Brent Nelson  

 

Dr. Brent Nelson, Assistant Professor; (PhD, Mechanical Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, 2007).  Dr. Nelson completed his PhD at GeorgiaTech performing interdisciplinary research at the intersection of thermal transport, materials science, and nanofabrication.  Before joining the faculty at NAU, he served as a postdoctoral fellow in engineering education with the National Academy of Engineering CASEE program, during which he worked with the Center for Biologically-Inspired Design at the Georgia Institute of Technology.  There he studied the use of Biologically-Inspired Design as a context for studying innovative design, student design behavior, and multidisciplinary collaboration.

Dr. Nelson’s diverse skill set suits his primary technical research interest of working on problems at the intersection of the sciences and engineering, with current areas of interest including applications of atomic force microscopy, characterization of biomaterials, renewable energy, energy conservation, and biomimetic design.

His engineering education research interests include multidisciplinary collaboration, design learning, and problem-based learning.

His personal academic interests include pretty much everything else, and his non-academic interests include trying to be a blessing to the world around him, assorted outdoor activities, musical instruments, and shenanigans.

Primary technical expertise

• atomic force microscopy
• nanomaterials and nanofabrication
• heat transfer & thermal transport physics
• thermodynamics
• design methodology
• materials science

Educational background

• PhD, Mechanical Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, 2007
• MS, Mechanical Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, 2004
• BS, Mechanical Engineering (High Honors), University of California – Berkeley, 2002      

Employment history         

• Assistant Professor, Northern Arizona University - Department of Mechanical Engineering, 8/2008-present.  Hired in the areas of design and thermal sciences.
• National Academy of Engineering Center for the Advancement of Scholarship on Engineering Education (CASEE) Postdoctoral Fellow, 2007-2008.
• Georgia Institute of Technology, Woodruff Teaching Fellow, 2007
• Georgia Institute of Technology, NDSEG Fellow, GRA, 2002-2006.

Courses and topics usually taught        

• heat transfer
• thermodynamics I and II
• introduction to design
• design process
• advanced design (Innovative Design/Bio-Inspired Design)             

Courses taken for fun       

• Principles of Biology
• Organic Chemistry I
• Organic Chemistry II
• Surface Analysis
• Problems in Biomedical Engineering
• Environmentally Conscious Design and Manufacturing
• Microbiology
• Fundamental Biochemistry
• Microeconomics
• Macroeconomics
• Inorganic Chemistry I
• Physical Chemistry I

Honors, awards, and professional activities  

• USASBE Faculty Scholarship, 2010
• Frontiers in Education New Faculty Fellow, 2009
• ASEE Best Paper Nomination, 2008
• NAE CASEE Postdoctoral Fellow, 2007-2008
• Georgia Institute of Technology Woodruff Teaching Fellow, 2007
• Georgia Institute of Technology Presidential Fellow, 2002-2006
• NDSEG Fellow, 2003-2006
• Graduate SGA Outstanding Poster Award for College of Engineering, 2006
• Member: American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME), American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE)         

Research interests

• multidisciplinary collaboration
• applications of atomic force microscopy
• biomimetic design
• biomaterials characterization
• thermal characterization of battery performance
• micro/nanoscale thermal transport
• energy conservation

Publications

• BA Nelson and W.P. King, Applications of Heated Atomic Force Microscope Cantilevers, Applied Scanning Probe Methods IV, B. Bhushan and E. Meyer, eds., Springer-Verlag (2006).
• Articles
• B.A. Nelson, C. Ciocanel, “Connecting Experiment, Theory, and Physical Intuition in Heat Transfer With a Low-Cost Solar Water Heater Design Project,” ASEE Annual Conference 2010, Louisville, KY.
• J. Wilson, B.A. Nelson, D. Rosen, and J. Yen, “The effects of biological examples in idea generation,” Design Studies, 31 (2010), 169-186
• B.A. Nelson, J. Wilson, D. Rosen and J. Yen, “Refined metrics for measuring ideation effectiveness,” Design Studies, 30 (2009), 737-743
• B.A. Nelson, J.O. Wilson, J. Yen, “A Study of Biologically-Inspired Design as a Context for Enhancing Student Innovation,” Frontiers in Education Conference 2009, San Antonio, TX
• B.A. Nelson, “The impact of exposure to biologically-inspired design on environmental ethics of undergraduate engineering students,” Proceedings, ASEE Annual Conference 2009, Austin, TX
• B.A. Nelson, “Biologically-Inspired Design: A Unique Multidisciplinary Design Model,” Proceedings, ASEE Annual Conference 2008, Pittsburgh, PA
• B.A. Nelson, W.P. King, “Modeling and Simulation of the Interface Temperature Between a Heated Silicon Cantilever Tip and a Substrate,” Nanoscale and Microscale Thermophys. Eng., 12 (2008) 98-115.
• B. A. Nelson and W. P. King, “Temperature Calibration of Heated Silicon Atomic Force Microscope Cantilevers,” Sens. Act. A, 140 (2007) 51-59.
• B.A. Nelson, W.P. King, “Measuring material softening with nanoscale spatial resolution using heated silicon probes,” Rev. Sci. Instrum., 78 (2007) 023702.  Republished online in the Virtual Journal of Nanoscience & Nanotechnology 15 (7), 2007.
• W. P. King, S. Saxena, B. A. Nelson, R. Pitchimani and B. L. Weeks, “Nanoscale Thermal Analysis of an Energetic Material,” Nano Lett., 6 (2006) 2145-2149.
• J. Lee, T. Beechem, T. L. Wright, B. A. Nelson, S. Graham and W. P. King, “Electrical, Thermal, and Mechanical Characterization of Silicon Microcantilever-Heaters,” J. Microelectromech. Syst., 15 (2006) 1644-1655.
• B. A. Nelson, W. P. King, A. R. Laracuente, P. E. Sheehan and L. J. Whitman, “Direct deposition of continuous metal nanostructures by thermal dip-pen nanolithography,” Appl. Phys. Lett., 88 (2006) 033104.
• B.A. Nelson, K. Gall, and W.P. King, “Recovery of Nanoscale Indentations in a Thermoset 'Shape Memory' Polymer,” Appl. Phys. Lett., 86, (2005) 103108.
• P. E. Sheehan, L. J. Whitman, W. P. King and B. A. Nelson, “Nanoscale deposition of solid inks via thermal dip pen nanolithography,” Appl. Phys. Lett., 85 (2004) 1589-1591.   

Other interests       

• musical instruments (guitar, djembe, banjo, mandolin)
• outdoor sport (hiking, backpacking, snowboarding, wakeboarding)
• friends and family
• laughter and love

Science nerd t-shirts designed

Brownie in Motion (Joe Charest, Marcus Eliason, Fabian Goericke, Brent Nelson, Harry Rowland)
 

Van Der Waals - Slightly Attractive (Joe Charest, Fabian Goericke, Brent Nelson, Harry Rowland)