Department of Mechanical Engineering

Tom Diller


Tom Diller


Professor

Mechanical Engineering
114R Randolph Hall
(540) 231-7198
(540) 231-9100 FAX

tdiller@vt.edu


Education Research
Teaching
Experience
Honors
Publications

Education

Sc.D. Mechanical Engineering Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 1977
M.S. Mechanical Engineering Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 1974
B.S. Mechanical Engineering Carnegie-Mellon University 1972

 

Research

Current research focuses on the development and use of new instrumentation for measuring heat transfer. Research funding has included The Whitaker Foundation, Department of Energy, The National Science Foundation, NASA Langley, NASA Dryden, AFOSR, NASA Lewis, NIH, Sandia Labs and a number of industries.

Applications include:

  • Novel Heat Flux Gages
  • Noninvasive Probe to Measure Blood Perfusion of Skin
  • Measurement and Correlation of Instantaneous Velocity and Heat Flux in Turbulent Flows
  • Gas Turbine Blade Heat Transfer
  • Heat Transfer Measurement in Fires
  • Hypersonic Flow Heat Transfer


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Teaching Activities


ME 3304 Heat and Mass Transfer

Comprehensive basic course in heat and mass transfer for mechanical engineering students. Principles of conduction, convection, and radiation with applications to heat exchangers and other engineering systems. Pre: 3105 or 3114; Co: 3404. (3H,3C). II,III.

ME 4005 Mechanical Engineering Lab

Principles of measurement, measurement standards and accuracy, detectors and transducers, digital data acquisition principles, signal conditioning systems and readout devices statistical concepts in measurement, experimental investigation of engineering systems, technical report writing. Pre: EE-3254; Co: ME-3504. (2H,3L,3C). 4005: II,IV; 4006: I.

ME 4124 Heat Transfer Systems Design

Design methodology applied to thermal systems, such as condensers, heat exchangers, and evaporators. Builds on basic principles from 3304 with the addition of boiling and condensation phenomena. Pre: 3304; (3H,3C). I.

ME 5314 Convective Heat and Mass Transfer

Principles of convection. Analysis of transfer for internal and external flows; laminar and turbulent thermal boundary layer theories; forced and natural convection; similarity solutions; Reynolds analogy. Pre: 5405; (3H,3C).

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Experience

Professor Dept. of Mechanical Engineering
Virginia Tech
Blacksburg, VA		 Sept. 1990 - Present
Assistant Department Head Graduate Program
Virginia Tech
Blacksburg, VA		 1997-2002
Associate Professor Dept. of Mechanical Engineering
Virginia Tech
Blacksburg, VA		 Sept. 1983 - Sept. 1990
Assistant Professor Dept. of Mechanical Engineering
Virginia Tech
Blacksburg, VA		 Sept. 1979 - Sept. 1983
Professeur Invit of LTT ECOLE POLYTECHNIC FEDERALE DE LAUSANNE, Switzerland 2002-2003
NASA-ASEE Summer Faculty Fellowship Program NASA LEWIS RESEARCH CENTER, Turbine Heat Transfer Branch 1995
Senior Engineer Polaroid Corporation 1976 - 1979

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Honors

  • Hertz Foundation Fellow

  • American Men and Women of Science

  • Who's Who in America

  • Who's Who in the World

  • Fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers

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Publications

Tom Diller has published over one hundred technical papers in a variety of areas encompassing heat transfer, fluid flow, and instrumentation. Examples are:

Diller, T. E., "Advances in Heat Flux Measurement," Advances in Heat Transfer, Vol. 23, Eds. J. P. Hartnett et al., Academic Press, Boston, 1993, pp. 279-368.

Hager, J. M., Onishi, S., Langley, L. W., and Diller, T. E., "High Temperature Heat Flux Measurements," AIAA Journal of Thermophysics and Heat Transfer, Vol. 7, 1993, pp. 531-534.

Diller, T. E., and Onishi, S., "Heat Flux Gage," European Patent Publication No. 0349618B1, May 7, 1995.

Diller, T. E. and Scott, E. P., "Noninvasive Thermal Blood Perfusion Probe," U.S. Provisional Patent Application Serial No. 60/915,674, May 2, 2007.

Diller, T. E., "Heat Flux," Ch. 34, in The Measurement, Instrumentation and Sensors Handbook, Ed. J. G. Webster, CRC Press, Boca Raton, Florida, 1999, pp. 34.1-15.

Holmberg, D. G. and Diller, T. E., "Simultaneous Heat Flux and Velocity Measurements in a Transonic Turbine Cascade," ASME Journal of Turbomachinery, Vol. 127, 2005, pp. 502-506.

Robinson, P. S., Scott, E. P., and Diller, T. E., "Testing of a Non-Invasive Probe for Measurement of Blood Pefusion," accepted for publication in ASME Journal of Medical Devices.

Nix, A. C., Ng, W. F., and Diller, T. E., "Experimental Measurements and Modeling of the Effects of Large-Scale Freestream Turbulence on Heat Transfer," ASME Journal of Turbomachinery, Vol. 129, 2007, pp. 542-550.

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