Integrated Multi-Physics Laboratory
Department of Mechanical Engineering

Principle Investigator

Pania Newell Adjunct Faculty, School of Computing, The University of Utah. Adjunct Faculty, Department of Civil Engineering, The University of Utah. Post-Doc, Engineering Sciences, Sandia National Laboratories, 2011-2012. Ph.D., Civil Engineering, University of Colorado-Boulder, 2011. M.S., Civil Engineering, University of Colorado-Boulder, 2009. M.S., Civil Engineering, University of New Mexico, 2006. B.S., Civil Engineering, Baha'i Institute for Higher Education, 2001.

Postdoctoral Researcher

Bozo Vazic is currently a postdoc in the Mechanical Engineering Department. He obtained his masters degree in aerospace engineering from the University of Zagreb, Croatia and his PhD in mechanical engineering from University of Strathclyde, UK. He worked on optimization methodology, software development for design and maintenance of software package for electrostatic modeling and simulation. In his spare time, he enjoys running, hiking and skiing. Project: Higher-order thermo-mechanical homogenization. Sponsor: The Department of Energy-Office of Basic Sciences

Xiaoming Zhang is currently a postdoc in the Mechanical Engineering Department. She obtained both her bachelor's and master's degrees in petroleum engineering from the China University of Petroleum, and she obtained her Ph.D. from the University of Wyoming. She worked on history matching to predict the fracture distribution in fractured reservoirs, coupled Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) with the Discrete Element Method (DEM) to simulate fluid-solid flow for different conditions. In her spare time, she enjoys reading, hiking, and exercising.

Graduate Student

	Yanbo Wang is a 3-yr Ph.D. student in the Mechanical Engineering program. He obtained both master and bachelor degrees in petroleum engineering. He has worked as petroleum engineer for 2 years in CNOOC. In spare time, he enjoys reading, hiking, fishing and spending time with friends and families. Project: Thermo-mechanical characterization of porous media Sponsor: The Oak Ridge National Laboratory
	Seo Ahn Young is a 2-yr Ph.D. student in the ME program. She received her Bachelors of Science from the University of Utah in Physics with Applied Physics emphasis. She worked at Domo for 1.5 years as a QA Technician and a Technical Support Engineer, and as a professional model. In her free time, she enjoys watching movies, cooking, long boarding, and photography. Project: In-situ nanomechanical characterization of porous media Sponsor: The Department of Energy-Office of Basic Sciences
	Andrés Felipe Porras Giraldo is 1-yr Ph.D. student in the Mechanical Engineering Program. He obtained his bachelor's degree in Petroleum Engineering from the Universidad Nacional de Colombia and his Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from the Universidad Nacional del Sur, Arg. He worked on thermodynamic modeling of phase equilibria involving fluid phases and solid solutions. He worked as a Chemical Treatment Engineer with Ecopetrol S.A. In his spare time, Andrés loves to read about philosophy and practices outdoor sports.
	Al Muatasim Al Nadabi is currently a master's student in the Mechanical Engineering program. He has a bachelor of science from Penn State University in Petroleum Engineering. He worked in the oil and gas industry with Schlumberger in Texas and New Mexico. In his free time, he goes on adventures, hiking, traveling and cooking food. Project: Chemo-mechanics of cementitious materials Sponsor: The University of Utah-Start up
	Ryan Nielsen is currently a master's student in the Mechanical Engineering program. He received his bachelor of science from the University of Utah in Mechanical Engineering with an emphasis in Solid Mechanics. He currently works in the aerospace industry as an engineer for Williams International . During his free time, Ryan enjoys traveling, playing music, rock climbing and skateboarding. Project: Thermo-mechanical homogenization in porous materials. Sponsor: Industry
	Abdullah Arafat is currently a master's student in the Mechanical Engineering program. He obtained his Bachelor's degree in Materials Science and Engineering from Khulna University of Engineering and Technology (KUET). He has experience in Computer-aided design (CAD), Computer-aided manufacturing (CAM), and Molecular simulations (e.g: Molecular Dynamics, DFT, etc). In his spare time, he enjoys reading, watching movies, spending time with friends, and 3d modeling. Project: Investigation of thermo-mechanics of nano channels.

Undergraduate Student

	Joseph Spencer is a senior at Brigham Young University, pursuing a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering. Joe comes from Ammon, Idaho, and loves to exercise and spend time in the great outdoors. In his free time, he also writes computer programs to visualize problems and solve them.
	Tyler Walker is a second-year undergraduate in the Department of Mechanical Engineering. He's interested in studying computational solid mechanics and intends to go through the BS/MS program at The University of Utah. In his spare time, he plays the piano, guitar, and enjoys snowboarding.
	Parker Dunn is a fourth-year undergraduate student majoring in computer science and writing and rhetoric studies. He is interested in data science, machine learning, and natural language processing. In his spare time, Parker likes to hike, play basketball, and go to concerts.

Group Alumni