PAT WALSH BEng PhD MIEI MASME
Lecturer in Civil Engineering

e: pat.walsh@ul.ie

t: +353-61-213019

Dr. Pat Walsh has been a member of the Stokes Institute at the University of Limerick since 2002. He has expertise is in the areas of heat transfer, fluid mechanics, thermodynamics, as well as aspects of material science. Pat lecturers on the Civil Engineering programme at UL where his focus is on the development of industry relevant modules leading to an energy theme within the programme.

Pat began his career as a mechanical engineer when he graduated with a 1st class honours degree from the University of Limerick. Following a short period in industry, he recommenced full time studies through research at the Stokes Institute in UL.  In 2006, he was awarded a PhD for research into flow and heat transfer phenomena within a novel microfluidic device for the early detection of genetic mutations, i.e. cancers.

He subsequently remained at the Stokes Institute, working first as research fellow, and later as senior research fellow. In these positions, he secured over €350k of competitive research funds to conduct basic and applied research in the areas of fluid flow, heat transfer and thermodynamics, as well as various consultancy and commercialisation works. He also attained significant teaching experience both at the University of Limerick and during time spent as lecturer at Cork Institute of Technology on a Sustainable Energy degree programme between Jan and Sept of 2010. These experiences led him towards experimenting with innovative active learning pedagogical approaches, in an attempt to both engage students with the course material and promote the problem solving taught process.

Pat’s current research interests are focused around the development of novel materials and technologies for diurnal and seasonal storage of thermal energy. This research is primarily focused around energy conservation through utilisation of waste heat or excess solar irradiation. He was a member of the scoping panel for International Energy Research Centre (IERC), advising government and industry groupings of strategic research areas where investment would likely promote economic growth through the development of innovative world leading products/technologies.

Pat has disseminated his research findings through 19 ISI cited journal articles, a chapter in the ‘Microfluidics and Nanofluidics Handbook’ CRC Press, 28 peer-reviewed articles in international conference proceedings, as well as 2 patents on novel low-profile electronics cooling technologies.

Teaching Modules:

Modelling and Analysis of Fluid Systems

Wind, Ocean & Hydro Energy

Energy Efficient Buildings

Awards

Co-operative Education Award, 2000, University of Limerick

Advanced Scholars Award, 2002, University of Limerick

Sir Bernard Crossland Award for Best Research Paper, 2004

Publication List

Book

Muzychka, Y. S., Walsh, E. J., Walsh, P. A., & Egan V.M. 2011, "Non-boiling two phase flows in microchannels," in Handbook of Microfluidics and Nanofluidics, CRC Press, Florida, USA. 120 pages. Status: Second draft submitted, reviewed and approved, anticipated publication date Dec. 2011.

Articles Published in Peer-Reviewed Scientific Journals

Howard, J.A, Walsh, P.A., Walsh, E.J. & Muzychka Y.S. 2011, “Prandtl and Capillary Effects on Heat Transfer Performance within Laminar Liquid-Gas Slug Flows”, Int. J. of Heat and Mass Transfer, vol. x, no. x, pp. x-x. Status: Article reviewed and accepted – awaiting proof

Muzychka, Y.S., Walsh, E.J., & Walsh P.A. 2011, “Heat transfer enhancement using laminar gas-liquid segmented fluid streams”, ASME J. of Heat Transfer, vol. 133, no. 4, 041902 (9 pages

Walsh, P.A., Egan, V., & Walsh E.J. 2010, "Novel micro-PIV study enables a greater understanding of nanoparticle suspension flows - Nanofluids", Microfluidics and Nanofluidics, vol. 8, no. 6, pp. 837-842.

Walsh, P.A., Walsh, E.J., & Muzychka, Y.S. 2010, “Heat transfer model for gas-liquid slug flows under constant heat flux”, Int. J. of Heat and Mass Transfer, vol. 53, pp. 3193-3201.

Walsh, P.A., Walsh, E.J., & Grimes, R. 2010, “Correlating viscous scaling effects in miniature centrifugal flow fans”, ASME J. of Electronics Packaging, vol. 132, no. 2, pp. 005002 1-9.

Walsh, P.A., Egan, V., Grimes, R., & Walsh E. 2010, “Profile scaling of miniature centrifugal fans”, Heat Transfer Engineering, vol. 30, no. 1-2, pp. 130-137.

