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Ryan Milcarek

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School for Engineering of Matter, Transport and Energy
Asst Professor
Faculty, TEMPE Campus, Mailcode 6106
Biography: 

Ryan Milcarek obtained his bachelor's, master's and doctoral degrees in the Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Department at Syracuse University. He also obtained a master's degree in energy systems engineering, certificate of advanced study in sustainable enterprise and certificate in university teaching during his graduate studies.

Milcarek's current research focuses on micro-tubular Flame-assisted Fuel Cells (FFCs), system-level hybrid combustion/FFC applications including micro cogeneration and two-stage combustors, microcombustion, manufacturing of ceramic materials for solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs), and energy modeling. He also conducts research in engineering education in areas of sustainability, resilience and fuel cell education. Milcarek gained his passion for energy research during his undergraduate studies while conducting energy assessments of industrial facilities as part of the Industrial Assessment Center program which was sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy. Milcarek is an National Science Foundation (NSF) Graduate Research Fellow, ASHRAE Graduate Grant-in-Aid recipient, a recipient of the ASME International Gas Turbine Institute student scholarship, an Astronaut Scholar, and a former Syracuse University Graduate Fellow.

Education: 
  • Ph.D. Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, College of Engineering and Computer Science, Syracuse University 2018         
  • M.S. Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, College of Engineering and Computer Science, Syracuse University 2017
  • M.S. Energy Systems Engineering, College of Engineering and Computer Science, Syracuse University 2017 
  • Certificate of Advanced Study (CAS). Sustainable Enterprise, Martin J. Whitman School of Management,Syracuse University 2017
  • Certificate in University Teaching (CUT). Graduate School, Future Professorate Program, Syracuse University 2017   
  • B.S. Mechanical Engineering; minor: Mathematics (Summa Cum Laude), L.C. Smith College of Engineering and Computer Science, Syracuse University 2014  (rank: 1/259 of all engineering majors, 1/60 of mechanical engineers)
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Research Website: 
http://RESEARCHGATE.net/profile/Ryan_Milcarek
Research Interests: 

Advanced Energy Conversion, Solid Oxide Fuel Cells, Microcombustion, Combustion, Micro Cogeneration

Publications: 
  1. Ryan J. Milcarek, Michael J. Garrett, Thomas S. Welles, Jeongmin Ahn, “Performance Investigation of a micro-Tubular Flame-assisted Fuel Cell Stack with 3,000 Rapid Thermal Cycles,” Journal of Power Sources, Vol. 394, pp. 86-93 (2018), doi:10.1016/j.jpowsour.2018.05.060.
  2. Ryan J. Milcarek, Jeongmin Ahn, “Rich-burn, Flame-assisted fuel cell, Quick-mix, Lean-burn (RFQL) Combustor and Power Generation,” Journal of Power Sources, Vol. 381, pp. 18-25 (2018), doi:10.1016/j.jpowsour.2018.02.006.
  3. Ryan J. Milcarek, Michael J. Garrett, Jeongmin Ahn, “Micro-tubular Flame-assisted Fuel Cells”, Journal of Fluid Science and Technology, Vol. 12, Issue 3, pp. JFST0021 (2017), doi:10.1299/jfst.2017jfst0021.
  4. Ryan J. Milcarek, Jeongmin Ahn, Jianshun Zhang, “Review and Analysis of Fuel Cell Based, Micro Cogeneration for Residential Applications: Current State and Future Opportunities”, Journal of Science and Technology for the Built Environment, Vol. 23, Issue 8, pp. 1224-1243 (2017), doi:10.1080/23744731.2017.1296301.
  5. Wei Liu, Ryan J. Milcarek, Ryan L. Falkenstein-Smith, Jeongmin Ahn, “Interfacial impedance studies of multilayer structured electrolyte fabricated with solvent-casted PEO10- LiN(CF3SO2)2  and ceramic Li1.3Al0.3Ti1.7(PO4)3 and its application in all-solid-state lithium ion batteries”, Journal of Electrochemical Energy Conversion and Storage, Vol. 13, Issue 2, pp. 021008 (2016), doi:10.1115/1.4035294.
  6. Ryan J. Milcarek, Michael J. Garrett, Jeongmin Ahn, “Micro-tubular Flame-assisted Fuel Cell Stacks”,  International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, Vol. 41, Issue 46, pp. 21489-21496  (2016) doi:10.1016/j.ijhydene.2016.09.005.
  7. Ryan J. Milcarek, Kang Wang, Michael J. Garrett, Jeongmin Ahn, “Micro-tubular Flame-assisted Fuel Cells Running Methane”, International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, Vol. 41, Issue 45, pp. 20670-20679 (2016), doi:10.1016/j.ijhydene.2016.08.155.
  8. Ryan J. Milcarek, Michael J. Garrett, Amrish Baskaran, Jeongmin Ahn, “Combustion Characterization and Model Fuel Development for Micro-tubular Flame-assisted Fuel Cells”, Journal of Visualized Experiments, Vol. 116, e54638 (2016), doi:10.3791/54638.
  9. Ryan J. Milcarek, Kang Wang, Ryan L. Falkenstein-Smith and Jeongmin Ahn, “Performance Variation with SDC Buffer Layer Thickness”, International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, Vol. 41, Issue 22, pp. 9500-9506 (2016),  doi:10.1016/j.ijhydene.2016.04.113.
  10. Ryan J. Milcarek, Kang Wang, Michael Garrett, and Jeongmin Ahn, “Performance Investigation of Dual Layer YSZ-SDC Electrolyte for Intermediate Temperature Solid Oxide Fuel Cells”, Journal of Electrochemical Energy Conversion and Storage, Vol. 13, Issue 1, pp. 011002 (2016), doi:10.1115/1.4032708.
  11. Ryan J. Milcarek, Kang Wang, Ryan L. Falkenstein-Smith, and Jeongmin Ahn, “Micro-tubular Flame-assisted Fuel Cells for micro-Combined Heat and Power Systems”, Journal of Power Sources, Vol. 306, pp. 148-151 (2016), doi:10.1016/j.jpowsour.2015.12.018.
  12. Kang Wang, Ryan J. Milcarek, Pingying Zeng, and Jeongmin Ahn, “Flame-Assisted Fuel Cells Running Methane”, International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, Vol. 40, Issue 13, pp. 4659-4665 (2015), doi:10.1016/j.ijhydene.2015.01.128.
Research Activity: 

