People

Professor Patrick E. Hopkins

phopkins[at]virginia[dot]edu

Patrick’s Google Scholar Profile

Patrick the Whitney Stone Professor in Engineering at the University of Virginia, with a primary appointment in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, and courtesy appointments in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering and the Department of Physics, and a co-director of the ExSiTE Lab.  Patrick received his Ph.D. in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering from UVA in 2008, following a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering and a B.A. in Physics at UVA in 2004.  He spent 3 years as a Harry S. Truman Postdoctoral Fellow at Sandia National Laboratories in Albuquerque, NM from 2008 – 2011.  Patrick is also the Chief Science Officer and co-Founder of Laser Thermal, a company based in Charlottesville, VA that specializes in thermal conductivity measurement equipment and services.

Awards and Honors

-Fellow, American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), 2024
-National Finalist, Blavatnik Award for Young Scientists, 2014, 2022, 2023
-Whitney Stone Professor in Engineering, UVA, 2021-2026
–ASME Gustus L. Larson Memorial Award, 2021
-Participant in the Defense Science Study Group, 2021-2024
-Humboldt Research Fellowship for Experienced Researchers, 2021-2022
-Captain George Zinn Faculty Scholar, Dept. Mech. and Aero. Eng., UVA, 2020-2021
-MAE Graduate Advisor of the Year, Dept. Mech. and Aero. Eng., UVA, 2018, 2021
-MAE Researcher of the Year, Dept. Mech. and Aero. Eng., UVA, 2017, 2019, 2020
-Fellow, American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME), 2019
-Research Award for significant contributions to research at the University of Virginia, 2019
–Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE, “Class” of 2013), 2016
–ASME Bergles-Rohsenow Young Investigator Award in Heat Transfer, 2016
-Outstanding Reviewer: ASME Journal of Heat Transfer, 2016
-Office of Naval Research Young Investigator Award, 2013
-Air Force Office of Scientific Research Young Investigator Award, 2013
-Sandia National Laboratories Harry S. Truman Postdoctoral Fellow, 2008-2011

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EXSITE LAB DEPUTY DIRECTOR

Ethan A. Scott, Ph.D.

eascott[at]virginia[dot]edu

Ethan is a Research Assistant Professor at the University of Virginia and Deputy Director of the ExSiTE Labs. He first came to UVa as an undergraduate and received BS and PhD degrees in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering in 2015 and 2021, respectively. Prior to joining the ExSiTE Lab, Ethan performed graduate and postdoctoral research at the Ion Beam Laboratory and the Center for Integrated Nanotechnologies at Sandia National Laboratories in Albuquerque, NM (2018 – 2023). Ethan’s research interests focus on the development and application of electro- and optothermal measurement techniques to analyze heat transfer in extremes of material size and environment.

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Research Scientist

Saman Zare, Ph.D.

saman.zare[at]virginia[dot]edu

Saman Zare received his Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Maine in 2022. His dissertation research focused on engineering the radiative heat transfer in the nanoscale regime and spectroscopy of thermal radiation from metamaterials. Prior to his Ph.D., Saman graduated with an M.S. and B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Iran. His current postdoctoral research at the ExSiTE Lab focuses on exploring nanoscale thermal transport and characterizing the optical and radiative properties of materials tailored for energy conversion and thermal management of electronic devices.

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GRADUATE STUDENTS

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Scott Bender

stb4dz[at]virginia[dot]edu

Scott graduated from James Madison University with a B.S. in Physics in 2021 where he researched the material characterization and optical properties of metal oxides using photoluminescence. He is currently pursuing his Ph.D. in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering focusing on the modeling and measurement of material properties in highly nonlinear, radiative systems in the 1500+K range.

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Elizabeth Golightly

esg2yqt[at]virginia[dot]edu

Elizabeth graduated from James Madison University in 2024 with a B.S. in General Engineering and minor in Mathematics. During her undergraduate studies, she interned at Newport News Shipbuilding and participated in the Refueling Complex Overhaul (RCOH) of the aircraft carrier CVN 74. She is currently a PhD student in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering focusing on high temperature thermal properties and research on environmental barrier coatings.

