David A. Willis, Ph.D.

David Willis headshot

David A. Willis, Ph.D.

Associate Professor and Associate Chair of Mechanical Engineering

Office Location: 301F

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Education

  • Ph.D. Mechanical Engineering, Purdue University, 2001
  •  M.S. Mechanical Engineering, Purdue University, 1997
  • B.S. Mechanical Engineering, North Carolina State University, 1995

Biography

David Willis is an Associate Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering. He has taught graduate and undergraduate courses in heat transfer, fluid mechanics, thermodynamics, and laser processing. His areas of research interests are heat transfer, phase change, and fluid mechanics problems associated with short pulse laser-material interactions. His research involves experimental studies of laser microfabrication, high power laser-ablation, laser texturing, laser-induced forward transfer, super-hydrophobic surfaces, and microfluidics. He is a Fellow of the ASME and a Senior Member of the SPIE. He is also a member of the Laser Institute of America and the American Society for Engineering Education.

Honors and Awards

  • Fellow, ASME International

  • Senior Member, SPIE

  • Altshuler Distinguished Teaching Professor, 2008

  • Young Engineer of the Year, ASME North Texas Section, 2008

  • Golden Mustang Outstanding Faculty Award, 2005

Research

  • Heat transfer and phase change
  • Laser ablation and micromachining
  • Laser-induced forward transfer
  • Short-pulse laser-assisted microfabrication

Recent Publications

  • V.Q. Do, E.R. Reale, I.C. Loud, P.G. Rozzi, H. Tan, D.A. Willis, and K.C. Smith, 2023, “Interdigitated microchannels embedded in intercalation electrodes enable seawater desalination and beyond,” Energy and Environmental Science, Vol. 16, pp. 3025-3039. 
  • H. Bayat, P.S. Krueger, and D.A. Willis, 2023, “Analysis of fluid-structure interaction in a directional permeability membrane in pressure-driven flow,” Engineering Research Express, Vol. 5, article 015020.   
  • P. Krueger, M. Saari, H. Tan, D. Willis, “Effect of Slip flow on Vortex Ring Formation,” Bulletin of the American Physical Society, 2022.  
  • Y. Cui, H-Y. Chen, S. Chen, D. Linkhart, H. Tan, J. Wu, S. Yoon, M. Geiler, A. Geiler, E. Beam, A. Xie, N. Wang, M. Regan, M. Kruzich, B. Nguyen, D. White., A. Ketterson, C. Lee, D. Willis, H. Wang, and Y. Cao, 2021, “Monolithically Integrated Self-Biased Circulator for mmWave T/R MMIC Applications,” 67th IEEE International Electron Devices Meeting.    
  • D.A. Willis, 2018, “Laser-Induced Forward Transfer of Metals,” Laser Printing of Functional Materials: 3D Microfabrication, Electronics, and Biomedicine, Pere Serra and Alberto Pique, Editors, Wiley-VCH, pp. 149-174.

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