conversion) and the efficient utilization of energy (e.g., more efficient heat exchangers), and in major industrial segments such as microelectronics and sensors.

Current research directions include: scalable and controlled plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) synthesis of carbon-based nanomaterials (e.g., carbon nanotubes, graphene, and morphological variations of thin-film diamond) on flexible and temperature sensitive substrates; energy transport through interfaces and nanosized contacts - highlighted by precise measurements of thermal interface conductance and thermal conductivity from cryogenic temperatures up to about 1000 K using laser-based techniques such as thermoreflectance and photoacoustic; nanotube and nanotube composite interface and energy conversion materials; and nanostructured surfaces for enhanced two-phase heat transfer.

Students who work with Dr. Cola will learn to conduct research as part of an interdisciplinary team, and to apply fundamental principles from science and engineering to solve problems that enable technologies supporting clean energy solutions, smaller and more affordable electronics, and general improvements to global living standards. Students will have opportunities to participate in hands-on work (e.g., building new experiments or tools) and theoretical modeling; and learn to operate several tools used to synthesize and characterize nanomaterials. There are also opportunities to publish in journals, present at international conferences, and patent technologies that could develop into startup companies.


Distinctions