Dr. Damena Agonafer
Damena Agonafer is an Associate Professor at the A. Clark School of Engineering at the University of Maryland, where his area of research interest incorporates the intersection of thermal-fluid sciences, renewable energy, and interfacial transport phenomena. Prior to his current role, he was an Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science at Washington University in St. Louis and a Postdoctoral Scholar at Stanford University.
Before coming to the University of Illinois for his Ph.D., Dr. Agonafer obtained his Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering from Carnegie Mellon University. At Illinois, he worked on specializing in the characterization of ion transport through nanopores.
The Illinois Experience
Born in Washington D.C. and having earned his B.S. and M.S. in Arlington, Texas and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania respectively, Dr. Agonafer chose to continue the next 6 years of his academic life at Illinois because of the experimental work that the faculty and students were doing at the time, as well as his keenness in learning more about microfluidics and nanofluid fluidics.
“The facilities and general reputation of UIUC really attracted me to apply there,” said Dr. Agonafer as he spoke about what made him pick Illinois.
“Professor Mark Shannon [Agonafer's late advisor and mentor] had a very strong research background in the area I was interested in… he was at the frontier of that,” he said.
Dr. Agonafer was well versed with the research Professor Shannon had done in the past and for him, that research was a deciding factor for him to choose Illinois. He spoke about the breadth of knowledge his former advisor had in different engineering disciplines and how that gave him the freedom to pursue whatever he wanted to.
“I try to have the same philosophy with my students now to help them find their way and write their thesis,” he said.
“It was the preparation from my Ph.D. at UIUC that led me to thrive as a postdoc at Stanford University,” he said. “All of the foundations, that background I had from the University really helped me out [at Stanford].”
Career Path
Dr. Agonafer’s lifelong passion for research and academia came from the National Science Foundation’s Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU). This was a program that Dr. Agonafer participated in, where he studied thermal fluid sciences and did computational fluid dynamics at SUNY Binghamton.
As for teaching, Dr. Agonafer wasn’t completely sure about whether he wanted to pursue a job in the industry or in the teaching sphere. “I really wanted to do research more in the experimental arena and if it weren’t for UIUC, I probably would’ve gone to industry,” he said. “I’m really grateful that I got an opportunity to pursue research that I was actually interested in.”
What Dr. Agonafer commends the most about Illinois is its focus on multidisciplinary research and the facilities that students possess to be successful.
“It was the preparation from my Ph.D. at UIUC that led me to thrive as a postdoc at Stanford University,” he said. “All of the foundations, that background I had from the University really helped me out [at Stanford].”
As a graduate student conducting research at Illinois, Dr. Agonafer was also the recipient of the Alfred P. Sloan scholarship as well as the Graduate Engineering Minority (GEM) fellowship.
“It was really nice to meet and communicate with other underrepresented minorities on campus, it was such a supportive community."
Beyond academics, Dr. Agonafer was involved in the Black Graduate Student Associate (BGSA) and the National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE). “It was really nice to meet and communicate with other underrepresented minorities on campus, it was such a supportive community,” he said. A former professional tennis player, he also appreciated the fitness facilities Illinois had to offer. He enjoyed going to the ARC, CRCE, running around the campus, and playing tennis.
Dr. Agonafer’s vast experience with the university, both in and out of academic life, led him to cultivate some wisdom for current graduate students at Illinois. He recommends introducing students to the resources and what the university offers early. He also advises current students to collaborate with students and professors from different departments and “explore the research happenings across campus.” He also suggests finding a peer, a senior graduate student, “within or outside your research group,” to act as mentors for their ultimate success.