School of Engineering
Department of Mechanical Engineering
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Laurent Pilon

Laurent Pilon

Professor, Mechanical Engineering
Director of Tufts Epsilon Materials Institute (TEMI), Tufts University School of Engineering
Epsilon Energy Materials Innovation Professorship, School of Engineering, Tufts University School of Engineering
Laurent Pilon
Tufts Epsilon Materials Institute The Tufts Gradient Lab Google Scholar LinkedIn ORCID

Full Profile

Research/Areas of Interest

1) Electrochemical energy storage: lithium-ion batteries, electrochemical capacitors, supercapacitors, pseudocapacitors, electric double layer, operando isothermal calorimetry, potentiometric entropy measurements, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS), cyclic voltammetry, fast charging, degradation mechanisms, continuum modeling.

2) Mesoporous materials: mesoporous silica, aerogels, thin films, thermal conductivity, optical properties, transparent thermal insulation, energy-efficient windows, molecular dynamics, microstructure–property relationships.

3) Light–matter interactions and radiation transfer: radiative transfer, light scattering, dependent scattering, particulate media, radiative cooling, photobioreactors, photoelectrochemical cells.

4) Cryogenics and superconductivity (new): high-temperature superconductors (HTS), HTS tape manufacturing, cryocoolers, cryogenic heat transfer, superconducting energy systems.

Education

  • Doctor of Philosophy, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, USA
  • Bach of Sci in Engineering, Institut National Polytechnique de Grenoble, FRA
  • Master of Science Engineering, Institut National Polytechnique de Grenoble, FRA

Biography

Dr. Laurent Pilon is a Professor of Mechanical Engineering at Tufts University and is the inaugural Director of the Tufts Epsilon Materials Institute. His research group is engaged in a wide range of interdisciplinary research projects at the intersection of interfacial and transport phenomena, and material science for the development of sustainable energy conversion, storage, and efficiency technologies.

Prior to joining Tufts University, Pilon served as Associate Director for Technology and Program Director at the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E). His programs focused on high temperature superconducting tape and energy systems, circularity of the battery supply chain, advanced manufacturing, and building materials. He is also the creator of the ARPA-E IGNIITE Award program to empower early career innovators to pursue disruptive, unconventional ideas across America's most critical energy technology priorities. From 2002 to 2026, Pilon was Professor in the Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Department at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA).

Pilon and his collaborators have co-authored 6 book chapters, 220 archival journal publications, and filed 7 patents. Pilon has advised 32 Ph.D. students, 22 M.S. students, and 5 post-doctoral scholars. He is the recipient of several prestigious awards including the CAREER Award from the National Science Foundation (2005), the Bergles-Rohsenow Young Investigator Award in Heat Transfer (2008), and the Heat Transfer Memorial Award (2021) from the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME). He also received the Viskanta Fellowship (2014) and the Outstanding Mechanical Engineering Award (2023) from the Purdue University School of Mechanical Engineering.

Pilon received a Bachelor's degree and a Master's degree in Applied Physics from the Grenoble Institute of Technology, France and earned his Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from Purdue University.