Research Interests
- Phase change heat transfer
- Advanced experimental diagnostics
- Thermal energy storage
Research Interests
- Phase change heat transfer
- Advanced experimental diagnostics
- Thermal energy storage
Dr. Matthew T. Hughes is a Research Scientist in the Nuclear Science and Engineering (NSE) Department at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He is also an editor of Applied Thermal Engineering. He received his Ph.D. in mechanical engineering at Georgia Institute of Technology in 2023. His research focuses on the fundamentals of multi-phase flow and heat transfer, autonomous operation of thermal hydraulic systems and experiments, and advanced thermal system design. So far, his research has led to over 20 archival journal publications and numerous awards, including the Micro and Nano Flow Conference best contribution award (2023), MIT NSE award for outstanding postdoctoral research (2023), and Sigma Xi award for Best Ph.D. Thesis (2024).
Active control of thermal transport processes
Engineering solutions that can actively modify heat and mass transfer processes in phase change thermal energy systems. This includes the use of low-frequency, low energy acoustics to control two-phase flow morphologies, and high-frequency ultrasound to control bubble nucleation events.
Development of experimental diagnostics and machine learning algorithms
Development of advanced diagnostics and data-processing algorithms to investigate the physics of two-phase heat transfer. Techniques include optical methods such as infrared thermometry and liquid-vapor phase detection, and acoustic/vibration sensing. In parallel, I investigate machine learning techniques to enhance the speed, accuracy, and robustness of data analysis.
Microchannel heat exchanger design and optimization
Designing additively manufactured microchannel condensers through topology optimization as a function of two-phase flow morphology and developing corresponding heat exchanger performance evaluation criteria for microscale multiphase flows.