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Shivashree Shivamade Gowda

xsq8nu[at]virginia[dot]edu

Shivashree is a graduate student with a Master of Science in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign (UIUC). During her Masters, she developed a high-speed Schlieren imaging technique to characterize the launch of a laser-driven flyer of velocity up to 6 km/s under the supervision of Dana Dlott. Currently, as a PhD student, under the Advanced Power Electronic Conversion Systems (APEX) and Semiconductor Research Corporation (SRC) program, she is pursuing thermo-reflectance and thermo-magnetic measurements on a variety of ultra-thin nano-films and bulk samples using femtosecond pump-probe techniques. In addition, she is involved in investigating the ultrafast electron dynamics in nanoscale films like Gold using the pump-probe-plasma technique in the visible and infrared regime.

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Daniel Hirt

dmh9nz[at]virginia[dot]edu

Daniel graduated from James Madison University with a B.S. in Physics in 2021 where he researched the optical properties of various metal oxides using ellipsometry.  He is currently pursuing his Ph.D. in Mechanical and Aerospace engineering focusing on studying non equilibrium mechanisms of thermal transport. 

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Dr. William Hutchins

wdh2pm[at]virginia[dot]edu

William received a B.S. in Physics from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in 2020. As an undergraduate, at NASA Langley, he worked under Dr. Paul Danehy researching optical metrologies and developing the patent for a hyperspectral plenoptic camera. He joined the ExSiTE lab in the fall of 2020 as Ph.D. student in the department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering where he was awarded the Dean’s Scholar Fellowship. Currently, he is developing a laser-based technique to study phonon physics and the effect of ultrafast light-matter oscillations on thermal transport.

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Md. Rafiqul Islam

mi9jm[at]virginia[dot]edu

Rafiqul received his BS and MS degrees in Materials and Metallurgical Engineering from Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology. His research experience includes synthesizing nanomaterials (carbon-based and multiferroic) and studying their functional and physical properties. He is pursuing his Ph.D. in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at UVa. His research interest lies in studying the thermal properties of interconnect metals for very large-scale integration.

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Michael Lafferty

adu4nt[at]virginia[dot]edu

Michael received a B.S. in Physics from the Kutztown University of Pennsylvania in 2024. As an undergraduate he worked with Dr. Justin L. Smoyer to develop an FDTR system in the Kutztown University Nanoscale Thermal Science Laboratory and with Dr. Kunal K. Das to research quantum scattering in nonlinear mediums. He is currently pursuing his Ph.D. in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering focusing on thermal properties of ferroelectric materials.

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Sara Hoseini Makarem

sh6zf[at]virginia[dot]edu

Sara received her B.S in materials science and engineering form Iran University of Science and Technology. Later, she pursued higher education in financial economics and management science and graduated from University of Virginia with an M.S. in quantitative economics. Following her graduation she spent more than two years in the investment industry. Sara is now a PhD student in materials science and a recipient of an NIH training grant.

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Milena Milich

mm9bq[at]virginia[dot]edu

Milena received bachelor degrees in Mechanical Engineering and Applied Mathematics from California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo (Cal Poly, SLO). Her research background includes projects from fields ranging from algal biofuel studies and paleoclimate modeling to underwater vehicles and cyber-physical systems. She is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at UVA, researching high temperature thermometry and thermomechanical failure of thermal barrier coatings. Milena is a recipient of the NSF National Research Traineeship for research in cyber-physical systems, and is a member of UVA’s Link Lab.

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Mohsen Motezaker

nev8xb[at]virginia[dot]edu

Mohsen’s background includes graduate research in computational solid mechanics and multiscale simulations, covering topics such as carbon nanotube modeling, tribological phenomena, and fatigue analysis. He also served as a visiting graduate student at the University of Iowa, where he expanded his expertise in advanced simulation methods for nanoscale applications. Mohsen is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, transitioning to experimental techniques to investigate the thermal and mechanical properties of materials at the nanoscale.

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Thomas Pfeifer

twp4fg[at]virginia[dot]edu

Thomas Pfeifer received a B.S. and M.S. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Wisconsin – Madison where he studied polymer processing, composites, and additive manufacturing. Following his masters, he joined industry for three years in software development. Thomas is now pursuing his Ph.D., studying the thermal and electrical properties of semiconductors.

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Jessica Reyes

ymf6cf[at]virginia[dot]edu

Jessica Reyes is a mechanical engineer with a background in thermal properties of materials and heat transfer. She has worked on projects in the automotive and beverage industries, gaining hands-on experience in real-world applications. Currently, she is pursuing a Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering at the University of Virginia, where her research focuses on understanding the thermal behavior of metals and alloys at both room and elevated temperatures.

