Tom Celenza

Dr. Celenza is a consultant with extensive experience in many facets of mechanical engineering including heat transfer, fluid dynamics, photophoresis, machine design, composites, vacuum systems, and nanotechnology. He also has experience in mechanical systems from a commercial construction perspective.

Dr. Celenza has developed thermal and fluid theoretical models through simulations, using ANSYS Fluent and COMSOL, and has fabricated thin-film metamaterials through semiconductor fabrication methods for vacuum system tests for aerospace and atmospheric science applications. Since joining Exponent, Dr. Celenza has contributed to projects including those related to aviation, combustion, HVAC, electrical and plumbing equipment.

Before joining Exponent, Dr. Celenza received his PhD in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Pennsylvania, where he studied photophoretic levitation, or light-induced flight, of macroscale structures made of microscale metamaterials and composites in collaboration with NASA through a NASA Space Technology Graduate Research Fellowship for atmospheric science applications in the mesosphere. The goal was to create a structure capable of flight with no moving parts, using only light, in rarefied gas environments. Through this work, he performed ANSYS Fluent and COMSOL simulations in combination with MATLAB parametric studies to predict payloads and flight altitudes based on photophoresis, heat transfer modes and low-Re flow fundamentals. The structures were built in a nanotechnology facility with deposition, etching, and lithography techniques and tested in a custom-made vacuum chamber and LED array & electrical circuit set up for flight capabilities. He also studied thermionic energy conversion and photovoltaics/solar power.

Before graduate school, Dr. Celenza worked in construction management, supervising, coordinating, and budgeting all types of installation ranging from carpentry to mechanical and plumbing equipment. He also worked with interdisciplinary teams of designers, engineers, and construction workers to solve client issues. Before working in construction, Dr. Celenza received his bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Delaware with an aerospace engineering concentration. He studied topics including wind power and robotics and worked with expert machinists in a machine shop.