CEEE Welcomes Postdoctoral Researcher Arunjoy Baruah

The University of Maryland (UMD) Center for Environmental Energy Engineering (CEEE) welcomes Arunjoy Baruah as a postdoctoral researcher in its Consortium for Energy Efficiency and Heat Pumps (EEHP). Baruah earned a doctorate in mechanical engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay, in May 2025.

His dissertation focused on the thermal management of high-power electronics, including mobile electronics – like smartphones, tablets and laptops – and inverters for electric vehicles. “I’m fascinated by heat transfer and fluid flow studies,” Baruah says. “The practicality interests me; these topics can be applied to a number of aspects in our daily life, including refrigeration, air-conditioning and thermal management of electronics.”

He’s excited to be working at CEEE under the guidance of EEHP Director and Research Professor Yunho Hwang, who is ranked among the top 10 refrigeration researchers worldwide, in terms of publications (ScholarGPS, 2025). Baruah’s research will focus on not-in-kind refrigerant systems, which do not rely on the standard vapor compression technology, and thus don’t require conventional refrigerants, like hydrofluorocarbons, which can contribute to climate change.

CEEE has been a leader in developing not-in-kind technologies, including a collaboration with the UMD Department of Materials Science and Engineering that has yielded efficient elastocaloric cooling prototypes. Baruah will explore other not-in-kind technologies, including magnetocaloric cooling, in which a material’s temperature changes when exposed to a magnetic field. “These technologies could have huge implications for Earth’s climate,” Baruah says, “I can't wait to delve into this more.”

In his free time, Baruah enjoys working out at UMD’s Eppley Recreation Center and exploring Washington, D.C. This is his first time in the United States. “I love it here,” he says. “And, I like the fact that CEEE’s researchers are from so many different countries and cultures. I’m looking forward to getting to know everyone.”

Published September 4, 2025