Research/Teaching Interests

Dr. Howell's research has centered on developing solution techniques for radiative transfer in participating media (particularly the Monte Carlo method), solutions of highly non-linear combined mode heat transfer problems, and, most recently, inverse design and control of thermal systems with combined-mode (non-linear) heat transfer. Dr. Howell is a faculty member of the Thermal/Fluid Systems program of the Mechanical Engineering Department. He has served on the College of Engineering faculty since 1978 and previously taught at the University of Houston. He served as departmental chair from 1986 to 1990 and as Associate Dean for Research in the College of Engineering for three years until August 31, 1999. He worked to improve safety awareness, renovation procedures, communication between the College and the central administration on issues ranging from renovations to intellectual property. He also chaired the committee to develop a Strategic Plan for the College.

He coauthored Thermal Radiation Heat Transfer, Taylor and Francis, now in 4th ed (2002) (with Robert Siegel), and Fundamentals of Engineering Thermodynamics, McGraw Hill, 2nd ed. 1992 (with Richard Buckius), and has published over 200 articles, papers and reports. He maintains a web page of thermal radiation shape factors at http://www.me.utexas.edu/~howell/.

He received the ASME/AIChE Max Jakob Award (1997), the ASME Heat Transfer Memorial Award (1991) and the AIAA Thermophysics Award (1990) for his work in radiative transfer, and the ASEE Ralph Coats Roe Award in 1987 as Outstanding Mechanical Engineering Educator. He is a Fellow of ASME and AIAA, and was elected a Foreign Member of the Russian Academy of Science (1999). In 2004 the College of Engineering recognized Dr. Howell's outstanding research contributions with the Billy and Claude R. Hocott Distinguished Centennial Engineering Research Award. Dr. Howell was elected to the National Academy of Engineering for the development and dissemination of methods of addressing complex radiation heat-transfer problems in 2005. Drs. Alex Heltzel, Senthil Theppakuttai (both recent ME PhD graduates) and Profs. Shaochen Chen and John Howell's technical paper "Excitation of Surface Plasmons with Gold Microspheres," has been named as recipient of the 2006 American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics Best Paper by the AIAA Thermophysics Technical Committee.

1. Radiative Energy Transfer.
2. Heat Transfer in Energy Systems.
3. Heat Transfer with Combined Modes.

 

Thermal/Fluids Systems | Mechanical Engineering Department | College of Engineering | The University of Texas at Austin
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