Dr. Sheng Shen was a postdoctoral fellow in mechanical engineering with professor Xiang Zhang. Dr Shen received his Ph.D. in mechanical engineering at MIT in 2010. In 2011 Dr. Sheng accepted a faculty position at Carnegie Mellon University.

At UC Berkeley, Dr. Shen explored solar energy as one of the most promising sources to meet the world’s growing energy demand. Solar photovoltaic systems can convert directly photons to electrical power, but the main limitations with present solar cells are their high material cost and low conversion efficiencies. Another attractive solution to the energy problem is to harness heat sources such as geothermal heat, solar heat and waste heat dissipated in energy conversion processes. Thermoelectric and thermophotovoltaic systems are both capable of directly converting heat into electricity, but again, the main barrier is their low efficiency. With many advances in nanostructured materials and nanoscale designs, it is clear that nanoscale engineering will play an important role in resolving these issues for solar and thermal energy conversion. Full Research Outline (PDF)