Team

Principal Investigator

Minghui Chen, Ph.D.

Dr. Minghui Chen joined the University of New Mexico as an Assistant Professor in 2019. Prior to that, Dr. Chen was a research fellow in the Department of Nuclear Engineering and Radiological Sciences at the University of Michigan – Ann Arbor. Dr. Chen earned his B.S. degree in Nuclear Engineering from Harbin Engineering University in China in 2011, his M.S. degree in Nuclear Engineering from The Ohio State University in 2015, and Ph.D. degree in Nuclear Engineering from the University of Michigan – Ann Arbor in 2018.

Dr. Minghui Chen is an inaugural winner of the Distinguished Early Career Award granted by the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Nuclear Energy.

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Research Assistant Professor

Mingfu He, Ph.D.

Dr. Mingfu He is a research assistant professor in LARES. Mingfu obtained his B.S. degree in nuclear science and engineering from Chengdu University of Technology in 2016, his M.S. and Ph.D degrees in nuclear engineering respectively in 2019 and 2022 from the University of New Mexico. Mingfu’s experimental research focuses on molten salt steam generator development based printed circuit technologies, cutting-edge metrological sensors verification and validation in Gen IV reactor thermal hydraulics experiments and material conjugated boiling heat transfer using new alloys including accident tolerant fuel claddings. His computational interests are to apply the machine learning technologies to assess thermal and structural risks of fuel-clad entities, and predict parameters of interests including critical heat flux and peak cladding temperature, maintain health conditions of light water reactor cores.

Postdoctoral Fellow

Yuqi Liu, Ph.D.

Dr. Yuqi Liu, a Postdoctoral Fellow in LARES, specializes in nuclear engineering, focusing on fluoride salt coolant pumps' journal bearings and heat exchangers in Fluoride-salt-cooled High-temperature Reactors (FHRs). He earned his B.S. and M.S. degrees in Radiation Protection & Environmental Engineering and Safety Engineering from Southwest University of Science and Technology in 2013 and 2018, followed by another M.S. and a Ph.D. in Nuclear Engineering from the University of New Mexico in 2020 and 2025. Dr. Liu has developed durable test equipment for high-temperature fluoride salt journal bearings and heat exchanger systems for FHRs. His research interests include reactor thermal hydraulics, corrosion in molten salts, and advanced high-temperature reactor systems, alongside extensive experience in troubleshooting electronic and mechanical systems to enhance reactor safety and efficiency.