Andrew Sommers

Dr. Andrew Sommers is a Professor in the Department of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering.

He earned his Ph.D. degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign in 2007, his M.S. in mechanical engineering from the University of Illinois in 2003, and his B.S. in mechanical engineering from Clemson University in 2001.

He also spent approximately one year working as a process co-op engineer at Celanese Acetate in Narrows, VA. Since entering academia, he has also spent significant time working as a researcher at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, OH on thermal management related issues within the Aerospace Systems Directorate.

Dr. Sommers’ research primarily deals with air-side heat transfer and the impact of surface wettability on condensate retention, frost growth, and heat transfer performance in HVAC&R systems. His current research interests also include micro-fabrication and surface coating techniques, wind turbine ice mitigation, gas turbine systems, and the use of surface tension gradients to facilitate water droplet movement in preferred directions on surfaces.

He has authored or co-authored more than 75 archival journal articles and conference proceedings and has had his research funded by the American Chemical Society (ACS), American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE), California Energy Commission, and the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD). In 2022, Andrew helped to co-author an article that was selected for the front cover of Chemical Reviews (2021 IF = 72.09). In 2020, Andrew was awarded the CEC Outstanding Faculty Research Award by the College of Engineering and Computing.

In 2017, his conference paper on frost layer densification received the Best Research Paper Award at the 2nd Thermal and Fluids Engineering Conference sponsored by the American Society of Thermal and Fluids Engineers (ASTFE). In 2012, Andrew was awarded the Arthur Olson Generational Teaching Excellence Award by the College of Engineering and Computing, and in 2008, he was awarded the ASHRAE New Investigator Award.

He primarily teaches courses in the thermal-fluids area including Heat Transfer, Fluid Mechanics, and Thermodynamics I and II.