 

  1. Collaborative Research Project 2017 - Institute of Fluid Science - Tohoku University, Micro combustion for clean and efficient syngas formation and fuel cell applications
  2. NEXUS-NY Grant, Cohort 4, Flame-assisted Fuel Cells for micro-CHP, Entrepreneurial Lead, Contract No. 03911
  3. Syracuse Center of Excellence (CoE) 2017 Faculty Fellows Program, Thermo-mechanical fuel reforming for fuel cell energy systems
  4. National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Program (NSF GRFP), Flame-assisted Fuel Cells for micro-Combined Heating and Power, Grant No. 1746928
  5. Syracuse Center of Excellence (CoE) 2016 Faculty Fellows Program, Reduced NOx RQL Combustor and Flame-assisted Fuel Cell, Grant No. 04117
  6. New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA), Resilient Residential Boiler/Furnace with Flame-assisted Fuel Cell (RRB FFC), Contract No. 61736
  7. Advanced Manufacturing-Thermal and Environmental Controls (AMTEC), Flame-assisted Fuel Cell Furnace micro-CHP (FFF μCHP), Awarded by Syracuse University’s Syracuse Center of Excellence for Environmental and Energy Systems with funding under prime award No. DE-EE0006031 from the US Department of Energy (DOE) and matching funding under award number 53367 from the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA).
Summer 2020
Course NumberCourse Title
MAE 595Continuing Registration
MAE 792Research
Spring 2020
Course NumberCourse Title
MAE 241Intro to Thermodynamics
MAE 492Honors Directed Study
MAE 493Honors Thesis
MAE 592Research
MAE 595Continuing Registration
MAE 792Research
Fall 2019
Course NumberCourse Title
ASU 101-MEEThe ASU Experience
MAE 436Combustion
MAE 492Honors Directed Study
MAE 536Combustion
MAE 599Thesis
MAE 792Research
Summer 2019
Course NumberCourse Title
MAE 595Continuing Registration
MAE 792Research
Spring 2019
Course NumberCourse Title
MAE 592Research
MAE 595Continuing Registration
MAE 792Research
Fall 2018
Course NumberCourse Title
MAE 241Intro to Thermodynamics
MAE 599Thesis
MAE 792Research
Honors / Awards: 

Fellowships, Grants & Scholarships

  • JSPS Fellowship for Overseas Researchers (Strategic Program) recipient, 2017
  • National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship (NSF GRFP) recipient, 2016-2018
  • ASHRAE Graduate Student Grant-In-Aid recipient, Grant-In-Aid Life Member Club grant designation, 2016-2017
  • ASME International Gas Turbine Institute (IGTI) Student Scholarship, 2016-2017
  • ASHRAE CNY Chapter Fritz Traugott Award, 2015
  • Syracuse University Graduate Fellowship, August 2014-May 2016
  • Astronaut Scholarship, Astronaut Scholarship Foundation, 2013
  • Karl Carnavale Memorial Scholarship, Syracuse University, 2013
  • Founders Scholarship, Syracuse University, 2008-2014

Academic

  • Outstanding Achievement Award in Graduate Study for Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Syracuse University, 2017
  • Summa Cum Laude, Syracuse University, 2014
  • William Peil Inventors Award for Mechanical Engineering, Syracuse University, 2014
  • Outstanding Achievement in Mechanical Engineering Award, Syracuse University, 2014

Research

  • Best Paper, Student Paper Competition, ASME 2018 Power and Energy Conference & Exhibition, 2018
  • National Science Foundation Graduate Research Opportunities Worldwide (NSF GROW) travel award, 2017
  • 10th U.S. National Combustion Meeting Student Travel Stipend, 2017
  • Eastern States Section of the Combustion Institute Travel Grant for 10th US National Combustion Meeting, 2017
  • Advisory Board Award – 1st Place Research Poster, Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Department, Syracuse University, 2017
  • ASHRAE Graduate Grant-in-Aid Honorarium for presentation of research at 2017 Winter Conference
  • ‘Best Prototype Award’, 5th Annual General Electric Student Research Summit (GE SRS), 2016
  • ‘Best Practical Application’ for research, Nunan Lecture and Research Day, 2016
  • 1st Place in the CNY ASHRAE Student poster competition, 2016
  • 1st Place in the PhD Research Poster category at the SyracuseCoE Symposium, 2015
  • 1st Place in the Research Poster category at the SyracuseCoE INSPIRE Competition, 2015
  • 'High Impact Idea' Award at the EarthWeek Sustainability Research Poster Session, organized by the Office of Vice President for Sustainability Initiatives at Syracuse University, 2015
  • 1st Place at the Graduate Level for the 3rd Annual NYSP2I Research Competition, 2014
  • Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU), Syracuse University, 2013
Professional Associations: 
  • American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME)
  • American Society of Heating Refrigeration and Air-conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE)
  • Order of the Engineer
  • The Combustion Institute
  • American Society of Engineering Education (ASEE)
  • American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA)
  • Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE)
Expertise Areas: 
Electrochemistry
Energy
Ceramics
Thin Film Materials