About Prof. Boehman

Automotive Fuel and Combustion Technology/People/About Prof. Boehman
Boehman_lab

From 1994- 2012, André Boehman served as a Professor of Fuel Science and Materials Science and Engineering in the Department of Energy & Mineral Engineering in the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences at the Pennsylvania State University, where he taught courses on Energy, Fuels, Combustion and the Environment. In 2012, Prof. Boehman joined the Department of Mechanical Engineering in the College of Engineering at the University of Michigan.  Since 2014, he has served as the Associate Director of the Automotive Research Center, a US Army Center of Excellence for Modeling and Simulation of Ground Vehicles, led by the University of Michigan (http://arc.engin.umich.edu/index.html) 

He holds a BS in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Dayton (1986) and an MS (1987) and PhD (1993) in Mechanical Engineering from Stanford University.  He held a two-year postdoctoral fellowship in the Molecular Physics Laboratory at SRI International, Menlo Park, CA.  

Prof. Boehman’s research interests are in alternative and reformulated fuels, combustion and pollution control.  His present research activities are focused on alternative diesel fuels, diesel combustion and diesel exhaust aftertreatment.  He served as the Editor of the journal Fuel Processing Technology from 2007-2011, and since 2016 has served as an Associate Editor for Energy & Fuels. He has held executive positions with the American Chemical Society Division of Fuel Chemistry and with the International DME Association.  He also serves as an instructor in the SAE Diesel Academy.  He was elected a Fellow of the Society of Automotive Engineers in 2012.  He has received the 2009 Matthew and Anne Wilson Award for Excellence in Research, the 2007 Faculty Mentoring Award and the 1999 Matthew and Anne Wilson Award for Outstanding Teaching from the Penn State College of Earth and Mineral Sciences, the 1999 Alumni Achievement Award from the University of Dayton School of Engineering, and the Philip L. Walker Jr. Faculty Fellowship in Materials Science and Engineering, from 1995-97.  He also received the 1986 Charles T. Main Bronze Medal from the American Society of Mechanical Engineers.  He has supervised 29 MS theses and 21 doctoral theses at Penn State and Michigan and is presently serving as Chair or Co-Chair on 10 doctoral committees. He has published more than 100 refereed papers and book chapters.  

Education and Training

B.S., Mechanical Engineering, University of Dayton (1982). M.S., Mechanical Engineering, Stanford University (1987), Ph.D., Mechanical Engineering, Stanford University (1993). Postdoctoral Research, SRI International, Molecular Physics Laboratory (1992-94).

Research and Professional Experience

  • Professor of Fuel Science and Materials Science and Engineering, 2006-present, The Pennsylvania State University.
  • Associate Professor, 2000-06, Department of Energy & Mineral Engineering, Pennsylvania State University.
  • Assistant Professor of Fuel Science, Department of Materials Science & Engineering, 1994-2000, The Pennsylvania State University. 
  • Post Doctoral Fellow, SRI International, 1992-94. 
  • Research Assistant, Stanford University, 1986-1992

Publications (recent/relevant papers from more than 100)

