TSU mechanical engineering students are designing and building a practical microscale device to cool electronic chips. The students are trying to dissipate up to 1000 W (equivalent to ten 100W light bulbs!) of waste heat from a dime-sized electronic chip. Because boiling liquid is a much more efficient heat transfer mechanism, one of the design concepts being investigated this year is the use of vacuum cooling. In this process, the pressure of the coolant is lowered so that boiling is more easily achieved through micro-channels cut into a copper heat sink. Innovative “stacked-plate” heat exchangers are also being investigated.

Project sponsor: Indiana 21st Century Technology Fund.

Project advisor: Dr. Ramiro Bravo.