This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon Europe research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 101046835.

A future thermal management solution funded by the European Union and European Innovation Council

Background

Thermal management is in the strong need for new material’s innovation. Stunningly, large data centres spend up to 40% of the total energy consumption to run the cooling system. Other examples are in the cooling of electronics and in the thermal control of electric vehicles batteries.

Problem

Here, the development of innovative solutions is hindered by heat removal and transport unsolved problems; the design aspect of thermal control devices has achieved so much but is already under pressure.

Aim

In ThermoDust we will achieve a real breakthrough in investigating new flexible materials, with the final aim of engineering a radically new material (ThermoDust) with outstanding heat transfer performance and suitable for Additive Manufacturing.

Impact

We are confident to be able to achieve the overall objectives through a sophisticated multi-disciplinary methodology that will rely upon scientific investigations, and the exploitation of discoveries to establish Europe as a leader in heat management, paving the way for innumerable new innovative products and markets in ICT, aerospace, electric vehicles and related areas.

Dr. Rocco Lupoi

LUPOIR@tcd.ie

I graduated as mechanical engineer in 2004 from Polytechnic University of Turin, and obtained my PhD degree with great success from the University of Bath (UK) in 2008. My PhD project was covered by an article with dedicated front cover in EUREKA magazine (May 2005) with title Devices that absorb energy on demand. I really enjoyed research, and formed a clear passion for the development of new manufacturing processes. As such, I was hired as post-doctoral researcher in Cambridge University (UK) in 2008 to carry out ground-breaking work in a new field, now known as Additive Manufacturing. In Cambridge I published key papers, submitted a patent (now granted), and formed a spin-off company with co-workers (Laser Fusion Tech.) to commercialize the processes I had developed. Despite the commercial attraction, academic research remained my true passion; in summer 2012 I accepted the post of Assistant Professor in Trinity College Dublin and I started to develop my own group. In 2013 I became Marie Curie Fellow (CIG scheme), and in 2014 I was awarded of a key grant from the European Space Agency (Technology Research Programme - TRP). I was the very first PI in Trinity to have secured an award of this size from ESA. The project was featured in the national innovation news page of the Irish Times, 19th of January 2015. As an independent PI, I am now a funded investigator in AMBER (the national research centre for advanced materials and bioengineering) and I-Form (the national centre for Advanced Manufacturing). I am now an Associate Member of the international academy of production engineering (CIRP). In summary, I am an emerging leader in Additive Manufacturing with established collaborations in Europe (Ireland, UK, Czech Republic, Germany, Italy, France) and the rest of the World (China, US, Canada). In recognition to my research career, I was elected Fellow of Trinity College Dublin (FTCD) in 2019 and nominated Fellow of the Institute of Materials, Minerals & Mining (FIMMM) in 2022.

Dr. Rocco Lupoi

Associate Professor, Department of Mechanical, Manufacturing & Biomedical Engineering

lupoir@tcd.ie