Sophia Haussener

EPFL STI IGM LRESE
MED 0 2926 (Bâtiment MED)
Station 9
1015 Lausanne

Expertise

Thermal sciences, fluid dynamics and thermo/electro/photochemistry in complex multi-phase media, on multiple scales, for design of efficient energy conversion and storage processes, reactor and device engineering and system optimization

Mission

The mission of LRESE is to develop science and technology for efficient, inexpensive, sustainable, and durable approaches for renewable energy conversion. We focus on solar energy given its exceptional potential. The methodologies I promote incorporate coupled experimental-numerical approaches applying the fundamentals of thermal sciences, fluid dynamics, electro-magnetism, and thermo/electro/photo-chemistry in complex multi-phase/multi-component media on multiple scales. The research program I have established develops both theory and the computational frameworks in order to formulate design guidelines for complex multi-physics and multi-scale processes and devices, and applies and demonstrates these designs for photoelectrochemical and solar-thermal energy conversion and storage processes, enabling applications in other domains (e.g., space, environmental).
Sophia Haussener is an Associate Professor heading the Laboratory of Renewable Energy Science and Engineering at the Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL). Her current research is focused on providing design guidelines for thermal, thermochemical, and photoelectrochemical energy conversion reactors through multi-physics modeling. Her research interests include: thermal sciences, fluid dynamics, charge transfer, and thermo/electro/photochemistry in complex multi-phase media on multiple scales. She received her MSc (2007) and PhD (2010) in Mechanical Engineering from ETH Zurich. Between 2011 and 2012, she was a postdoctoral researcher at the Joint Center of Artificial Photosynthesis (JCAP) and the Energy Environmental Technology Division of the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL). She has published over 70 articles in peer-reviewed journals and conference proceedings. She started as an Assistant Professor at EPFL in 2013. 

Awards

Dimitris N. Chorafas Foundation Prize

2011

ETH Medal

2011

ABB Forschungspreis

2012

Yellott Award

The Amercian Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) - Solar Energy Division

2024

Raymond Viskanta Award

Elsevier and Journal of Quantitative Spectroscopy and Radiative Transfer

2019

Cell Press' 50 Scientists that Inspire

Cell Press

2024

Teaching & PhD

PhD Students

Guilherme Armas, Andrea Bazzanella, Paul Feurstein, Natalie Frassl, Runsen Wang

Past EPFL PhD Students

Venu Gopal Agarwal (2026), Nikhil Banerji (2017), Selmar Rudolf Binder (2019), Alexandre Dominique Cattry (2024), Xiaoyu Dai (2021), Matthieu Dessiex (2026), Yannick Kenneth Gaudy (2019), Ronald Ramiro Gutierrez Perez (2022), Daniel Alexander Landmann (2022), Meng Lin (2018), Francesca Lorenzutti (2025), Nithin Mallya (2022), Jérémy Raphaël Mora-Monteros (2019), Mahendra Patel (2025), Ehsan Rezaei (2020), Sarah van Rooij (2021), Sangram Ashok Savant (2023), Silvan Suter (2019), Saurabh Yuvraj Tembhurne (2018), Roberto Valenza (2025)

Past EPFL PhD Students as codirector

Anna Sophia Wallerand (2018)

Courses

Advanced heat transfer

ME-465

The course will deepen the fundamentals of heat transfer. Particular focus will be put on radiative and convective heat transfer, and computational approaches to solve complex, coupled heat transfer problems.

Renewable energy (for ME)

ME-460

The students assess and compare all renewable energy resources, their real potentials, limitations and best applications (energy services). Solar thermal, solar electric, wood, bioliquids, biogas, hydropower incl. tidal and wave power, wind, geothermal incl. heat pumps and buildings.

Solar energy conversion

ME-468

The course will provide fundamentals and technological details of solar energy conversion devices and systems, including 1) solar fuels by photoelectrochemistry, photocatalysis, and solar thermochemistry, 2) solar electricity by PV and concentrated solar power, and 3) solar heat by solar collectors.