ABSTRACT: Energy sustainability is critical for both electronic and energy systems. By 2030,
computing alone could consume up to 20% of the world’s energy production, and greenhouse gas
emissions will be reduced by 50% in the US. As a result, improving energy efficiency in electronic
packaging and decarbonization systems is significant for energy sustainability. Interfacial materials
play a pivotal role in facilitating both electronics cooling and industrial heating. These processes
involve two primary heat transfer modes: evaporation and condensation, each harnessing latent
heat during phase change to enable efficient energy transport. However, the demands for
interfacial materials differ between these two heat transfer mechanisms. While a super-wetted
surface is advantageous for evaporation, a super-repellent surface is favorable for condensation. In
this presentation, I will introduce several scalable and sustainable designs with exceptional
evaporation and condensation capabilities to improve energy efficiency. Moreover, to advance
energy efficiency in electronics cooling, adaptive evaporative cooling will be employed to achieve
on- demand thermal management. To advance energy efficiency in decarbonization systems,
electricity-powered high-temperature heat pump systems will be used to replace fossil
fuel-powered boilers. Through the synergistic integration of co-designed passive and active
approaches, our goal is to achieve unparalleled energy efficiency in electronic packaging and
decarbonization systems.

BIO: Xianming (Simon) Dai is an Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering at The University
of Texas at Dallas. He is the recipient of a DARPA Young Faculty Award in 2023, a National Science
Foundation CAREER Award in 2021, and an Army Research Office Young Investigator Award in
2019. Dr. Dai’s research addresses critical packaging, energy, and water challenges in society, with
particular interests in thermal packaging, decarbonization, and water sustainability. His group’s
notable papers have been published in high-impact journals, including PNAS, Science Advances,
Joule, etc. Due to his significant contributions, Dr. Dai received the UT Dallas School of Engineering
Outstanding Assistant Professor of Research, and the Outstanding Early Career Award at the 1st
micro Flow and Interfacial Phenomena Conference.