Faculty Affiliates

Materials for advanced nuclear energy systems, corrosion, nuclear fuels, and nuclear policy.

Thermal and fluid sciences, multiscale computational model development, radiative heat transfer, optics, chemical kinetics of heterogeneous reactions, electrochemical engineering, semiconductor physics

Exposure assessment, human health risk and environmental impact assessment, and innovative measurement techniques for air pollutants      

I am an ecologist who combines field and geospatial data and methods to study the pattern and process of ecological systems. I also strive to build bridges between science and social science. What motivates my work is recognition of the complexity of the relationship of humans and ecological systems. These relationships and their emergent properties can be studied at different spatial scales and levels of organization. Knowledge gained from field studies, geospatial data, and analysis can be used to build models that help scientists and to understand the implications of human actions on the social and natural systems of which they are a part.

Global change, air and water quality, endangered species, biodiversity, ecosystem management, endocrine disruptors, environmental monitoring, natural hazards, and energy research and development         

Instrument development and field measurements focusing on the impacts of global change on atmospheric oxidant photochemistry and atmosphere-biosphere interactions         

My research, which focuses on making impactful contributions to the areas of manufacturing and sustainability, considers multiple scales: identifying significant opportunities to cut emissions and/or costs by conducting large scale analyses on processes, factories and material supply chains, and pursuing a rigorous technical analysis in order to capitalize on the opportunities.

Daigger’s research has focused on the fundamental science and engineering supporting the advancement of technologies and practices which have been transformational for environmental engineering. These have included topics such as wastewater nutrient removal and recovery (biological and chemical), treatment process optimization and control (particularly biological treatment systems), control of activated sludge bulking and foaming, which can be debilitating and lead to excessive treatment costs if not properly addressed, and the highly efficient coupled attached and suspended growth systems.

Behavior and ecology of many temperate fishes, including muskellunge, brown trout, lake sturgeon, yellow perch, largemouth bass, and alewives. Extensive aquaculture systems in Southeast Asia, as well as expansion of aquaculture in Michigan. Conservation of natural resources, either through work on endangered species such as the Paiute trout and lake sturgeon, or through the understanding of ecologically sensitive aquaculture practice. Great Lakes ecology and restoration.          

My research interests cover topics related to the sustainable and safe development of emerging energy technologies. Included among these activities are geologic storage of CO2 and large-scale hydrualic fracturing of unconventional oil/gas reservoirs. We examine important water-rock interactions that occur in these subsurface systems through a combination of experimental studies (bench-scale high-pressure flow-through and batch reactors), imaging techniques (computed micro-tomography, SEM, XRF, XANES), and geochemical modeling. Specific topics of interest: permeability evolution in fractured geologic media, release/transport of groundwater contaminants from shale gas reservoirs, development of regulatory policy pertaining to hydraulic fracturing activities.

Heterogeneous catalysis, Lean NOx emissions control, Fuel Processing for Fuel Cells and Emissions Control, Three-way Catalysis, Exhaust Sensors

Carina Gronlund is an environmental epidemiologist and research assistant professor at the Institute for Social Research in the Social Environment and Health Program. In collaboration with state and Detroit government and Detroit community partners, she studies the separate and combined effects of climate change and air pollution and vulnerabilities by social, pre-existing health, and built environment characteristics. This research will help cities understand how to adapt to climate change.

She received her BA in Biology from the University of Chicago, with a specialization in Ecology and Evolution. Subsequently, she worked as a research assistant in the Clinical Trials Office at the Karmanos Cancer Institute in Detroit, MI before pursing a Masters in Public Health at the University of Michigan. She completed her MPH in 2008 and then completed her PhD in 2013 in the University of Michigan Department of Environmental Health Sciences, where she was a National Institute on Aging Public Health and Aging trainee. Her dissertation focused on associations between high temperatures and hospital admissions and mortality among the elderly as well as sociodemographic and land cover characteristics that modify these associations. As a Graham Sustainability Institute Dow Postdoctoral Fellow, she studied vulnerability to the cardiovascular effects of high temperatures using longitudinal studies of cardiovascular risk from 7 U.S. cities.

The incentives associated with pollution policies in a variety of contexts, the distributional effects of environmental programs, policy analysis, and a range of environmental issues         

Food Systems Planning, International Planning, Program Evaluation

As Assistant Director of Academic Programs in the UM College of Engineering Center for Entrepreneurship, she is responsible for managing the Program in Entrepreneurship, teaching the capstone Entrepreneurship Course, and developing new focus areas such as Social Entrepreneurship and a Masters Program in High Tech Entrepreneurship. She also conducts research on innovative teaching methods and entrepreneurship.

