This page is for prospective students.
The basis of my research is physics and chemistry of aerosol science. Aerosol science is a relatively young discipline and still expanding rapidly. It is common that aerosol scientists find their home in various departments including physics, chemistry, atmospheric science, environmental science, chemical engineering, mechanical engineering, and sometimes in nanotechnology due to the interdisciplinary nature. If you work in health effects of particles then you will meet people from medical science and public health as well. Many aerosol scientists studied behavior and transmission of Covid virus during pandemic.
Majority of my research is related to air pollution. Some of questions I would like to answer nowadays are 1. How much do non-tailpipe emissions contribute to PM2.5 at near-road environment? Tailpipe emissions are reducing with regulations while there is no regulations for non-tailpipe emissions. Electric vehicles are heavier and so prone to emitting higher non-tailpipe emissions if the vehicle is driven aggressively while regen braking tends to reduce brake wear particle emissions. 2. Can daily exposure to toxic air pollutants be reduced by improving vehicle cabin air quality as we all ride some mode of transporation daily? 3. What particle metric does best represent adverse human health effects of air pollution? This is a decades-old yet important question to be answered. I am also interested in developing and improving aerosol instruments and sensors.
The dashed circles at the above picture show areas of my interest.
Examples of popular textbooks are Aerosol Science and Technology by W. Hinds, Atmospheric Chemstry and Physics by J. Seinfeld and S. Pandis, and Smoke, Dust and Haze by S. Friedlander. A popular and useful reference is Aerosol Measurement by P. Baron and K. Willeke. There are many other excellent books I have not listed.
The link below shows a very nice educational website made by C-Y Wu and P. Biswas.
Aerosol Science and Engineering Education Website
Professional communities you can get involved.
Association for American Aerosol Research
Air & Waste Management Association
and a few other communities such as MRS, ACS, SAE, ASME, AICHE and AGU have branches and sections for aerosol research.
Students can get jobs at diverse places such as governmental agencies, national labs, auto industry, instrument company, consulting and engineering company, catalyst company, academia etc.
You may not see the beautiful candle flame the same simple way after studying aerosol.
The picture above: A schematic diagram of candle flame and soot
The painting below: Two Candles by Gerhard Richter
