Andrea Pickel
Assistant Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering
Assistant Professor, Materials Science
Assistant Professor, Institute of Optics
Scientist, Laboratory for Laser Energetics (LLE)
PhD, UC Berkeley, 2019
- Office Location
- 219 Hopeman
- Telephone
- (585) 275-9142
- Web Address
- Website
Andrea Pickel joined the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Rochester as an Assistant Professor in July 2019. She received her PhD in Mechanical Engineering from the University of California, Berkeley in May 2019, where she was supported by a National Science Foundation (NSF) Graduate Research Fellowship and a UC Berkeley Chancellor’s Fellowship. She received her BS in Mechanical Engineering with University and College Honors from Carnegie Mellon University in 2014. Her current research focuses on harnessing the unique properties of luminescent materials to develop nanothermometry techniques for challenging operating environments. Andrea is the recipient of an American Chemical Society Petroleum Research Fund (ACS PRF) Doctoral New Investigator Award (2020), a University of Rochester Furth Fund Award (2021), and an NSF CAREER Award (2022), and she was named a Scialog Fellow for Automating Chemical Laboratories (2024). Her teaching contributions have been recognized with the G. Graydon Curtis ’58 and Jane W. Curtis Award for Non-Tenured Faculty Teaching (2023).
Research Overview
The Pickel group applies primarily experimental methods to study heat transfer at the nanoscale, with an emphasis on luminescent probes and spectroscopic techniques. Current focus areas in our research group include adapting biological super-resolution imaging methods for thermal metrology and developing combined operando thermometry and chemical reaction monitoring approaches. Leveraging these tools, we aim to address pressing challenges spanning diverse fields, such as device thermal management, catalysis, and carbon capture, and to advance our fundamental understanding of nanoscale energy transport and conversion.
Research Interests
- Nanoscale heat transfer
- Luminescence nanothermometry
- Single-nanoparticle and super-resolution imaging and spectroscopy
- High-temperature thermal metrology
- Electrothermal measurements