Life cycle impact assessment, risk assessment of chemicals, prediction of the intake fraction for indoor air emissions, and new material and technological solutions for sustainability         

Urban design, architecture, community planning, and sustainability         

Environmental geochemistry related to the recovery and use of minerals         

Chemodynamics- what is it?  The adsorption of gases in nanoporous materials; the movement of microorganisms in aquifer media; the binding of metals onto intracellular proteins: these are all phenomena associated with chemodynamics, the study of chemical fate and transport.  Our research group investigates both theoretical and applied aspects of chemodynamics using an integrated program of molecular modeling, computer simulation and experiment.  An interconnecting theme of our work is the application of atomistic methods and statistical simulation to address a spectrum of research problems spanning chemical, biomedical and environmental engineering.

(a) the intersection between development and climate, especially concerning the relationship between anti-poverty programs and risk management (b) the use of technoscientific information, especially seasonal climate (El Nino forecasting) in building adaptive capacity to climate variability and change (drought planning, water management, and agriculture) in the U.S. (Great Lakes) and Latin America (Brazil, Mexico and Chile); (c) the impact of technocratic decisionmaking on issues of democracy and equity; (d) the co-production of science and policy and the role of technocrats as decisionmakers; (e) the role of popular participation in urban environmental policymaking and policymaker/client interactions; (f)U.S.-Mexico border region environmental policymaking especially regarding transboundary water conflict, environmental health, a common use of shared natural resources.

Sustainable infrastructure development, hazard mitigation and environmental improvement through materials technology         

Fuel cells, chiral synthesis, carbon catalysis, catalysis at nano-scales, fundamentals of surface activity and selectivity.         

My research focuses on environmental biotechnology and water quality with an emphasis on engineered treatment systems. My specific interests focus on the fate of chemical stressors in these systems (e.g., toxins, pharmaceuticals, trace contaminants), the use of technologies to sense and remove these chemicals, antibiotic resistance, and on resource recovery from wastewater.         

My research focuses on ways to reduce the environmental impact, cost, and inefficiency of electric power systems via new operational and control strategies. I am particularly interested in developing new methods to actively engage distributed flexible resources such as energy storage, electric loads, and distributed renewable resources in power system operation. This is especially important in power systems with high penetrations of wind and solar. In my work, I use methods from a variety of fields including controls, optimization, and statistics. I am also interested in using engineering methods to inform energy policy and energy economics.

Jeremy is the Farm Manager for University of Michigan Campus Farm.

Economic analysis of environmental and natural resource policies; economic aspects of biodiversity and species conservation; and consumption of environmentally-friendly products         

Daylight, electric light, architectural technology, building energy efficiency, energy modeling and simulation, environmental control systems, and PV systems         

Cardiovascular mechanisms for air pollution health effects

Climate change, weather and health

Environmental equity and susceptible populations

Environmental exposure assessment

Air pollution, temperature and health in Latin American cities

Design optimization; large scale system synthesis; automotive systems design, including hybrid vehicles; eco-design; product design.         

Vehicle dynamics and control; electromechanical systems; optimal control; human driver modeling; vehicle active safety systems; control of hybrid and fuel cell vehicles; energy system design and control for mobile robots.         

Ecological and social sustainability, over consumption, sufficiency, ecological economy, institutional design, business and environment, and transnational relations         

Professor Raskin works on a variety of biological water and wastewater treatment processes.         

Computer modeling and optimal synthesis of mechanical (and non-mechanical) products and systems. Computational design for manufacture/assembly/environment. Simultaneous design of products/manufacturing systems/supply chains. Computer modeling and synthesis of MEMS/NEMS. Chemo/bio-informatics. Structure-based virtual screening for drug discovery and design.

Design and manufacturing; biomedical device design; biomedical manufacturing; medical innovation; surgical thermal management; machining of advanced engineering materials; micro manufacturing; precision engineering; optical metrology.

His research interests center around mathematical models which involve natural dynamics or motion over time.         

Research Topics:
Energy Storage Fuels and Combustion Transportation Energy

Anna G. Stefanopoulou is the Director of the Energy Institute, and the William Clay Ford Professor of Manufacturing at the University of Michigan. She has been on the faculty of the Department of Mechanical Engineering since 2000. She obtained her Diploma (1991, Nat. Tech. Univ. of Athens, Greece) in Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering and her Ph.D. (1996, University of Michigan) in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science. She served as the Director of the Automotive Research Center a multi-university U.S. Army Center of Excellence in Modeling and Simulation of Ground Vehicles (2009-2018). She was an assistant professor (1998-2000) at the University of California, Santa Barbara and a technical specialist (1996-1997) at Ford Motor Company where she developed nonlinear and multivariable models and controllers for advanced engines; her algorithms were implemented and tested in experimental vehicles.