  1. Yehliu, K., G.K. Lilik, R. L. Vander Wal, C. Sun, A.L. Boehman.  Impacts of Advanced Diesel Combustion Operation on Soot Nanostructure and Reactivity, International Journal of Engine Research, 18(5-6), 532-542 (2017).
  2. Agudelo, J. R., M. Lapuerta, O. Moyer, A.L. Boehman. Autoignition of Alcohol/C7-Esters/n-Heptane Blends in a Motored Engine under HCCI Conditions. Energy & Fuels,  31:3,  2985–2995 (2017). doi: 10.1021/acs.energyfuels.7b00059.
  3. Han, T., Lavoie, G., Wooldridge, M., Boehman, A. Effect of Syngas (H2/CO) on SI Engine Knock under Boosted EGR and Lean Conditions. SAE International Journal of Engines 10:3, (2017). doi: 10.4271/2017-01-0670.
  4. O’Connor, J., M. Borz, D. Ruth, J. Han, C. Paul, A. Imren, D. Haworth, J. Martin, A. Boehman, J. Li, K. Heffelfinger, S. McLaughlin, R. Morton, A. Andersson and A. Karlsson. Optimization of an Advanced Combustion Strategy Towards 55% BTE for the Volvo SuperTruck Program. SAE International Journal of Engines, 10:3, (2017). doi:10.4271/2017-01-0723.
  5. Kang, D., S.V. Bohac, A.L. Boehman, S. Cheng, Y. Yang and M.J. Brear. Autoignition Studies of C5 Isomers in a Motored Engine. Proceedings of the Combustion Institute, 36:3, 3597–3604 (2017).
  6. Cheng, S., Y. Yang, M.J. Brear, D. Kang, S. Bohac, A.L. Boehman. Autoignition of Pentane Isomers in a Spark-ignition Engine. Proceedings of the Combustion Institute, 36:3, 3499–3506 (2017).
  7. Kang, D., V. Kalaskar, D. Kim, J. Martz, A. Violi, A. Boehman. Experimental Study of Autoignition Characteristics of Jet-A Surrogates and their Validation in a Motored Engine and a Constant-Volume Combustion Chamber.  Fuel, 184, 565-580 (2016).
  8. Sun, C., D. Kang, S.V. Bohac and A.L. Boehman. Impact of Fuel and Injection Timing on Partially Premixed Charge Compression Ignition Combustion. Energy & Fuels, 30, 4331−4345 (2016).
  9. Barrientos, E.J., J.E. Anderson, M.M. Maricq and A.L. Boehman. Particulate Matter Indices Using Fuel Smoke Point for Vehicle Emissions with Gasoline, Ethanol Blends, and Butanol Blends. Combustion and Flame, 167, 308–319 (2016).
  10. Ye, P., C. Sun, M. Lapuerta, J. Agudelo, R. Vander Wal, A.L. Boehman, T.J Toops and S. Daw. Impact of Rail Pressure and Biodiesel Fueling on the Particulate Morphology and Soot Nanostructures from a Common-Rail Turbocharged Direct Injection Diesel Engine. International Journal of Engine Research, 17, 193–208 (2016).

Awards, Honors and Scholarships:

  • 2012 SAE Fellow
  • 2009 Matthew and Anne Wilson Award for Excellence in Research
  • 2007 Faculty Mentoring Award, PSU College of Earth and Mineral Sciences
  • 1999 Alumni Achievement Award, University of Dayton, School of Engineering.
  • 1999 Matthew and Anne Wilson Award for Outstanding Teaching.

Synergistic Activities While at Penn State:

  1. DOE Advisory:  Participant, DOE-BES Workshop on Basic Research Needs for Clean and Efficient Combustion of 21st Century Transportation Fuels, 2006; Reviewer, DOE-EERE Combustion and Fuels Annual Merit Review, 2003-2009.
  2. Editorial:  Editor, Fuel Processing Technology, 2006-present.  Associate Editor, Proceedings of the Combustion Institute, 2008-2010.
  3. Participation in FutureTruck, ChallengeX, and Ecocar student vehicle competitions and DOE sponsored Graduate Automotive Technology Education (GATE) Center.

Graduate and Postdoctoral Advisors

Graduate: Robert J. Moffat, Stephen J. Niksa    Postdoctoral: Stephen J. Niksa

Thesis and Postdoctoral Advisees  (MS, PhD, Postdoc, and Research Associate)

  • Ragini Acharya, United Technologies
  • Mahabubul Alam, MTU
  • Khalid Al-Qurashi, KAUST, Saudi Arabia
  • Eduardo Barrientos, General Motors
  • Elana Chapman, General Motors Powertrain
  • Christine Esangbedo, US Starch
  • Melanie Fox, General Motors Powertrain (formerly)
  • Howard Hess, Johnson-Matthey
  • Vickey Kalaskar, Southwest Research Institute
  • Dongil Kang, Argonne National Laboratory
  • Stephen Kirby, General Motors Powertrain
  • Gregory Lilik, ExxonMobil Research and Engineering
  • Melissa Roan Hess, Johnson-Matthey
  • Joshua Heyne, University of Dayton
  • Michael Mayo, Baker Hughes
  • Bhaskar Prabhakar, ExxonMobil Research and Engineering
  • Hee Je Seong, Argonne National Laboratory
  • Juhun Song, Pusan National University, Korea
  • Chenxi Sun, Volvo Group Truck Technology
  • James Szybist, ORNL
  • Yi Yang, University of Melbourne, Australia
  • Peng Ye, Hess Oil
  • Kuen Yehliu, Mitsubishi Motors
  • Yu Zhang, Aramco Services