Summary
Overview
Work History
Education
Skills
Timeline
Publications
Awards
Generic

Amir Mofakham

West Bloomfield,MI

Summary

  • Expertise in computational modeling, electro-thermal analysis of Li-ion batteries, conjugate heat transfer, multiphase flows, external airflow flows, turbulence models.
  • Skills in STAR-CCM+, Fluent, OpenFOAM, ANSA, ProE, ParaView, Teamcenter, Unix/Linux Bash Scripting, Java, Python, and MATLAB.
  • Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering with +11 years of hands-on technical and leadership skills in industrial sectors.
  • A highly self-motivated, independent, creative problem-solver with excellent communication, presentation, and team-working skills.

Overview

16
16
years of professional experience

Work History

HV Battery Thermal CAE Engineer

For Motor Company
08.2023 - Current
  • Led development of the Ford-first 1D/3D CAE Thermal co-simulation model for HV battery by integrating 3D HV Battery Thermal CAE STR-CCM+ models with 1D MoSuite models developed by EVEMS using industry standard FMU (Functional Mock-up Units).
  • Mentored junior engineers on best practices in computational analysis and simulation techniques and proactively provided technical guidance, minimizing errors in model setup and assumptions, and identified and resolved issues within. This ensured the timely delivery of high-quality CAE results, accelerating progress toward program milestones.
  • Developed and executed a physical test study to verify the maximum design temperature (MDT) of cell tabs in pouch cells used in battery packs. The innovative nature of this test method gained internal recognition, prompting Ford Ion Park to request our support to improve FIP cell designs and performance.
  • Identified and rectified an incorrect coolant flow direction for the V801 packs. This critical early detection prevented costly delays and the erroneous testing and sign-off of the pack with an incorrect coolant flow configuration.
  • Demonstrated critical thinking by questioning the assumption of uniform coolant flow targets across arrays with varying cell counts. Proposed an optimized approach to set array target flow rates as a function of their respective sizes, which was subsequently accepted.
  • Uncovered a critical inconsistency of V710 coolant flow direction revealing vehicles had been erroneously assembled for +6 years with reversed coolant flow. This critical finding drew management attention, prompting urgent requests to evaluate potential issues in the affected packs and the potential risk of costly product recalls.
  • Advanced the automation of 3D battery pack thermal performance analysis by improving a Star-CCM+ template. This template supports detailed modeling enhancing efficiency and consistency in our analytical processes.

CFD Technical Specialist

Roush
04.2022 - 08.2023
  • Lead CFD team to coordinate workloads, exceed customer expectations, and timely meet deadlines
  • Perform electrothermal analysis of lithium-ion pouch/cylindrical/prismatic battery cell, modules, and pack level at normal and thermal runaway conditions
  • Modify air and liquid battery cooling systems of electrical vehicles
  • Improve aero-thermal performance of drones by improving their fan, fin, vent, and spinner designs
  • Multiphase simulations of oil tank at stationary and sloshing conditions
  • Cabin airflow and thermal comfort analysis in hot and cold ambient including conjugate heat transfer and radiation
  • Conduct external aero analysis to determine efficient vehicle aeroshape with improved drag, lift, and stability
  • Collaborate with project teams to understand requirements and develop appropriate solutions while ensuring technical feasibility
  • Discuss CAE findings with customers and propose design changes to meet their targets

Water Management CAE Engineer at Ford Motor Compan

Roush
05.2021 - 04.2022
  • Led air intake system snow ingress program including CAE simulations and correlation testing in global wind tunnels
  • Assisted attribute engineers with experimental measurement techniques
  • Performed and validated structural STAR-CCM+ CAE program by developing JavaScript code
  • Performed wind tunnel physical tests and documented lessons learned and supported program review meetings
  • Correlated CAE predictions with physical measurements
  • Deployed water management CAE programs: water wading, water management into engine bay, roof runoff, rear door closure

Post-Doctoral Associate

Clarkson University
06.2020 - 04.2021
  • Conducted direct numerical simulations (DNS) of respiratory airflow and droplet propagation during speech
  • Coordinated group meetings, developed documentation, published manuscripts, and presented at conferences
  • Respiratory aerosol and droplet transmission due to speech (Funded by NSF)

Research Assistant

Clarkson University
08.2014 - 05.2020
  • Quantified effective program size with maximum fracture coverage (OpenFOAM coupled with LIGGGHTS)
  • Paralleled 4-way coupling CFD-DEM simulations of particle transportation using MPI
  • Modeled program transportation in synthetic rock geometries (DEM model in STAR-CCM+)
  • Evaluated Local Cubic Law (LCL) approach in predicting sheared rock fracture pressure drops with OpenFOAM results
  • Improving turbulence stochastic models
  • Improved predictions of particle distributions and depositions in inhomogeneous turbulent flows
  • Investigated particle distributions and depositions in inhomogeneous turbulent flows
  • Developed a parallel MATLAB particle tracking code to set up a 2D channel flow benchmark for stochastic models
  • Enhanced ANSYS-Fluent particle tracking performance by employing novel stochastic models (added C++ User-Defined-Functions)
  • Analyzing near-wall fluid turbulence characteristics
  • Direct Numerical Simulation (DNS) of turbulent particle dispersions and deposition
  • Quantified the near-wall coherent vortical structure effects on particle motion and deposition
  • Hydraulic fractures and sheared rock fractures (joined projects with Department of Energy)

