MSME Student Earns 1st Place for Paper at ASME Conference

August 29, 2023

Mohammad Towhidul Islam Rimon, a master’s student in the Mechanical Engineering program at Georgia Southern, earned first place in the ASME (American Society of Mechanical Engineers) Power Applied R&D 2023 Conference for the Best Student Paper. The event was held August 6 through 8 in Long Beach, CA and focused on research and development relevant to power generation as it applies to current and future power industry issues, applications and emerging technologies.

Mr. Rimon conducts his research on novel sealing technologies for application in supercritical carbon dioxide (sCO₂) power generation under the supervision of Dr. Sevki Cesmeci, assistant professor of Mechanical Engineering. Supercritical carbon dioxide power generation is considered to be one of the next-generation power technologies. The Biden-Harris administration has set ambitious goals to reduce net greenhouse-gas pollution levels by 2030 by 50-52% from 2005 levels. The project, funded by the U.S. Department of Energy, aims to contribute to this goal by addressing the technical challenges at the subcomponent level of sCO₂ power cycles. Specifically, there is a lack of efficient shaft end seals in sCO₂ turbomachinery that hinders the full realization of sCO₂ power generation. Therefore, Mr. Rimon has been researching electrohydrodynamic seals to offer a potential solution to the existing seal problems in sCO₂ turbomachinery.

Dr. Cesmeci and his students presented a total of four peer-reviewed papers at the ASME Power Applied R&D 2023 Conference. “I am very proud of how hard my students have worked on their research and papers. This conference was not only a result of their hard work, but it was also a great networking opportunity, and a chance for us to represent Georgia Southern well in an international venue.” Dr. Cesmeci added that one of the session chairs has invited them to submit one of the papers for publication.