Josiah D. Knight

Thomas Lord Department of Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science

Associate Professor of the Thomas Lord Department of Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science

Josiah D. Knight Profile Photo
Josiah D. Knight Profile Photo

Research Themes

Energy Systems & Materials

Research Interests

Fluid mechanics, thermodynamics, heat transfer, and dynamics

Bio

Josiah Knight, Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering, is Co-Director of the Energy and Environment Certificate, a program that prepares students to confront complex problems in providing safe, clean, reliable and affordable energy. The curriculum brings together students from arts and sciences as well as engineering in a series of courses spanning natural science, social science and technology, culminating in a capstone course in which multidisciplinary teams design, build, test and evaluate energy system prototypes. In the process, students learn to communicate across a spectrum of backgrounds and interests, as they must do to address energy problems in the larger world.

Knight's current research interests are in solar thermal energy and alternate propulsion methods for ground transportation. Solar thermal energy, in addition to direct uses for space, water and industrial heating, has been shown to be an efficient means of electricity generation. Much progress has been made in recent years on fault-tolerant solar thermal collectors, and integration of such systems with distributed power generation is a promising path toward low-carbon electricity.

Alternatives to the gasoline and diesel internal combustion engine have potential to expand the range of fuels that can be efficiently used for transportation and stationary power. A major issue in the development of biofuels for ICEs is that much of the heating value of the biomass is consumed in transforming the solids to liquid fuels. Burning solid biomass directly delivers greater net energy, but must be done in external combustion. Activity in this area is presently focused on optimizing performance of external combustion engines by using adaptive intake and exhaust porting and closed-loop valve control. The area is rich in both applied and basic questions that couple thermodynamics and electro-mechanical dynamics in nonlinear regimes.

Education

  • B.S. University of Virginia, 1980
  • M.S. University of Virginia, 1982
  • Ph.D. University of Virginia, 1986

Positions

  • Associate Professor of the Thomas Lord Department of Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science
  • Director of Energy Engineering Education

Awards, Honors, and Distinctions

  • P.M. Ku Award. Society of Tribologists and Lubrication Engineers. 2005

Courses Taught

  • ME 592: Research Independent Study in Mechanical Engineering or Material Science
  • ME 591: Research Independent Study in Mechanical Engineering or Material Science
  • ME 555: Advanced Topics in Mechanical Engineering
  • ME 492: Special Projects in Mechanical Engineering
  • ME 490: Special Topics in Mechanical Engineering
  • ME 461: Energy Engineering and the Environment
  • ME 331L: Thermodynamics
  • ENRGYEGR 310: Introduction to Energy Generation, Delivery, Conversion and Efficiency
  • ENERGY 796T: Bass Connections Energy & Environment Research Team
  • ENERGY 795-1: Connections in Energy: Interdisciplinary Team Projects
  • ENERGY 396T: Bass Connections Energy & Environment Research Team
  • ENERGY 395-1: Connections in Energy: Interdisciplinary Team Projects
  • ENERGY 310: Introduction to Energy Generation, Delivery, Conversion and Efficiency
  • EGR 424L: Energy and Environment Design

Publications