Stafford, J., Walsh, E.J., Egan, V., Walsh, P.A., & Muzychka Y.S. 2010, “A novel approach to low profile heat sink design”, ASME  J. of Heat Transfer, vol. 132, no. 9, 091401, pp. 1-8.

Grimes, R., Walsh, E.J., & Walsh P.A. 2010, “Active Cooling of a Mobile Phone Handset”, Applied Thermal Engineering, vol. 30, no. 16, pp. 2363-2369.

Muzychka, Y.S., Walsh, E.J., & Walsh P.A. 2010, “Simple models for laminar thermally developing slug flow in non-circular ducts and channels”, ASME J. of Heat Transfer, vol. 132, no. 11, 111702 pp 1-10.

Egan, V., Walsh, P.A.., & Walsh, E.J. 2009, “On viscosity measurements of nanofluids in micro and mini tube”, J. of Phys. D: Appl. Phys., vol. 42, pp. 165502.

Egan, V., Walsh, P.A., Walsh, E., & Grimes, R, 2009, “Thermal Analysis of Miniature Low Profile Heat Sinks with and without fins”, ASME J. of Elec. Pack., vol. 131, 3, 301004, pp. 1-11.

Walsh, E.J., Walsh, P.A., Punch, J. & Grimes R. 2009, “Acoustic emissions from active cooling solutions for portable devices”, IEEE Transactions on Components and Packaging Technologies, vol. 32, no. 4, pp. 776-783.

Walsh, E.J., Muzychka, Y.S., Walsh, P.A., Egan, V., & Punch, J. 2009, “Pressure drop in two phase slug/bubble flows in mini scale capillaries”, Int. J. of Multiphase Flows, vol. 35, no. 10, pp. 879-884.

Egan, V., Stafford, J., Walsh, P.A., & Walsh E.J. 2009, “An experimental study on the design of miniature heat sinks for forced convection air cooling”, ASME J. of Heat Transfer, vol. 131, no. 7, pp. 071402

Walsh, E.J., Walsh, P.A., Grimes, R., & Egan V. 2008, “Thermal management of low profile electronic equipment using radial fans and heat sinks”, ASME J. of Heat Transfer, vol. 130, no. 12, pp. 125001.

Walsh, P. A., Walsh, E. J., & Davies M.R.D.  2007, “On the out-of-plane divergence of streamtubes in planar mini-scale flow focusing devices”, Int. J. of Heat and Fluid Flow. vol. 28, no. 1, pp. 44-53.

Walsh, P. A. & Davies, M. R. D. 2006, “Factors affecting temperature measurement using phase measurement interferometry in small scale devices”, Experimental Thermal and Fluid Science, vol. 30, no. 8, pp. 853-862.

Walsh, P. A., Davies, M. R. D., & Dalton, T. 2006, “Visualising the onset of meandering structures in a small length scale fluidic junction using dye injections”, Journal of Visualization, vol. 9, no. 1, pp. 3.

Walsh, P. A., Davies, M. R. D., & Dalton, T. 2005, “Visualization of buoyancy opposing flow structures in a small length scale fluidic junction”, Journal of Visualization, vol. 8, no. 4, pp. 288.

Peer-Reviewed Articles in International Conference Proceedings

Howard, J.A., Walsh, P.A. 2011, “Heat Transfer Characteristics of Microencapsulated Phase Change Material Slurry Flows Under a Constant Heat Flux Boundary”, in Proc. of ASME 9th Int. Conf. on Nanochannels, Microchannels and Minichannels, Alberta, Edmonton Canada, June 19-22, ICNMM2011-58075.

Janes, N., Muzychka, Y.S., Guy, B., Walsh, E.J. & Walsh, P.A. 2010, “Heat Transfer in Gas-Liquid and Liquid-Liquid Two Phase Plug Flow Systems”, in Proc. of ITherm 2010, Los Vegas, Nevada, USA, June 2nd to 5th.

Howard, J.A, Walsh, P.A., Walsh, E.J. & Muzychka Y.S. 2010, “Heat Transfer Enhancement with Laminar Liquid-Gas Slug Flows”, in Proc. of ITherm 2010, Los Vegas, Nevada, USA, June 2nd to 5th.

