Jiaming Liu

YALE UNIVERSITY

Relevant Coursework: Advanced Electron Devices, Advanced Robotic Mechanisms, Fluid Mechanics of Natural Phenomena

Graduate Research Assistant

• Spearheaded a joint research program with Corning Inc. on glass reliability, engineering a custom "Juliet" Joule-heating platform (P++ doped silicon) to achieve ultra-fast heating rates (~340°C/s) with in-situ IR thermal imaging and optical monitoring.
• Quantified the morphological evolution of Vickers indentation cracks in Corning Fusion 5 and borosilicate glasses under cyclic thermal shock (up to 1000 cycles) at sub-Tg (450°C) and near-Tg (530°C) regimes, utilizing AFM to confirm up to a ~50% reduction in crack depth.
• Decoupled the influence of sample thickness (1.6 mm vs. 2.7 mm) and Biot number on internal thermal gradients, demonstrating that thinner samples accelerate structural relaxation and crack blunting due to optimized heat transfer.

Undergraduate Research Assistant

• Conducted battery materials research on polymer (polyethylene) separators for lithium-ion batteries, focusing on separator/electrode interface performance.
• Prepared and optimized thin film coatings via Atomic Layer Deposition (ALD) to enhance durability, thermal stability, and solvent resistance.
• Characterized films and coated membranes using SEM, TMA, and solvent immersion tests, achieving near-zero shrinkage at 140°C and excellent solvent stability.

Laboratory Assistant Intern

• Executed materials research on Ni-Ti alloys, analyzing phase transformation via Austenite finish temperature testing.
• Assessed surface roughness using laser microscopy, ensuring compliance with quality and safety standards for medical applications.
• Delivered performance data supporting alloy optimization and the development of durable, cost-effective materials for minimally invasive devices.

FTO Thin Films via AACVD

• Targeted optimal aerosol-assisted CVD parameters to balance electrical conductivity and optical transparency for FTO thin films used in optoelectronic devices.
• Engineered 0.5 to 4-minute deposition trials at 550°C, characterizing crystal structure and resistivity via SEM, XRD, EDS, and 4-Point Probe.
• Achieved a dense, highly conductive thin film with a low sheet resistance of 126 Ω/sq by identifying the precise 4-minute process window.

Li-ion Battery Assembly & Testing

• Addressed capacity degradation in lithium batteries under high discharge rates by evaluating electrochemical limits in high-stress environments.
• Manufactured electrodes and assembled coin cells from raw materials, executing 0.1C to 5C cyclic tests and Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy (EIS).
• Quantified specific capacity degradation and Coulombic efficiency, delivering empirical data for battery manufacturing and electrode material optimization.

Viscous Fingering Analysis in Hele-Shaw Systems

• Investigated interfacial instability in Hele-Shaw systems to test the stabilizing effect of gas compressibility on fluid displacement efficiency.
• Constructed a 480μm-gap fluid testing platform, recording morphology and conducting rigorous root-cause analysis (RCA) on experimental data anomalies.
• Pinpointed critical hardware defects—such as inlet imperfections and uneven torque—and mapped instability trends to propose actionable mechanical improvements.

Polymer Thermal & Mechanical Characterization

• Evaluated the phase transitions and frequency-dependent viscoelasticity of a PET material to determine mechanical reliability under varying thermal histories.
• Operated a DSC with dual-heating cycles to eliminate thermal history and utilized DMA 3-point bending tests to acquire storage and loss moduli.
• Determined Tg (100-111°C) and Tm (~250°C) with high accuracy, establishing critical thermal metrics for injection molding by calculating a crystallinity drop from 21.3% to 19.0%.