R. Eugene & Susie E. Goodson Distinguished Professor of Mechanical Engineering and Chief Global Affairs Officer

Contact Information:

E-mail: garimell@purdue.edu
Phone: 765-494-5621
Group Page

Education:

PhD, Mechanical Engineering, University of California at Berkeley, 1989; MS, Mechanical Engineering, The Ohio State University, 1986; BS, Indian Institute of Technology, Madras, 1985

Research Interests:

Dr. Garimella's research interests lie in the fields of energy efficiency in computing and electronics, micro- and nano-scale transport phenomena, sustainable energy systems and policy, high-performance compact cooling technologies, and materials processing.

Research Impact Statement:

From healthcare and education to security, comfort and entertainment, almost every aspect of life has benefited from the Silicon Revolution. Microelectronic circuits serve as the "brains" of nearly all engineered entities that require rapid acquisition, transfer, and interpretation of information. The continued evolution of information technology for the 21st Century, however, requires a fundamental shift in perspective, coupled with major technical innovations at all scales, to improve performance while reducing and managing the waste heat generated by electronic operations. On the other end of the spectrum, large computing systems such as data centers are facing an energy crisis caused by this increasing power demand, which is aggravated by the cooling systems requiring levels of energy that are comparable to that consumed for computing. Tens of megawatts of power consumed by data centers stress the energy supply infrastructure and cause environmental concerns as well.
Thermal engineering plays a critical role in shaping our information technology and energy future, and is the focus of our research. In particular, we explore multi-scale technologies spanning nano- to macro-scales, and their application to improving performance, energy-efficiency and reliability while reducing cost. We investigate novel fluidic and thermal microsystems that exploit advances in nanotechnology.