Walsh, P.A., Walsh, E.J., & Muzychka Y.S. 2009, “Laminar slug flow – heat transfer characteristics with a constant heat flux boundary condition”, in Proc. of ASME Summer Heat Trans. Conf. 2009, San Francisco, CA, USA, HT2009-88428, July 19th to 23rd.

Muzychka, Y.S., Walsh, E.J., & Walsh P.A. 2009, “Heat transfer enhancement using laminar gas-liquid segmented fluid streams”, In Proc. of ASME Inter-Pack Conf., San Francisco, CA, USA, IPACK2009-89065, July 19th to 23rd.

Muzychka, Y.S., Walsh, E.J., & Walsh P.A. 2009, “Simple models for laminar thermally developing slug flow in non-circular ducts and channels”, In Proc. of ASME International Mechanical Engineering Congress & Exposition, Orlando, Florida, USA, IMECE2009-10484, November 13th to 19th.

Egan, V., Walsh, P.A., & Walsh E. 2009, “Flow characteristics of aluminum oxide nanofluids”, in Proc. of ASME Summer Heat Trans. Conf., July 19th to 23rd, San Francisco, CA, USA, HT2009-88450.

Stafford, J., Walsh, E., Egan, V., Walsh, P.A., & Muzychka Y.S. 2009, “An experimental and theoretical study of finned and finless heat sinks”, in Proc. of ASME Summer Heat Trans. Conf., July 19th-23rd, San Francisco, CA, USA, HT2009-88200.

Walsh, P.A., Walsh, E., & Grimes R. 2008, “On the performance of miniature centrifugal fans with varying blade cord length”, in Proc. of the 6th Int. conf. on Nanochannels and Minichannels, June 23-25, Darmstadt, Germany, ICNMM2008-62086.

Hanly, K., Grimes, R., & Walsh P.A. 2008, “The effects of Reynolds number on the aerodynamic performance of geometrically similar fans”, in Proc. of ASME Fluids Eng. Conf., August 10th-14th, Jacksonville, Florida, USA, FEDSM2008-55149.

Walsh, E.J., Walsh, P.A., Grimes, R. & Punch J. 2008, “Acoustic emissions from active cooling solutions for portable devices”, in Proc. of ITHERM, 28th-31st May, Orlando, Florida, USA.

Egan, V., Stafford, J., Walsh, P.A., Walsh, E., & Grimes R. 2008, “An experimental study on the performance of miniature heat sinks for forced convection air cooling”, in Proc. of ITHERM, May 28th-31st, Orlando, Florida, USA.

Walsh, E.J., Grimes, R. & Walsh P.A. 2008, “Performance of active cooling in mobile phone”, in Proc. of ITHERM, May 28th-31st, Orlando, Florida, USA.

Walsh, E.J., Walsh, P.A., Grimes, R. & Egan V. 2007, “Thermal management of low profile applications”, in Proc. of the ASME 5th Int. Conf. on Nanochannels, Microchannels and Minichannels, June 18th-20th, Puebla, Mexico, ICNMM2007.

Walsh, E.J., Walsh, P.A., Bigerel, C., Grimes, R. & Egan, V. 2007, “Rotor and heat sink aerodynamic and thermal interaction in low profile thermal management solutions”, in Proc. of 6th International Conference on Enhanced, Compact and Ultra-Compact Heat Exchangers: Science, Engineering and Technology, Sept. 16th-21st, Potsdam, Germany.

Egan, V., Walsh, P.A., Walsh, E.J. & R. Grimes, 2007, “Characterisation of a Miniature Low Profile Cooling Solution for Portable Electronics”, in Proc. of 6th Int. Conf. on Enhanced, Compact and Ultra-Compact Heat Exchangers: Science, Engineering and Technology, Sept. 16th-21st, Potsdam, Germany.

Grimes, R., Walsh, P.A., Walsh, E., & Egan V. 2007, “The effects of diameter and rotational speed on the aerodynamic performance of low profile miniature radial flow fans” in Proc. of the 5th Int. Conf. on Nanochannels, Microchannels and Minichannels, June 18th to 20th, Puebla, Mexico, ICNMM2007-30185.

Egan, V., Walsh, P.A., Walsh, E.J. & Grimes R. 2007, “On the characterization of finned and finless heat sinks for portable electronics”, in Proc. of the ASME 5th Int. Conf. on Nanochannels, Microchannels and Minichannels, June 18th-20th, ICNMM2007, Puebla, Mexico.

