Dr. Michael Ohadi is a Special Government Employee and Program Director Emeritus at the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) where he serves as a consultant on programs related to thermal management, high temperature heat exchangers, and all electric powertrain for electrification of aviation.

From 2016 to 2020, Ohadi served as Program Director (PD) at ARPA-E on assignment from the University of Maryland (UMD), College Park, where he serves as a Professor of Mechanical Engineering.  As PD, Ohadi led the development of programs in high-temperature heat exchangers and energy conversion systems, and lightweight and ultra-efficient electric motors, drives, and associated thermal management systems for electrification of aviation.

During a previous leave from UMD, Ohadi served in various positions at the Petroleum Institute in Abu Dhabi, including the founding Chairman of the Mechanical Engineering Department, Provost, and Acting President. During his tenure there, he helped establishment of six engineering programs that supported research and undergraduate and graduate engineering programs in the oil and gas and the broader energy sector. Ohadi’s past research has involved active and passive process intensification of fluid/thermal systems utilizing latest advances in multi-scale design optimization, materials, and manufacturing techniques. For nearly 20 years he led an industrial consortium in Advanced Heat/Mass Exchangers and Process Intensification techniques, with member companies from the U.S., Europe, and Asia. In 1995, Ohadi co-founded Advanced Thermal and Environmental Concepts, Inc. to advance innovative solutions in support of energy efficiency and carbon emission reduction.

Ohadi received his Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Minnesota. He is a fellow member of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers and the American Society of Heating, Refrigeration, and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE).