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Advanced Topics in Mechanical Engineering

Units arranged · Graduate

Assigned reading and problems or research in distinct areas, either theoretical or experimental, or design. Arranged on individual basis with instructor in the following areas: mechanics and materials, thermal and fluid sciences, systems and design, biomedical engineering, and ocean engineering. Can be repeated for credit only for completely different subject matter.

Fall 2009 · Direct Solar/Thermal to Electrical Energy Conversion Technologies

This course introduces principles and technologies for converting heat into electricity via solid-state devices. The first part of the course discusses thermoelectric energy conversion and thermoelectric materials, thermionic energy conversion, and photovoltaics. The second part of the course discusses solar thermal technologies. Various solar heat collection systems will be reviewed, followed by an introduction to the principles of solar thermophotovoltaics and solar thermoelectrics. Spectral control techniques, which are critical for solar thermal systems, will be discussed.

Readings

  • WEEK #: 1 · TOPICS: Introduction · READINGS: Chen, Gang. Nanoscale Energy Transport and Conversion . New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 2005, chapter 1. ISBN: 9780195159424.
    Reading assignment
  • WEEK #: 2 · TOPICS: Thermoelectric effect and thermoelectric devices · READINGS: Goldsmid, H. J. Thermoelectric Refrigeration . New York, NY: Plenum Press, 1964, chapter 1.
    Reading assignment
  • Bell, Lon E. “Cooling, Heating, Generating Power, and Recovering Waste Heat with Thermoelectric Systems.” Science 321 (September 12, 2008): 1457-1461.
    Listed reading
  • Vining, Cronin B. “An Inconvenient Truth About Thermoelectrics.” Nature Materials 8 (February 2009): 83-85.
    Listed reading
  • WEEK #: 4 · TOPICS: Kinetic formulation of thermoelectricity · READINGS: Dresselhaus, Mildred S., et al. “New Directions for Low-Dimensional Thermoelectric Materials.” Advanced Materials 19 (2007): 1043-1053.
    Reading assignment
  • Poudel, Bed, et al. “High-Thermoelectric Performance of Nanostructured Bismuth Antimony Telluride Bulk Alloys.” Science 320 (May 2, 2008): 634-638.
    Listed reading
  • Heremans, Joseph P., et al. “Enhancement of Thermoelectric Efficiency in PbTe by Distortion of the Electronic Density of States.” Science 321 (July 25, 2008): 554-557.
    Listed reading
  • WEEK #: 6 · TOPICS: Thermionic power conversion · READINGS: Hatsopoulos, George N., and Joseph Kaye. “Measured Thermal Efficiences of a Diode Configuration of a Thermo Electron Engine.” Journal of Applied Physics 29 (1958): 1124-1125.
    Reading assignment
  • Shockley, William, and Hans J. Queisser. “Detailed Balance Limit of Efficiency of p-n Junction Solar Cells.” Journal of Applied Physics 32 (March 1961): 510-519.
    Listed reading
  • Henry, C. H. “Limiting Efficiencies of Ideal Single and Multiple Energy Gap Terrestrial Solar Cells.” Journal of Applied Physics 51 (August 1980): 4494-4500.
    Listed reading
  • Würfel, Peter, and Wolfgang Ruppel. “Upper Limit of Thermophotovoltaic Solar-Energy Conversion.” IEEE Transactions on Electron Devices 27 (April 1980): 745-750.
    Listed reading
  • Landsberg, P. T., and G. Tonge. “Thermodynamic Energy Conversion Efficiencies.” Journal of Applied Physics 51 (July 1980): R1-R20.
    Listed reading
  • WEEK #: 9 · TOPICS: Solar concentration and solar thermal technology · READINGS: Winston, R., and H. Hinterberger. “Principles of Cylindrical Concentrators for Solar Energy.” Solar Energy 17 (1975): 255-258.
    Reading assignment
  • WEEK #: 10 · TOPICS: Guest Lecture: Chris Schuh, “Nanostructured Materials: Stability Against Thermal Coarsening.” · READINGS: Detor, A. J., and C. A. Schuh. “Microstructural Evolution During the Heat Treatment of Nanocrystalline Alloys.” Journal of Materials Research 22 (November 2007): 3233-3248.
    Reading assignment
  • Winn, Joshua N., et al. “Omnidirectional Reflection from a One-dimensional Photonic Crystal.” Optics Letters 23 (October 1998): 1573-1575.
    Listed reading
  • Čelanović, Ivan, et al. “Design and Optimization of One-dimensional Photonic Crystals for Thermophotovoltaic Applications.” Optics Letters 29 (April 2004): 863-865.
    Listed reading
Spring 2004 · Decision Making in Large Scale Systems

Topics

  • Markov Decision Processes
  • Value Iteration
  • Optimality of Policies derived from the Cost-to-go Function
  • Average-Cost Problems
  • Application of Value Iteration to Optimization of Multiclass Queueing Networks
  • Q-Learning
  • Stochastic Approximations: Lyapunov Function Analysis
  • Exploration versus Exploitation: The Complexity of Reinforcement Learning
  • Introduction to Value Function Approximation
  • Model Selection and Complexity
  • Introduction to Value Function Approximation Algorithms
  • Temporal-Difference Learning with Value Function Approximation
  • Temporal-Difference Learning with Value Function Approximation (cont.)
  • Approximate Linear Programming
  • Approximate Linear Programming (cont.)
  • Efficient Solutions for Approximate Linear Programming
  • Efficient Solutions for Approximate Linear Programming: Factored MDPs
  • Policy Search Methods
  • Policy Search Methods (cont.)
  • Policy Search Methods for POMDPs
  • Guest Lecture: Prof. Nick Roy
  • Policy Search Methods: PEGASUS

Readings

Prerequisites & course information

Prereq: Permission of instructor G (Fall, IAP, Spring, Summer) Not offered regularly; consult department Units arranged Can be repeated for credit.

Sources