Shihua Han

Advisor: Mohammad Rezaee
Expected Graduation: 2025
LinkedIn Profile

What student organizations and activities are you involved in?
As a first-generation student, I am a member of the Tri-Alpha Eta Psi Chapter. This society aims to establish robust support networks and foster success among first-generation students.

Why EME?

What’s the number one reason prospective graduate students should choose EME to pursue their research?
The EME department encompasses a broad range of disciplines vital for tackling energy, mineral, and environmental challenges. It features world-class faculty experts who engage in interdisciplinary collaboration within the department, college, and university. This collaboration is supported by institutions such as the EMS Energy Institute, the Earth and Environmental Systems Institute, the Institute for Computational and Data Sciences, and the Institutes of Energy and the Environment.

What is your dream job, and how is EME helping you to get closer to it?
My dream job is to become a professor at a research university. The EME department offers the facilities, knowledge, and guidance needed to become an independent researcher. It also provides opportunities to engage in various academic activities, such as attending seminars and conferences, making presentations, and collaborating with peers and experts in the field.

What opportunities has Penn State provided for you so far?
Penn State has provided me with opportunities to visit Washington D.C. and Pittsburgh through the Penn State Global program. Additionally, I have attended concerts and musicals through the Center for the Performing Arts—all of these experiences were free! 

My Research

My research focuses on developing strategies for dust control, specifically targeting respirable coal mine dust (particles smaller than 10 microns) using water sprays. Long-term exposure to respirable coal mine dust can cause coal workers' pneumoconiosis (CWP), or "black lung disease." My research aims to improve dust capture efficiency, thereby reducing the risk of CWP in coal mines, including those in Pennsylvania.

Methods

The dust capturing mechanism using water sprays can be studied through the collision and attachment between individual particles and water droplets. This fundamental phenomenon is analyzed using both analytical and computational approaches, specifically computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations on the Roar supercomputer at the Institute for Computational and Data Sciences (ICDS).

Advice

What is the one Penn State activity that everyone should participate in, and why?
I believe everyone should experience the Central PA 4th Fest Fireworks at least once. It is one of the top five "Largest," "Biggest," and "Best 4th of July Fireworks" shows in the United States.