Thermal Energy Lab
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Principal Investigator

Mélanie Tétreault-Friend, P.Eng., PhD

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Dr. Tétreault-Friend is an Assistant Professor in the department of Mechanical Engineering. Her main research interests are in clean and alternative thermal energy technologies. Her most recent research focuses on improving the heat transfer and thermal performance of solar thermal, thermal energy storage, and nuclear energy technologies using advanced experimental thermal diagnostics and computational methods. She recently completed her MS and PhD at MIT. Her research projects focused on radiative heat transfer in molten salts for concentrated solar power technologies, and boiling heat transfer and critical heat flux in nuclear reactor applications. She is the recipient of the Lieutenant Governor's Youth Medal, and FQRNT and NSERC Research Scholarships. Dr. Tétreault-Friend also holds an advanced degree in music performance from the Conservatoire de musique de Montréal. In her free time, she enjoys road cycling, hiking, traveling, cooking, Star Trek, and cats.
​Contact: ​​[email protected]

Education

Courses

  • PhD Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Nuclear Science and Engineering, 2018
  • M.Sc. Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Nuclear Science and Engineering, 2014
  • B.Eng. McGill University, Mechanical Engineering, 2012
  • Thermodynamics 1 (MECH 240)
  • Heat Transfer (MECH 346)
  • Thermal Radiation & Solar Energy Systems  (MECH 564)

Current Students

Muhammad Taha Manzoor

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Mr. Taha hails from Pakistan (Bhakkar, Punjab) and will be joining Thermal Energy Lab as a Ph.D. candidate. He completed his BS in Mechanical Engineering from National University of Sciences and Technology (NUST) in 2016, later he moved to Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) where he completed his MS in Mechanical Engineering. He worked on the application of hybrid nanocomposites to magnetorheological fluids and electromechanical actuators.
During his Ph.D. studies, Mr. Taha will focus on the experimental investigation of key properties of molten salts which govern radiation, convection, and volumetric heat generation interactions.
Mr. Taha is an enthusiastic writer, with particular interest in world politics and history. He loves to travel and visit historical places.
Contact: [email protected]

Valerie Lamenta

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Valerie Lamenta, a Montreal, QC native, joins the Thermal Energy Lab as part of her Master’s degree in Mechanical Engineering at McGill. Her undergraduate studies in Mechanical Engineering were completed at the University of Guelph, where she was also a member of the Women’s Varsity Hockey team for five years. Her research in the Thermal Energy Lab will focus on the thermofluid properties of molten salts as solar receivers. She will continue the experimental work being conducted on these fluids using particle image velocimetry (PIV) and couple it with computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations. When Valerie isn’t working on novel energy storage solutions, she enjoys playing sports, discovering food and tending to her plants. ​
​Contact: [email protected]

Noah Le Francois

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Noah LeFrancois is from Cobourg, Ontario and is a Master’s student in Mechanical Engineering. His undergraduate studies in Physics and Math were also completed at McGill, during which he was a member of the Varsity Football team for four years. His research will focus on experimental techniques such as Particle Image Velocimetry and Infrared Thermography for visualizing turbulent natural convection in molten salts. When Noah isn’t in the lab, he enjoys playing music and is a member of the McGill Varsity Rugby team.
Contact: [email protected] 

Nicholas Annejohn

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 Nick is a professional engineer with a hands-on approach, passionate about all aspects of the energy transition.  He completed his B.Eng (Mechanical) at McGill University in 2013, where he was engaged in student projects developing electric vehicles.  After stints in Montréal’s aerospace sector and in international humanitarian logistics, the bulk of his career has been focused on thermal energy efficiency projects.  Nick has designed and implemented deep energy retrofits of hospitals, campuses, and industrial sites, with an emphasis on replacing fossil fuels with recovered waste heat.
Outside of work, Nick can often be found at the climbing gym, as well as canoeing, hiking, and cross-country skiing.
Nick returned to McGill as an MSc. Student in 2021, in order to pursue his interest in thermal energy storage systems.  He is currently studying the feasibility of scaling down medium-temperature sensible liquid thermal energy storage, which until now has mainly been used in large power plants, to generate process steam at the scale of an individual factory.
Contact: [email protected] ; www.linkedin.com/in/nickannejohn/

Omar Mostafa

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Omar Mostafa is from Cairo, Egypt but has lived in Qatar for the past five years, where he obtained his Bachelor’s in Mechanical Engineering from Texas A&M University at Qatar in May of 2021. He is currently pursuing a Master of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering at McGill University, where he is a part of the Thermal Energy Lab (TEL). For his research, he will be exploring the possibility of combining Solar Catalysis and Plasma Catalysis into a Solar-Plasma Catalysis process to produce ammonia at ambient temperature and pressure in the presence of a catalyst deposited on Boron Nitride Nanotubes (BNNTs). In his leisure time, you can find Omar hiking, cooking, or binge-watching a show on Netflix.
Contact: [email protected] ; www.linkedin.com/in/omar-mostafa-mech-en

Louis Kawchuk

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Louis Kawchuk was born and raised in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan and is an undergraduate Honours Mechanical Engineering student. He joins the lab for both his Honours Thesis and as part the 2022 SURE program. His project is an investigation into power – to – heat methods for the design of novel molten salt thermal energy storage systems for industrial applications. His future goals involve implementing renewable energy concepts in the prairies and advocating for the elimination of fossil fuels. An enthusiastic student, Louis is also the first-year Physics tutor for the Engineering Peer Tutoring Service. Beyond academics, Louis loves hiking, cycling, sports, cinema, chess, history, and music – and he will gladly talk for hours about them all! 
Contact: ​[email protected]

Daphné Lisak

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​Daphné Lisak is from La Prairie (a small town on the south shore of Montreal) and is currently an undergraduate student in Honours Mechanical Engineering with a minor in Anthropology. They are testing engineered concrete under a high-flux solar simulator to assess its use as a low-cost containment material for molten salts in thermal energy storage and concentrated solar power. They are joining the lab as a Summer Undergraduate Researcher in Engineering (SURE) and will pursue this research for their Honours thesis. Outside of their studies, Daphné is involved in the scouts, the McGill ECOLE project and Divest McGill. They enjoy getting outside, good books, photography and are always up for learning something new.
Contact: [email protected]

Previous students

Laurence Peinturier

Laurence Peinturier, B.Eng.
​SURE 2021

Charles Wetaski, B.Eng
​Undergraduate Honours 2021
SURE 2020 &2021

Leah Abou Jaoude, M.Eng.
Masters (Non-thesis) 2021

Auran (Jinbang) Huan, B.Eng.
​SURE 2019

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