Weiran (Sasha) Gao

Weiran (Sasha) Gao is a PhD candidate whose research focuses on the development of electrical power systems that can meet emerging energy demands while balancing environmental and economic concerns. Specifically, Sasha’s research—supported by a MathWorks Fellowship—seeks to advance a novel format for lithium-ion batteries, called the “convection battery” in which electrolyte is circulated through a cell with porous solid electrodes and a separator to overcome the mass and thermal transport limitations. To accomplish this, Sasha has developed a model building upon MATLAB’s LIONSIMBA, called LIONSIMBA+c, which enables Sasha and other researchers to study dynamic behavior of the convection battery over a broad range of conditions. Sasha’s research has yielded key findings that may improve convection battery capabilities for a wide variety of current and emerging applications, including electric grid storage and even electric flight. In addition to advancing Sasha’s work to improve convection battery performance, the LIONSIMBA+c model is a useful tool for understanding the interplay between transport and reaction kinetics, which is beneficial for both educational and research purposes.