Mechanical engineering graduate student Jangho Yang has spent countless hours thinking about phase change materials (PCMs) – substances that release or absorb thermal energy when they change phases, like from solid to liquid – and in the process, he’s had his own change of heart. Yang enrolled at the University of Maryland (UMD) in 2019 determined to earn a master’s degree in two years and then head into the workforce.

Boyang Liu is a graduate research assistant for the Center for Environmental Energy Engineering (CEEE) while pursuing a Ph.D. in materials science and engineering at the University of Maryland. She is a researcher within the Energy Efficiency and Heat Pumps Consortium (EEHP) and is expected to complete her Ph.D. program by 2026, after which she plans to get a job in industry in the U.S.

Mylena Menezes is a graduate research assistant for the Center for Environmental Energy Engineering (CEEE) while pursuing a Ph.D. in mechanical engineering at the University of Maryland. She is a researcher within the Modeling and Optimization Consortium Group (MOC) and is expected to complete her Ph.D. program by 2027. 

Prior to attending Maryland, she received her undergraduate degree in Mechanical Engineering at the Federal University of Bahia in Brazil and went on to complete a master’s degree in Industrial Engineering at the same university.

Alhussain Othman is a graduate research assistant for the Center for Environmental Energy Engineering (CEEE) while pursuing a Ph.D. in mechanical engineering at the University of Maryland. He is a researcher within the Modeling and Optimization Consortium Group (MOC). He is expected to complete his Ph.D.

Man Chul Jeong joins CEEE as a graduate research assistant while pursuing a Ph.D. in mechanical engineering at University of Maryland. He is expected to complete the program by the end of 2025.

Po Ching Hsu is a graduate research assistant with the Center for Environmental Energy Engineering in the EEHP consortium group. He is pursuing a Ph.D.

Cheng-Yi Lee is a Ph.D. student in the Energy Efficiency and Heat Pump Consortium group at The Center for Environmental Energy Engineering. Prior to attending the University of Maryland for graduate school in 2019, Lee received his undergraduate degree and master’s degree from the National Cheng Kung University in Taiwan. 

“I want to play a role in combating climate change for human beings,” said Lee, who is expecting to graduate in 2023.

Lei Gao is a Ph.D. student in the EEHP research group, supervised by Dr. Radermacher and Dr. Hwang. Prior to attending University of Maryland, he received his undergraduate and master's degrees (majoring in Energy, Power System, and Automation) both from Xi'an Jiaotong University, China in 2013 and 2016, respectively.

His thesis topic is optimum design and operation of combined cooling heating and power system under uncertainty, with the goal of achieving higher energy efficiency, lower economic cost and fewer environment impact without losing robustness.

Veeresh Ayyagari joined CEEE in January 2021 in the AHXPI consortium group. Although new to CEEE, Ayyagari received a Master's in Mechanical Engineering from University of Maryland in 2019. Ayyagari has returned to pursue a Ph.D., which he expects to receive in 2023.

"Before coming to the UMD for master’s my plan was to explore the academic research environment. I worked with Prof. Jungho Kim on Water harvesters and I enjoyed the journey. Eventually, I decided to PhD is perfect next step in my career," Ayyagari said.