Laboratory of Thermodynamics in Emerging Technologies LTNT

Prof. Dimos Poulikakos

The Laboratory LTNT (Laboratorium für Thermodynamik in Neuen Technologien) of ETH Zurich was established in July 1996, when Dimos Poulikakos joined ETH as the Professor of Thermodynamics and founded this laboratory.

The first focal research area in LTNT is thermal transport and related fluid dynamics and mass transfer in emerging technologies. Examples of such technologies and related phenomena are: Micro- and nanoscale energy conversion, fuel cell technologies and related fuel reforming technologies, microelectronics and high-density electronics, surface deposition and coating technologies, advanced materials thermal manufacturing, and nanoelectro-mecanical systems (NEMS). Thermodynamic aspects of combustion, environmental and novel energy conversion technologies fall also within the research activities of the laboratory. A common basic feature of many of the research activities at LTNT is thermal, fluid and species transport in multiphase systems with one or more interfaces. As a consequence, interfacial phenomena and thermodynamics are an important point of our activities from the standpoint of fundamentals.

The second focal area of the laboratory is biofluidics, chemical and thermal transport in biomedical engineering: Here, the goal is the enhancement of the understanding of complex transport phenomena (flow, mass and heat transfer) in systems of biomedical relevance and the introduction of advanced computational simulation techniques to the everyday clinical environment with the dual purpose of providing the medical interventionist with needed scientific information, and aiding the development of novel medical devices. Specific current areas of focus include cerebral vasculature pathophysiology, apheresis, the cerebrospinal fluid environment, cardiothoracic surgical planning and morphogenesis.

State of the art experimental facilities, exemplified by rapid imaging techniques, advanced laser diagnostics, atomic force microscopy (AFM), scanning near field optical microscopy (SNOM), as well as state of the art computer facilities are available at LTNT for the realization of our research efforts. The research at LTNT is multi-faceted and idea driven, focusing on basic scientific phenomena with direct technological and societal relevance. On the average since its inception, 15 doctoral students are actively employed at any given time at LTNT, funded by a combination of industrial and governmental agencies in Switzerland and internationally. As a result of its demonstrated achievements, the laboratory enjoys productive collaborations with several top universities and research organizations worldwide, and has an international reputation as a leader in its field, a statement amply underpinned by the many distinctions the laboratory has received to date.