Dr. Hua is a staff scientist at Idaho National Laboratory with research interests in multi-scale thermal and acoustic transport phenomena of solid materials in extreme environment. He is currently involved in multiple laser-based thermal and mechanical property characterizations of pre- and post-irradiation materials, and contributes to the development and maintenance of state-of-art characterization techniques and INL-developed instruments, such as Thermal Conductivity Microscope (TCM) and Material Properties Microscope (MPM). He contributes to the laser-based thermal conductivity characterization of unirradiated and irradiated Th1-xUxO2 and U-Zr alloys in TETI (EFRC).  Dr. Hua received his doctorate in mechanical engineering at the Utah State University in 2013, and a bachelor’s in materials science and engineering at the Tsinghua University (China) in 2007.

Characterization of mechanical and thermal properties of solid materials
Understanding the mechanisms of thermal transport and the influence from irradiation in nuclear fuels
Ultrafast optical characterization of thin films and nanostructures
Theoretical and experimental study of laser ultrasonics