Dr. Thomas is an Associate Professor of Chemical Engineering and an affiliate faculty member of the American Indian Studies program at the University of Idaho. He received his Bachelor's degree in chemical engineering from Stanford University and his Ph.D. in the same discipline from the University of Florida.
He has received several prestigious awards including the National Science Foundation — Presidential Early Career Award for Scientist and Engineers in 2008.
Dr. Thomas's primary research topics include microfluidics, membrane technology, and novel gas separation processes. He is also very active in a number of K-12 and undergraduate programs including Helping Orient Indian Students and Teachers (HOIST), the Native American Student Association (NASA), and serves as a faculty mentor for the American Indian Science and Engineering program (AISES).
Most recently, Dr. Thomas was selected as the Director of the NASA Idaho Space Grant Consortium.
Research Interests
Microfluidics
- Study of the effects of pulsed electro-osmostic flow in microchannels.
- Biological separation on the microscale using pulsed electro-osmotic flow.
Membrane Technology
- Study of the effects of pulsed flows on the transport across membranes in gas separation processes.
Novel Gas Separation Processes
- Using pulsed flows to separate airborne contaminants and trace particles from the air. A mechanical separation process important to the space program.
- Analytical studies of the effect of periodic recesses on the mass transfer and separation of species.
Honors and Awards
- American Indian Science and Engineering Society Professional Award — 2004
- Invited Commencement Speech at Northwest Indian College, Bellingham WA — 2005
- National Science Foundation Fellowship for Minorities, 1998-2001
- NASA Graduate Student Research Program Fellowship, 1997
- National Science Foundation Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers, 2008
Affiliations
Administrative Responsibilities
- Admission Committee, 2002-2004, 2006
- NASA Idaho Space Grant Director, 2009
Thomas, A.M. and R. Narayanan, Periodic flow and its effects on the mass transfer of a system and separation of species, Physics of Fluids, 13, p 859, 2001.
Aaron M. Thomas, Unusual effects of oscillating flows in an annulus on mass transfer and separation, Adv. Space Res., 2/32, p. 279, 2003
Thomas, A.M. and R. Narayanan, A comparison between the enhanced mass transfer in boundary and pressure driven pulsatile flow. Intl J of Heat and Mass Transfer, 45/19, p 4057, 2002.
Thomas, A.M. and R. Narayanan, Effect of eccentricity on the mass transfer and separation of species in periodic annular flow. N.Y. Acad. Sciences, 974, p 42, 2002.
A. Thomas, G. Thich, R. Narayanan, Low Reynolds number flow in a channel with oscillating wavy-walls: An analytical study. Chem. Eng. Sci., 61, p. 6047, 2006.
