Rohith Mittapally
Bio
Dr. Rohith Mittapally is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at NC State University, where he directs the Multiscale Energy Transport Laboratory (METL). He earned his B.Tech. and M.Tech. degrees in Mechanical Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras and his Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. He then completed postdoctoral appointments at the University of Michigan and at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) before joining NC State in 2025.
Research in METL focuses on how energy moves and converts across length scales, from nanoscale to large-scale energy systems. Our group combines precision metrology, nanofabrication, and theory to advance the fundamental understanding of thermal radiation and phase-change phenomena. These insights support applications in energy conversion, cryogenics, biocalorimetry, and thermal management for emerging photonic, electronic, and quantum technologies. Our lab is also developing low-cost, scalable approaches to solar desalination, radiative cooling, and atmospheric water harvesting.
Outside the lab, Dr. Mittapally enjoys traveling, hiking, reading, and analyzing movies.
Publications
- Direct Observation of a Persistent Thermal Current , Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research) (2026)
- Direct Observation of a Persistent Thermal Current , Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research) (2026)
- Direct quantification of the metabolic heat output of individual Drosophila brains , Cell Reports Methods (2026)
- Towards decarbonization in transportation: scalable transparent radiative cooling for enhanced vehicle energy efficiency , Energy & Environmental Science (2026)
- Attenuating Super-Planckian Radiative Heat Transfer in Nanoscale Structures , Nano Letters (2025)
- Mechanisms and scale-up potential of 3D solar interfacial-evaporators , Energy & Environmental Science (2025)
- Superthermal solar interfacial evaporation is not due to reduced latent heat of water , Energy & Environmental Science (2025)
- A nanoscale photonic thermal transistor for sub-second heat flow switching , Nature Communications (2024)
- Micro-kelvin temperature-stable system for biocalorimetry applications , Review of Scientific Instruments (2024)
- The Metal–Insulator Transition in Vanadium Oxide Nanofilms Enables Microkelvin-Resolution Thermometry , Nano Letters (2024)