Principal Investigators

Matthew J. Traum is an assistant professor of mechanical and energy engineering at the University of North Texas (UNT). He received a Ph.D. in mechanical engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology [2007] where he held a research assistantship at MIT's Institute for Soldier Nanotechnologies (ISN). His doctoral major was thermal fluid sciences, and his minor was micro/nano fabrication and manufacturing. Professor Traum holds a master's degree in mechanical engineering from MIT [2003] and two bachelor's degrees from the University of California, Irvine [2001]: one in mechanical engineering and the second in aerospace engineering. Professor Traum also minored in women's studies at UCI. In addition, he attended the University of Bristol, UK as a non-matriculating visiting scholar where he completed an M.Eng thesis in the Department of Aerospace Engineering [2000]. Prior to his appointment at UNT, Professor Traum taught in the Physics Department at Simmons College in Boston, MA.

Professor Traum's research interests focus on the intersection of thermal fluid sciences and nanotechnology in areas including: nano-pore latent heat transport, anthropogenic nano-thermo-physical properties, and power MEMS. His teaching interests include: thermodynamics, fluids, heat transfer, and micro/nano fabrication & manufacturing.

Sharon L. Karackattu is an adjunct professor of biology at Texas Woman's University (TWU) and an affiliate of the Thermal Fluid Sciences Group at the University of North Texas (UNT). She received a Ph.D. in biology from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology [2006] where she held a research assistantship in the Krieger Laboratory studying mouse models for coronary heart disease. She co-invented a genetically-altered mouse strain, which is patent-pending in the U.S. Dr. Karackattu earned her bachelor of science at the University of Florida in Interdisciplinary Studies with a Concentration in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology [2000]. Prior to UNT, Dr. Karackattu was a Post-Doctoral Associate at MIT's Biotechnology Process Engineering Center (BPEC) where she optimized a micro-scale three-dimensional perfused liver cell bioreactor.

Dr. Karackattu's research interests include liver and cardiac physiology, cell biology, and lipoprotein metabolism. Her presence in the TFS Group compliments the Group's core competencies, completing the "Nano - Bio - Energy" triad.