We are looking for highly motivated master and PhD students to join APS Laboratory in the Department of Mechanical Engineering and the Center for Advanced Vehicular Systems (CAVS) at Mississippi State University. Visiting students and research scholars are also welcome. The focus of our research includes:

- Alternative fuels (biodiesel, JP-8, natural gas…).
- Advanced combustion (plasma-assisted ignition, low-temperature combustion).
- Soot particle morphology by transmission electron microscopy (TEM).
- High-speed optical diagnostics and 3D tomographic reconstruction of turbulent spray flame.
- Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulation of for internal/external fuel flow.
- Prediction of spray combustion by Machine Learning.

A PhD candidate should have a BS or MS degree in Mechanical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, Thermal Engineering or any relevant fields. A strong background in thermodynamics and fluid mechanics with programming experience (using Python, MATLAB) is preferred. Full financial support will be provided with competitive stipends, benefits and tuition waiver. We strive to provide a stimulating, interdisciplinary environment with exciting research topics and excellent colleagues where the candidates can be trained to become outstanding independent researchers, with sufficient freedom to explore their own ideas while working on well-designed projects.

Candidates interested are encouraged to contact Dr. Hwang at hwang@me.msstate.edu or jhwang@cavs.msstate.edu, with the current CV/Resume and the contact information of at least two references.

The Mechanical Engineering (ME) department has strong ties with the High Performance Computing Collaboratory (www.hpc.msstate.edu), Center for Advanced Vehicular Systems (www.cavs.msstate.edu) and the Energy Institute (www.ei.msstate.edu) at Mississippi State University. The Department offers an ABET-accredited undergraduate program in mechanical engineering, as well as graduate studies leading to MS and PhD degrees. The ME department has the largest student enrollment (948 undergraduate and 114 graduate students in Fall 2016) among the eight academic departments in the Bagley College of Engineering. The department has 22 faculty members. The ME department is ranked 95th in the latest US News & World Report rankings of engineering graduate programs. In addition, the department is ranked 24th ($12.6 million in total for Fiscal Year 2015) in the National Science Foundation (NSF) research expenditures rankings. More information about the department can be found at www.me.msstate.edu .