Walsh, P.A., Egan, V., Grimes, R. & Walsh E.J. 2007, “Scaling of flow characteristics and power consumption with profile height for miniature centrifugal fans”, in Proc. of the 5th Int. Conf. on Nanochannels, Microchannels and Minichannels, Puebla, Mexico, ICNMM2007-30136, June 18th to 20th.

Walsh, E.J., Walsh, P.A., Grimes, R., Punch. J, & Egan, V. 2007, “Effect of rotor exit angle in an integrated fan and heat sink design tailored for low profile applications”, in Proc. of ASME-JSME Thermal Engineering and Summer Heat Transfer Conference, July 8th-12th, Vancouver, Canada.

Grimes, R., Walsh, E., Walsh, P.A., & Egan V. 2007, “Aerodynamic performance of radial flow fans for low profile heat sinks”, in Proc. of the 6th Int. Conf. on Enhanced, Compact and Ultra-Compact Heat Exchangers: Science, Engineering and Technology, Sept. 16th-21st, Potsdam, Germany.

Walsh, P. A. & Davies, M. R. D. 2005, “An evaluation of phase measurement interferometry for obtaining full-field temperature measurements in a small scale fluidic junction”, in Proc. of ECI Heat Transfer and Fluid Flow in Microscale, Castlevecchio Pascoli, Italy.

Walsh, P. A., Walsh, E. J., & Davies, M. R. D. 2005, “On the three dimensional divergence of streamlines for isothermal pressure driven flows in small length scale fluidic devices”, in Proc. of ECI Heat Transfer and Fluid Flow in Microscale, Castlevecchio Pascoli, Italy.

Walsh, P. A., Davies, M. R. D., & Dalton, T. 2005, “Characterisation of stability criteria for pressure driven flows in small length scale fluidic devices”, in Proc. of ASME Summer Heat Transfer Conference, San Francisco, California, USA.

Walsh, E. J., Walsh, P. A., Grimes, R., & Davies, M. R. D. 2003, “On the entropic heating of microfluidics for PCR applications”, in Proc. of ASME International Mechanical Engineering Congress & Exposition, Washington, D.C.

Other Publications

PhD Thesis

Walsh, P.A. 2006, “Optical field measurements in microscale flow focusing devices”, PhD Thesis, University of Limerick, Castletroy, Limerick, Ireland.

Patents

Walsh E.J., Walsh P.A., Grimes R. & Punch. J. 2008, “A Cooling Device”, IE Patent application IE, US, Patent Pending, UNI054.

Sir Bernard Crossland Research Paper Competition – Best Paper Award

Walsh, P. A., & Davies, M. R. D. 2004, “The Design and Operation of a Continuous Flow Polymerase Chain Reactor”, in Proc. of 6th Annual Sir Bernard Crossland Symposium, Galway, Ireland.

Invited Lectures

Walsh, P.A., 2009, “Phase Change Material Storage Heater Concept” presented to Glen Dimplex Ltd., Jan. 8th, Drogheda, Co. Louth, Ireland.

Walsh, P. A., 2008, “Overview of Stokes Micro-Cooler Technologies” presented to On-Semiconductor Research and Development Ltd., Dec. 8th, Limerick, Ireland.

Walsh, P.A., 2007, “Competitive Advantages and Proposed Applications for Stokes Micro-Cooler Technology” presented to Vette Corporation, Nov. 10th, University of Limerick, Limerick, Ireland.

Poster Presentations

Walsh P.A., & Davies, M.R.D. 2003, “Entropy Generation in Microscopic Fluid Flows – Year One” in Proc. of 2003 Irish Research Council for Science, Engineering & Technology Symposium, Kilmainham, Dublin, Ireland.

Walsh P.A. & Davies, M.R.D. 2004, “Entropy Generation in Microscopic Fluid Flows – Year Two” in Proc. of 2004 Irish Research Council for Science, Engineering & Technology Symposium, Croke Park Conference Centre, Dublin, Ireland.

Walsh P.A. & Davies, M.R.D. 2005, “Entropy Generation in Microscopic Fluid Flows – Year Three” in Proc. of 2005 Irish Research Council for Science, Engineering & Technology Symposium, Croke Park Conference Centre, Dublin, Ireland.