Prof. Jacopo Buongiorno

Professor Jacopo Buongiorno is one of the world’s leading researchers in nuclear thermal hydraulics and boiling heat transfer. His investigations of the effects of nanoparticle dispersions in fluids on single-phase and multiphase heat transfer, his experimental studies of the impacts of solid-surface morphology and composition on boiling phenomena, and his development of advanced diagnostics enabling the quantitative characterization of these phenomena have produced results of importance for the design and safety analysis of light-water-cooled nuclear reactors. He is currently leading an NSE design team that is developing a new concept for an offshore floating nuclear power plant. Buongiorno is also a gifted teacher and mentor whose contributions to both undergraduate and graduate education have been recognized with many awards, including recently being named a MacVicar Faculty Fellow — MIT’s highest honor for undergraduate teaching and education. This year he received the Ruth and Joel Spira Award for Distinguished Teaching -- an award he also won in 2006 and 2011.