Rate My Professor Yong Tao

Yong Tao earned his Ph.D. from the University of Michigan in 1989 and advanced to prominent leadership roles in Engineering at the University of North Texas (UNT). As the founding Chair and Distinguished Research Professor of Mechanical and Energy Engineering, he directed the Zero Energy Laboratory and the PACCAR Technology Institute. These positions enabled pioneering work in alternative energy sources, energy building conservation, and sustainable technologies. Tao's expertise centers on renewable energy and energy efficiency in buildings, heat and mass transfer in porous media, freezing and melting processes, and electronic cooling. Under his guidance, the department fostered innovative research, including the development of the Zero Energy Research Lab, a facility testing state-of-the-art energy technologies in real-life scenarios.

Tao's contributions were recognized with the University Distinguished Research Professorship for 2012-13 and the Research Leadership Award in 2013 as part of UNT's Salute to Faculty Excellence. In 2014, he received a National Science Foundation Research Coordination Networks grant under the Science, Engineering and Education for Sustainability program. This initiative united experts from engineering, construction, computer science, environmental science, business, architecture, and social sciences to identify knowledge gaps in sustainable buildings, analyze human behavior impacts on sustainability, optimize energy-efficient structures, and develop new technologies. His influential publications include 'A procedure to select working fluids for Solar Organic Rankine Cycles (ORCs)' (Renewable Energy, 2011), 'A mathematical model for predicting the densification and growth of frost on a flat plate' (International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer, 1993), 'Review Article: A Critical Review of Properties and Models for Frost Formation Analysis' (HVAC&R Research, 2004), 'Airflow and heat transfer in double skin facades' (Energy and Buildings, 2011), and 'A numerical model for phase-change suspension flow in microchannels' (Numerical Heat Transfer, Part A, 2004), among others demonstrating substantial impact in thermal engineering and energy systems.