School of Engineering

Theodorian Borca-Tasciuc
Associate Professor
http://nanotec.meche.rpi.edu/

Department Affiliation:

Department of Mechanical, Aerospace & Nuclear Engineering

Education:

Ph.D., University of California, Los Angeles
Mechanical Engineering

B.S., Bucharest University
Physics

Background:

Upon graduating from Bucharest University, Borca-Tasciuc spent several months as a research assistant for The Institute of the Physics and Technology of Radiation Devices, also located in Bucharest. He then joined Duke University's Department of Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science for over a year as a graduate student research assistant before beginning work on his doctorate at UCLA. He joined the Rensselaer faculty in spring 2001.

Research Interests:

Dr. Borca-Tasciuc's research includes:

• Nanoscale/ Microscale Heat Transfer and Thermal Phenomena
• Micro-Electro-Mechanical-Systems (MEMS)
• Nanotechnology, Energy Conversion

Borca-Tasciuc is the director of the Nanoscale Thermophysics and Energy Conversion Laboratory (NanoTEC) on the Rensselaer campus. His research concentrations include nanoscale/microscale heat transfer and energy conversion, microelectromechanical systems (MEMS), and nanotechnology. His studies in nanostructured thermoelectronics involve characterizing thermoelectric properties of thin-film nanostructured materials and individual nanowires, identifying high figure of merit nanostructures, and developing fabrication and testing strategies for low-dimensional thermoelectric energy conversion devices.

Borca-Tasciuc's research into thermal transport in nanostructures includes performing experimental measurements of thermophysical properties on both thin-film nanostructured materials and individual nanostructures, improving the understanding of the relation between structural and growth parameters and effective thermal properties of nanostructures, and optimizing the heat transfer in nanostructures by controlling the mechanisms responsible for heat transport at the nanoscale level.

In his research into micro- and nanoelectromechanical systems, Borca-Tasciuc is working on energy conversion, chemical and biological detection, fast optical switching, flow control, and inertial sensors, as well as test-structures for thermo-fluid and thermoelectric characterization.

His current research is sponsored by the National Science Foundation and Sandia National Laboratories.