Research Assistant

Sharif University of Technology
08.2009 - 05.2012
  • Developed analytical solution for two-phase MHD transient flow
  • Simulated MHD micropumps using two-phase (VOF) approach coupled with MHD module of ANSYS-Fluent and OpenFOAM
  • Correlated CAE results with analytical solutions of two-phase MHD flows
  • Evaluated performance of pneumatic conveying systems with applications of transferring coke and limestone in steel companies
  • Optimized pneumatic conveying systems using Granular/DDPM of ANSYS-Fluent/OpenFOAM
  • Optimization of magneto mercury reciprocating MMH micropump

Education

Doctor of Philosophy - Mechanical Engineering

Clarkson University
Potsdam, NY
05.2020

Master of Science - Mechanical Engineering

Sharif University of Technology
Tehran, Iran
01.2012

Bachelor of Science - Mechanical Engineering

K. N. Toosi University of Technology
Tehran, Iran
01.2009

Skills

  • CFD Solvers: STAR-CCM, ANSYS-Fluent, OpenFOAM, ANSYS-Icepak, PreonLab, ANSYS-Workbench
  • Programming: MATLAB, Linux scripting, Java, Python, C, Fortran, Mathematica
  • CAD Design Software: ANSA, SolidWorks, ProE (PT Creo), AutoCAD, UGS NX, 3DS

Timeline

HV Battery Thermal CAE Engineer

For Motor Company
08.2023 - Current

CFD Technical Specialist

Roush
04.2022 - 08.2023

Water Management CAE Engineer at Ford Motor Compan

Roush
05.2021 - 04.2022

Post-Doctoral Associate

Clarkson University
06.2020 - 04.2021

Research Assistant

Clarkson University
08.2014 - 05.2020

Research Assistant

Sharif University of Technology
08.2009 - 05.2012

Doctor of Philosophy - Mechanical Engineering

Clarkson University

Master of Science - Mechanical Engineering

Sharif University of Technology

Bachelor of Science - Mechanical Engineering

K. N. Toosi University of Technology

Publications

  • Mofakham, A. A. et al. Influence of two-dimensional expiratory airflow variations on respiratory particle propagation during pronunciation of the fricative [f]. Journal of Aerosol Science (2023).
  • Mofakham, A. A. et al. On the variation of fricative airflow dynamics with vocal tract geometry and Speech Loudness. Aerosol Science & Technology (2022).
  • Mehrabi, A., Mofakham, A. A. & Shafii, M. B. Numerical optimization of three-cavity magneto mercury reciprocating (MMR) micropump. Engineering Applications of Computational Fluid Mechanics (2021).
  • Mofakham, A. A. et al. Investigation of program distributions in rock fractures with applications to hydraulic fracturing. ASME-FEDSM (2021).
  • Mofakham, A. A. & Ahmadi, G. Particles dispersion and deposition in inhomogeneous turbulent flows using continuous random walk models. Physics of Fluids (2019).
  • Mofakham, A. A. et al. Significance of vocal tract geometrical variations and loudness on airflow and droplet dispersion in a two-dimensional representation of [f]. ASME-FEDSM (2021).
  • Mofakham, A. A. & Ahmadi, G. On random walk models for simulation of particle-laden turbulent flows. International Journal of Multiphase Flow (2020).
  • Ahmed, T. et al. Variability in expiratory trajectory angles during consonant production by one human subject and from a physical mouth model: Application to respiratory droplet emission. Indoor Air (2021).
  • Mofakham, A. A. & Ahmadi, G. Improved discrete random walk stochastic model for simulating particle dispersion and deposition in inhomogeneous turbulent flows. Journal of Fluids Engineering (2020).
  • Mofakham, A. A. et al. Computational modeling of hydraulic properties of a sheared single rock fracture. Transport in Porous Media (2018).
  • Mofakham, A. A. et al. Influence of Expiratory Airflow Variations on Respiratory Droplet Propagation during Fricative Utterance Productions. Under Review by Journal of Aerosol Science (2022).

Awards

2020 Graduate Returning Scholarship (ASME FED), 2019 Technical Committee Best Paper Award (ASME FED Multiphase Flow), Graduate Student Scholarship (ASME FED), 2017 Best Oral Presentation (RAPS Conference at Clarkson University)