Research interests

Dr. Tao is an internationally known researcher in fundamentals of thermal sciences, refrigeration system performance and renewable energy applications in buildings. His current primary research areas include zero-energy buildings and renewable energy, energy efficient building cooling systems, ground source heat pump, and heat and mass transfer in multiphase media.

Brief professional biography

Dr. Tao has more than 20 years of research and 17 years of teaching experience. Prior to UNT, he was the associate dean of the College of Engineering and Computing at Florida International University, professor of mechanical and materials engineering at FIU and director of Building Energy, Environment and Conservation Systems Lab and Multi-Phase Thermal Engineering Lab at FIU.

Lab and group associations

Dr. Tao leads the UNT Renewable Energy and Conservation research cluster, is a fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineering and is a member of the American Society of Heating Refrigeration and Air-Conditioning Engineers, American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics and American Society of Engineering Education.

Publications

He has produced more than 154 journal publications, book chapters, edited journals and proceedings. In addition, he holds two patents and has received more than 12.2 million dollars of research funding from various industries. He also serves as associate editor of Journal of Science and Engineering Applications and reviewer for several international journals in his research field.