Interests
Dr Torres’ research interests are sustainable heat and mass transfer phenomena with focus on energy, environmental and life sciences applications.
Research
Dr Torres’ is collaborating with Prof Atsuki Komiya, Tohoku University, and the team at Nano Frontier Technology (NFT) on Contributing to Global Freshwater Security with Novel Solar-driven Desalination Methods, which aims to lower the energy requirements and cost of reducing the salinity of seawater by 95 per cent.
Dr Torres is the Lead Chief Investigator or Chief Investigator for several other projects at ANU, including Multi-scale engineering of durable absorber coatings for solar thermal power
Biography
Dr Torres’ background mainly lies in Japan, where he lived for 12 years, obtained his undergraduate and post-graduate education, and was awarded a prestigious Japanese Government (MEXT) scholarship. Dr Torres held a distinguished Japan Society for Promotion of Science (JSPS) Fellowship and was awarded doctoral degrees from Tohoku University, Japan, and Ecole Centrale de Lyon, France (separate examinations with joint thesis). After holding a permanent Research Scientist position at Toshiba Corporation for 2.5 years, he decided to move to Australia and pursue an academic career. Dr Torres has been a Research Fellow at the ANU since August 2016.
Dr Torres has established new research streams at the College of Engineering and Computer Science, including solar-driven desalination (as Lead Chief Investigator), hydrogen storage (as Chief Investigator), and high-temperature sunlight absorber coatings (as Chief Investigator). Dr Torres has authored more than 30 peer-reviewed journal papers in top-tier journals and filed several patent applications, including two awarded US patents. Most of his publications relate to transport phenomena (fluid mechanics, heat and mass transfer), with recent emphasis on energy materials.
For more information on Dr Torres’ biography, please see this article.
Activities & Awards
- 2017 Scientific Contribution Award – Heat Transfer Society of Japan
- 2015 Distinguished Referee Award – European Physical Journal
- 2014 Presidential Prize for Excellence, highest recognition for PhD thesis – Tohoku University
Dr Torres is the convener and lecturer for ENGN3338: Aerodynamics, and has previously been the lecturer for ENGN3224: Fluid Mechanics and Heat Transfer (2018, 2019, 2020), and the convener for ENGN3100: Practical Experience, Convener (2019)