James S. Cotton

Professor James S. Cotton is a faculty member in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at McMaster University, specializing in Thermo-Fluid Sciences with a focus on energy sustainability and thermal management.

• Current research explores thermal energy harvesting, non-thermal plasma flue gas cleaning, and smart electrohydrodynamic heat exchangers.
• Active in community energy planning as a member of the Burlington Climate Action Plan (2019-2021) and Green Venture board (2016-2021).

Research spans both fundamental and applied domains, including two-phase flow, electrohydrodynamic heat transfer modulation, and flow accelerated corrosion analysis. His work integrates modeling and experimental validation for real-world thermal systems.

Scientific Contributions:

• Developed two novel patents for advanced thermal management and soot removal systems during his industrial career at Dana Corp. (until 2007).
• Current projects involve community energy corridors and next-generation sustainable energy solutions, including the 2025 Hamilton Energy Harvesting Study.
• Active mentor in graduate education, teaching courses like MECH ENG 4O04: Sustainable Energy Systems and MECH ENG 708: Two Phase Flow and Heat Transfer.