Director, Professor David B. Go

Brief Biography

Professor David B. Go was born and raised in South Bend, Indiana until he graduated from the University of Notre Dame with a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering (2001). Upon graduation, Prof. Go joined General Electric Aviation (formerly G. E. Aircraft Engines) where he was a design engineer in the Edison Engineering Development Program (EEDP) — a rotations-based leadership development program. During his time at G.E., Prof. Go focused his rotations on design and analysis roles where he worked on thermal analysis of secondary flow systems, thermal analysis of high-pressure turbine blades, and low-pressure turbine mechanical design. He also spent time working in an on-wing repair shop.

While working at G.E., Prof. Go also completed his M.S. in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Cincinnati (2004) where his final project was a statistical analysis of the thermal performance of high-pressure turbine blades in industrial gas turbine applications (proprietary project). He graduated from the EEDP program and the University of Cincinnati in 2004, at which time he enrolled in the Ph.D. program at Purdue University.

Prof. Go completed his Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering (2008) under the advisement of Dr. Timothy S. Fisher (currently at UCLA) and Dr. Suresh V. Garimella (currently President, University of Vermont) at the Birck Nanotechnology Center at Purdue University. Prof. Go's Ph.D. research focused on ionization and ion transport at both millimeter and micrometer scales for electrohydrodynamics and electronics cooling applications. Prof. Go's research consisted of both microfabrication and material synthesis as well as device development and computational modeling.

Prof. Go joined the Department of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering at the University of Notre Dame in 2008 as an Assistant Professor and was appointed as Concurrent Assistant Professor in the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering in 2013. He was promoted and named the Rooney Family Associate Professor of Engineering in 2015, and subsequently promoted and named Rooney Family Collegiate Professor in 2019. He has served as the Director of Graduate Studies (2018-2020) for the Department of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering and was elected as the President of the Electrostatics Society of America in 2019, serving a three-year term. Prof. Go was appointed Department Chair for the Department of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering in 2020 and was named the Viola D. Hank Professor of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering in 2022. In 2023, Prod. Go was appointed Vice President and Associate Provost for Academic Strategy in the Office of the Provost. 

Prof. Go has published widely in the areas of plasma science and engineering, heat transfer and fluid dynamics, and chemical analysis, including one introductory text book, and holds several patents and patent applications, leading to two licensed technologies. His research has been supported by nearly every federal agency, including the NSF, ARO, AFOSR, DARPA, NASA, DOE, and NIH, as well as several industry and foundation partners.  Prof. Go's teaching interests are centered around thermal-fluids courses and experiential courses, including design thinking and design projects. 

Education

• 2001 B.S. Mechanical Engineering, University of Notre Dame
• 2004 M.S. Aerospace Engineering, University of Cincinnati
• 2008 Ph.D. Mechanical Engineering, Purdue University

Awards and Recognitions

• Viola D. Hank Professor of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering, 2022-present
• Senior Member, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), 2022
• 1^st Source Bank Commercialization Award (2^nd Place), IDEA Center, University of Notre Dame, 2021
  • For software licensed to Indiana Technology and Manufacturing Companies (ITAMCO) and formed basis for Atlas3D start-up in 2018 that was sold to Siemens in 2019, shared with collaborators David Hoelzle, Richard Billo, and Hao Peng
• Rooney Family Collegiate Professor of Engineering, 2015-2021
• Rev. Edmund P. Joyce, C.S.C. Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching, 2019
• Electrostatics Society of America Rising Star Award, 2018
• Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Nuclear and Plasma Sciences Society (NPSS) Early Achievement Award, 2018
• Fellow, American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME), 2016
• Electrochemical Society Toyota Young Investigator Fellowship, 2015
• National Science Foundation CAREER Award, 2013
• Air Force Office of Scientific Research Young Investigator Research Award, 2010
• James W. and Carolyn L. Taylor MUACC Travel Award, 2009, 2010

Short CV (updated June 2023)