She has been recognized as a Fellow of three different societies; the ASME (08), IEEE (09), and SAE (18). She is an elected member of the Executive Committee of the ASME Dynamics Systems and Control Division and the Board of Governors of the IEEE Control Systems Society. She is the Founding Chair of the ASME DSCD Energy Systems Technical Committee and a member of a U.S. National Research Council committee on the 2025 US. Light Duty Vehicle Fuel Economy Standards. She is a recipient of the 2017 IEEE Control System Technology award, the 2012 College of Engineering Research Award, the 2009 ASME Gustus L. Larson Memorial Award, a 2008 Univ. of Michigan Faculty Recognition award, the 2005 Outstanding Young Investigator by the ASME DSC division, a 2005 Henry Russel award, a 2002 Ralph Teetor SAE educational award, a 1997 NSF CAREER award and selected as one of the 2002 world’s most promising innovators from the MIT Technology Review.

She has co-authored a book, 20 US patents, and more than 250 publications (5 of which have received awards) on estimation and control of internal combustion engines and electrochemical processes such as fuel cells and batteries.

Sam Stolper is an environmental and energy economist. His research, teaching, and writing are aimed at the design and implementation of environmental policy that is both efficient and equitable. He teaches courses on this subject to graduate students at SEAS as well as undergraduates in the Program in the Environment (PitE). Prior to joining SEAS, Sam was a postdoctoral associate at MIT, jointly through the Department of Economics and the Center for Energy and Environmental Policy Research (CEEPR).

My major research interest is in understanding the inter-relationships between processing, microstructure and properties in materials; with an emphasis on mechanical, electrical and magnetic applications.  Present research focus is on lightweight structures for land, sea and air transportation applications.   Projects include incremental forming of sheet metal and nano-particle additions to aluminum alloys.  For polymer composites, we are studying the effect of carbon nanotube and graphene additions to polymer composites utilizing electrical and magnetic fields to produce oriented particles for improved mechanical properties.

I am also the Senior Technology Advisor for LIFT (Lightweight Innovations for Tomorrow) which is a new lightweight metals manufacturing innovation institute.  LIFT is a $150M public-private partnership developing new manufacturing processes for lightweight metals (AHSS, Al, Mg, Ti).  The Institute is located in Detroit, MI and conducts research on industry-relevant applications with LIFT members from academia, industry and federal laboratories.

Thün's research and creative practice ranges in scale from that of the regional territory and the city, to high performance buildings, to full-scale prototype-based work exploring responsive and kinetic envelopes that mediate energy, atmosphere, and social space. These operational scales are tied together through a methodology that entails a complex systems approach; one that assembles around each project a multiplicity of actors, forces and contexts and leverages these multivalent and sometimes contradictory agents towards integrated and synthetic design work.

I. Nonlinear dynamics, especially as applied to population models. Analytical and theoretical models of coupled predator/prey dynamical systems. Intransitive loops and the structure of communities.

II. Ecology of multidimensional agroecological systems -- intercropping systems and agroforestry systems in Tropical America, field work in Mexico amd Puerto Rico. The focus is on the role of biodiversity in the functioning of agroecosystems, especially the multispecies systems so common in tropical areas. Currently very active in the study of the ecology of the coffee rust disease.

III. Dynamics of biodiversity destruction and conservation -- socioeconomic and political analysis of neotropical conversion. Focus is on the quality of the matrix within which patches of natural habitat occur.  Includes sociopolitical as well as ecological forces involved in current debates about biodiversity conservation.

Her research interest is to apply data science (particularly machine learning and remote sensing) in landscape planning and design. Her research areas include low impact development, water quality models, monitoring and predicting landscape change, and predictive models under alternative planning scenarios. She is also a landscape architect, with the focus on ecological design and data visualization. She teaches site engineering and ecological design studio.

His research agenda focuses on the production of architecture as a technological and cultural artifact, with a specific interest in leveraging the power of computationally-based design and numerically-controlled machines towards new methodologies, materials, and systems of production.

His research interests include statistical learning, high-dimensional data and statistical network analysis. He is also interested in applications in medicine, computational biology, engineering, physics and business. Professor Zhu received a CAREER award from the NSF in 2008 and was elected a member of ISI in 2010 and a fellow of ASA in 2013.