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Hunter Schonfeld

kxs7pc[at]virginia[dot]edu

Hunter received his B.S. in Mechanical Engineering concentrated in Aerospace from the New York Institute of Technology (NYIT) in 2022 where he focused on unsteady turbulent boundary layer separation fluid dynamics. He is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in the Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering department at UVA. Hunter joined the ExSiTE lab in the summer of 2022 and his research focuses on the development of thermometry techniques to study thermal transport in materials at ultrahigh temperatures (>2500 °C).

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Will Riffe

ckm9ef[at]virginia[dot]edu

Will received his B.S. in Chemistry from James Madison University in 2021 where he focused on materials characterization of metal oxide thin films. He is currently a PhD student in the Materials Science and Engineering department at UVA focusing on the thermal transport of novel protective coatings for extreme environments.

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Emma Tiernan

emt9uq[at]virginia[dot]edu

Emma received a B.S. in Engineering Physics and Chemistry from Randolph-Macon College in 2019. As an undergraduate, she worked under Dr. John D. Thoburn researching the synthesis of enlarged supramolecular cubes for the encapsulation of nanocrystals. She joined the ExSiTE lab in the fall of 2019 as a Ph.D. student in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering. Currently, she is studying thermal transport mechanisms in organic superlattices and proteins. Emma is a recipient of the Dean’s Scholar Fellowship.

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PROSPECTIVE MEMBERS

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The ExSiTE Lab is searching for our next group of talented, motivated, and energetic engineers and scientists. We generally hire 2-4 graduate students a year in addition to post-docs on an as needed basis. Interested parties should have experience with research, a strong academic background in physics, materials science, and/or mechanical engineering, with additional knowledge of either electrical engineering or computer science a plus, and be capable of handling a high intensity learning and research environment. Please send a CV and a brief introduction via email to ExsiteLabRecruiting[at]virginia[dot]edu. Please make your introduction both concise and clear that you have an understanding and interest in our research field. Prospective graduate students with a Masters degree or about to complete a Masters degree should note this in their introduction.

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PAST MEMBERS AND ALUMNI

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Mahboobe Jassas (Postdoc: 2021 – 2022): Onto Innovations
Md. Shafkat Bin Hoque – Intel
John Tomko, Ph.D. (Ph.D., 2021) – Silicon Valley
Kathleen Quiambao-Tomko
John Gaskins, Ph.D. (Principal Scientist: 2013 – 2021) – Laser Thermal
Mallory DeCoster, Ph.D. (Ph.D., 2021) – Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory
Hans Olson, Ph.D. (Ph.D., 2021) – Laser Thermal
Ethan Scott, Ph.D. (Ph.D., 2021) – Senior Scientist at the University of Virginia
Jeffrey Braun (Ph.D., 2019) – Northrop Grumman Corporation
Christina Rost (Postdoc: 2016 – 2019) – Assistant Professor at James Madison University
Ellie Radue, Ph.D. (Postdoc: 2016 – 2018) – FiberTek Inc.
Chester Szwejkowski (M.S., 2018) – Surface Optics Corporation
Sofie Ravesteijn (Undergraduate Research Assistant: 2015 – 2017) – Laser Thermal
Brian M. Foley, Ph.D. (Ph.D., 2016) – Laser Thermal
Brian Donovan, Ph.D. (Ph.D., 2016) – AUnited States Naval Academy
Ramez Cheaito, Ph.D. (Ph.D., 2015, Postdoc: 2015 – 2016) – Gooch and Housego
Lei Wang, Ph.D. (Postdoc: 2015 – 2016) – Morgan Stanley
Ashutosh Giri, Ph.D. (Ph.D., 2016) – University of Rhode Island
Kelsey Meyer (M.S., 2016)
Matt Caplan (Undergraduate Research Assistant: 2013) – Illinois State University
Caitlin Crawford (Undergraduate Research Assistant: 2014 – 2015) – JPL
Bryce H. Crane (REU Student: Summer 2012; Undergraduate Research Assistant: Summer 2013) – Leonardo S.p.A.
John C. Duda, Ph.D. (Postdoc: 2012 – 2013) – Seagate Technology
Caroline Gorham (Graduate Student: 2012-2013) – Ph.D. from Carnegie Mellon University
Nan “Vinnie” Chen (High School Intern: Summer 2013) – Research Assistant at Harvard University
Dave Henry (Summer Research Associate: Summer 2013) – Assistant Principal