UCLA Thermoscience Research

Served as lead undergraduate researcher at UCLA’s Thermosciences Laboratory under Dr. Sungtaek Ju, investigating how string tension, material properties, and morphology influence the flow behavior of liquid desiccants in string-based mass exchangers. The work focused on understanding capillary-driven film formation, droplet coalescence, and transport efficiency for energy-efficient dehumidification systems.

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Highlights

• Experimental Design & Execution
  • Built a fully controlled setup to measure tension in cotton strings, including 3D printed and laser cut parts through the UCLA maker space.
  • Ran stress tests to to quantify how tension alters bead formation, spacing, and motion.
  • Highlighted a previously overlooked variable (string tension) that did have an impact on fluid flow.
• Automation & Analysis
  • Developed MATLAB image processing algorithms to capture string curvature and automate droplet tracking
  • Enabled faster, more consistent quantification of fluid behavior across multiple trials
  • Helped create lab tutorial videos for future researchers to use for reference.