McGill University · Department of Mechanical Engineering

ASEC

Aerothermochemistry for Sustainable Energy Conversion

We develop predictive simulation methods for turbulent reactive flows — advancing hydrogen and alternative fuels, thermochemical conversion of solid fuels, and high-performance computing for the energy transition.

65+

Publications

3

Research themes

2

Open PhD positions

GPU

Exascale-ready solvers

Research

What we work on

Temperature and soot fields in a turbulent flame — high-fidelity simulation from our group (Koob & Nicolai, 2023).

About the name

Why “Aerothermochemistry”?

Numerical modeling of turbulent combustion is grounded in first-principle equations that arise from the rational combination of aerodynamics, thermodynamics, and chemistry. The establishment of this framework is usually attributed to Theodore von Kármán, who first lectured on aerothermochemistry at the Sorbonne, Paris, during the academic term 1951–1952. Our lab's name honors this tradition — and applies it to the energy systems of the future.

News

Latest from the lab

07 / 2026

Two fully funded PhD positions — apply by July 15

DNS & LES of fuel blends under gas turbine conditions, and modelling of metal fuel combustion. Start January 2027. Details →

2026

The ASEC Lab launches at McGill University

Aerothermochemistry for Sustainable Energy Conversion — a new research group in the Department of Mechanical Engineering.

Publications

Recent work

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Interested in joining the lab?

Two fully funded PhD positions are open now, and we always welcome inquiries from motivated students and postdocs.

See open positions