MAE Seminar – Advancing Energy Systems through AI-Driven Innovations

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MAE Seminar – Advancing Energy Systems through AI-Driven Innovations

Dear Undergraduate and Graduate Students, Faculty, and Staff,
You are invited! UF Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering’s Seminar Series
This is a perfect opportunity to enjoy some coffee, cookies, and captivating talks! These sessions feature amazing guest speakers, from academic trailblazers and industry movers to our very own faculty candidates showing off their expertise and fresh perspectives.
Come for the treats, stay for the engaging discussions, and connect with fellow MAE enthusiasts. Everyone is welcome!

Feb 13, 2025, at 12:50pm, Location: MAE-A 303

Dr. Shima Hajimirza
Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering and the Director of the Energy, Control, and Optimization (ECO) Lab
Department of Mechanical Engineering
Stevens Institute of Technology

Abstract
The future of energy systems demands intelligence, efficiency, and sustainability to address global challenges. My research integrates advanced computational techniques with first-principle physics to revolutionize energy capture, transfer, and distribution processes. By leveraging AI-driven models, I tackle critical challenges such as light-matter interactions in photovoltaics, stochastic energy transport in porous media, and the dynamics of smart energy networks. In this talk, I will discuss key contributions, including enhancing quantum efficiency in thin-film solar cells through surrogate modeling, developing physics-informed neural networks for radiative heat transfer in complex media, and advancing latent space computing to optimize large-scale simulations. These innovations enable precise material design, reduce computational demands, and support applications such as digital twins and thermo-radiative systems. Additionally, my work explores the integration of renewable energy distribution with data-centric infrastructures, employing predictive AI tools to adapt to environmental and operational variability. This seminar will demonstrate how interdisciplinary approaches, combining physics, machine learning, and experimental insights, can transform energy systems, paving the way for sustainable and resilient technologies that meet future demands.

Biography
Dr. Shima Hajimirza is an Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering and the Director of the Energy, Control, and Optimization (ECO) Lab at Stevens Institute of Technology. She earned her Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Texas at Austin in August 2013, followed by a postdoctoral research appointment at the Oden Institute for Computational Engineering and Science. Prior to her doctoral studies, she obtained a Master’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from Southern Illinois University and a Master’s degree in Bioengineering from the California Institute of Technology in 2009 and 2010, respectively.
Dr. Hajimirza’s expertise spans thermal fluid sciences, radiation heat transfer, data-driven modeling and design, and the study of energy transfer in complex media. She also specializes in Machine Learning and AI-based modeling and optimization, with applications in nanomaterials, nanotechnology, and bioengineering. With over 90 peer-reviewed publications in leading journals such as Nature Scientific Reports, International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer, Journal of Solar Energy, and IEEE Transactions on Sustainable Energy, her work has attracted significant funding from the National Science Foundation (NSF), the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD), the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), and industrial partners including Qualcomm, Emerson, and Chevron. Among her accolades is the prestigious NSF CAREER Award, recognizing her groundbreaking contributions to computational modeling of radiation heat transfer in porous media.
In addition to her research, Dr. Hajimirza serves as an Associate Editor for the Journal of Solar Energy Engineering and is a Fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME). Her outstanding achievements have been celebrated with numerous awards, including the “ASME Rising Star in Mechanical Engineering Award” (November 2024), the Harvey N. Davis Distinguished Teaching Award (May 2024), and the TEES James J. Cain Graduate Teaching Award (March 2018).

MAE Faculty Host: S A Sherif