Bolin Liao

Dr. Bolin Liao is an Associate Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB), affiliated with the College of Engineering. His research focuses on nanoscale energy transport phenomena and their applications in sustainable energy technologies. He leads the Transport for Energy Applications Laboratory (TEALab), which develops advanced experimental and computational tools to study energy conversion at atomic scales.

Education:

• PhD in Mechanical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
• BS in Microelectronics, Tsinghua University

Research Interests:

• Nanoscale energy transport in electronic/photonic materials
• Thermoelectric and photovoltaic device optimization
• Ultrafast optical/electron microscopy (SUEM, TDTR)
• Multiscale simulation of carrier interactions
• Applied clean energy systems design

Awards:

• Young Investigator Awards (ONR, AFOSR)
• Early Career Awards (DOE, NSF)
• Hellman Family Faculty Fellowship

Advising & Grants: Actively mentoring graduate students and postdocs in mechanical engineering, materials science, and physics. Current funding includes major grants from NSF, DOE, and ONR. Lab opportunities available for undergraduates, graduate students, and visiting scholars.

Lab Activities: TEALab operates at the intersection of fundamental physics and applied engineering, with projects spanning computational modeling (first-principles simulations), experimental techniques (ultrafast microscopy), and device prototyping for clean energy applications.