Summary of Research
Modern and emerging energy systems rely on materials with complex chemistry, including solar, battery, and nuclear technology. These materials often display distinct behavior not predictable from individual components. Additionally, small changes at the atomic scale can lead to large changes in material properties. Accumulating impurities drive nonlinear changes in material behavior, creating a computationally challenging problem that cannot be addressed through static models alone. Used as coolant or fuel, molten salts in advanced nuclear reactors illustrate these challenges; the accumulation of impurities such as fission products alters the molten salt's thermophysical properties dynamically, resulting in probable deviations from current models based on static compositions. I aim to develop a generalizable framework that starts from first-principles physics and leverages machine learning to model the evolving thermophysical properties of molten salts in reactor conditions.
Publications
Trinaty Unruh, Shayan Shahbazi, Tony Birri, Julian Barra, Stephen Lam, Jianqi Xi (2026). "Predictive modeling of molten salt thermophysical properties from atomistic features using a convolutional neural network" (Manuscript in preparation). Department of Nuclear, Plasma & Radiological Engineering, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.
Trinaty Unruh, Shayan Shahbazi. "Molten salt thermal property predictions and analysis with machine learning." Poster presented at Learning on the Lawn, Argonne National Laboratory, Lemont, IL, 2025.
Trinaty Unruh, Sam Austin, Ania Piegza, Peyton Girard, Ahmad Fakheri. "Pilot-scale barley malting device." Poster with oral presentation at the Student Scholarship Expo, Mechanical Engineering Category, Bradley University, Peoria, IL, 2025.
Trinaty Unruh, Shayan Shahbazi. "Machine learning of molten salt thermophysical properties." Poster presented at Learning on the Lawn, Argonne National Laboratory, Lemont, IL, 2024.
Trinaty Unruh, Shannon J. Timpe. "Observing the development of surface morphologies in a carbon nanotube array using molecular dynamics computational simulations." Poster with oral presentation at the Student Scholarship Expo, Mechanical Engineering Category, Bradley University, Peoria, IL, 2024.
Awards
Graduated summa cum laude, Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering, Bradley University, 2025
Caterpillar College of Engineering and Technology Graduation Banner Bearer, Bradley University, 2025
Dr. Ivy M. Parker Memorial Scholarship, Society of Women Engineers, 2024
Outstanding Performance in Calculus Award, Bradley University Mathematics Department, 2023
Dean's List, Bradley University, 2021 - 2025
Honors Program, Bradley University, 2021 - 2025
FIRST Robotics Scholarship (merit-based STEM scholarship awarded upon application), Bradley University, 2021 - 2025
Presidential Scholarship (merit-based scholarship awarded upon admission), Bradley University, 2021 - 2025