Research/Teaching Interests

Dr. Matthews' expertise is in the areas of combustion and internal combustion engines. Dr. Matthews 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 1980 and has published more than 80 technical articles and reports.

In 2004 Dr. Matthews received the Joe J. King Professional Engineering Achievement Award from the College of Engineering. Along with Dr. Janet Ellzey and former Ph.D. students Yiqun Huang and Terrence Alger, he won the Myers Award for Outstanding Student Paper during the Society of Automotive Engineering SAE 2002 World Congress and Exhibition in Detroit. Yiqun was the primary author of the paper, "The Effects of Fuel Volatility and Structure on HC Emissions from Piston Wetting in DISI Engines." Dr. Matthews also received three other SAE awards in 2002: The Faculty Advisor Award; The "Triple E" (Excellence in Engineering Education) Award, which is presented by the society to one engineering educator each year for outstanding contributions in promoting student activities; and was named a Fellow of SAE, a prestigious and honorary grade to recognize individuals whose technical or scientific achievements have brought about meaningful advances in the fields of technology covered by SAE.

Dr. Matthews was the founder of the Formula SAE collegiate design competition. Started in 1981 with four teams competing at UT, the Formula SAE competition, now entering its 22nd year, now draws over 100 teams from universities as far away Japan, South Korea, and the UK.

Dr. Matthews was instrumental in UT Mechanical Engineering's body of work on fractal engine modeling, which was nominated for the Computerworld Awards, 1996 and again in 1998, and selected for permanent archiving in the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History Permanent Research Collection on Information, Technology, and Society.

Among the other honors Dr. Matthews has collected in his career, he received the UT Mechanical Engineering Department Distinguished Faculty Advisor Award in 1982; UT College of Engineering Award for Outstanding Engineering Teaching by an Assistant Professor in 1984; the Society of Automotive Engineering Faculty Advisor Award in 1990, 1997, and 2002; Society of Automotive Engineering Arch T. Colwell Merit Award in 1992;.

1. Alternative Fuels.
2. Emissions.
3. Engine Modeling.

 

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