Sick, Volker

Director, Global CO2 Initiative
Arthur F. Thurnau Professor of Mechanical Engineering
DTE Energy Professor of Advanced Energy Research

Biography

Volker Sick is the Director of the Global CO2 Initiative, which focuses on technologies, processes and policies to increase the rate at which carbon dioxide is removed from the global carbon cycle and helps to identify and support technologies that are scalable. Sick’s other research focuses on developing and applying laser-based and other optical measurement techniques to enable studies of mass and energy transfer at high pressures and high temperatures in mechanically restricted and vibrating environments, such as in internal combustion engines, stationary combustion and multi-phase mixing processes. ​As associate vice president for research, natural sciences and engineering until summer 2018, Sick served as liaison between the Office of the Vice President of Research (OVPR) and scholarly and creative activities across the university in the natural sciences and engineering. As a senior member of the OVPR administrative team, he helped orchestrate major interdisciplinary initiatives, dealt with policy issues and worked with Federal Relations for Research to promote the university’s research agenda. Professor Sick teaches courses that provide strong experiential experiences, such as a Mechanical Engineering laboratory course, the International Engineering Summer School at TU Berlin, and Techlab@Mcity. Professor Sick received numerous awards for teaching, research, and service, including the President’s Award for Distinguished Service in International Education, the Combustion Institute Silver Medal, and the SAE International Leadership Citation. He serves as the Editor of the Proceedings of the Combustion Institute and on the editorial board of Experiments in Fluids and Progress in Energy and Combustion Science. He is a Fellow of SAE International and the Combustion Institute.

Additional Links

Prof. Sick's U-M Research Expert Listing