David Rothamer

As Associate Dean for Research, Rothamer provides overall leadership for the College of Engineering Office of Research, the mission of which is to support the growth of the College of Engineering research enterprise, to effectively lead and manage the core facilities operated by the college, and to develop faculty recruitment and retention cases. He collaborates with the Associate Dean for Research Innovation to further grow and strategically expand the research enterprise in the College of Engineering. The Associate Dean for Research serves as the representative of the Dean on campus committees associated with sponsored research.

Rothamer is the Robert Lorenz Professor and Director of the Engine Research Center in the Department of Mechanical Engineering. He is an expert in combustion, internal combustion (IC) engines, renewable fuels, and optical diagnostics. His research is focused on understanding thermo-fluid and chemical processes in engines to improve and enable the operation of engines on renewable fuels. His research group develops and applies advanced laser and optical diagnostic techniques to study these areas inside IC engines.

Rothamer obtained his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in mechanical engineering from the UW-Madison in 2000 and 2002, respectively. He earned his PhD from Stanford University in mechanical engineering in 2008. Rothamer joined the Department of Mechanical Engineering at UW-Madison in 2008 as a faculty member and received an NSF CAREER award in 2011. During the COVID-19 pandemic he applied his expertise in aerosols and filtration to study the impact of room ventilation, mask filtration, and mask fit on SARS-CoV-2 transmission in classroom settings. This work was cited by the CDC and received a best paper award from an ASHRAE journal.