Elijah Thimsen

Focus

Nanomaterials, thermodynamics, systems very far away from local equilibrium, high energy density fuel synthesis from renewable resources, optoelectronic semiconductor nanostructures, and processing of lightweight aerospace composite materials.

Research

The Interface Research Group led by Elijah Thimsen focuses on advanced gas-phase synthesis methods that operate very far away from local equilibrium, for example low temperature plasma. Such methods are capable of creating beyond equilibrium materials, which represent one of the greatest opportunities for synthesis science. Examples of applications currently being pursued in the Interface Research Group are: advanced lightweight aerospace composite materials, optoelectronic semiconductor nanostructures, analog low power artificial intelligence, and high energy density fuel synthesis from renewable resources.

Biography

Elijah Thimsen is an assistant professor in the Department of Energy, Environmental & Chemical Engineering Elijah Thimsen is currently an assistant professor in the McKelvey School of Engineering at Washington University in St. Louis. He has approximately 20 years of experience in technical research, primarily focused on chemical and material transformations with an emphasis on aerosol processes, materials science, and energy applications. He received his undergraduate degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Minnesota, and his PhD from Washington University in St. Louis in Energy, Environmental & Chemical Engineering. His current research is focused on thermodynamics, including methods to describe end-directed time evolution in nonlinear, nonequilibrium systems. The systems used for these explorations involve nonequilibrium plasma, aerosols, chemical catalysis, electrochemistry, optoelectronic semiconductors, and advanced ceramics. His work has been recognized by a number of organizations, recently by the National Science Foundation and Department of Energy CAREER awards.

Affiliations

• Center for Aerosol Science and Engineering (CASE)
• The Institute of Materials Science & Engineering