UC IRVINE / EXPERIMENTAL ENGINEERINGBUILD / TEST / UNDERSTAND

MANSOURIFrom reactor physics
to systems at sea.

NINE PHOTOGRAPHS. ONE NAME. · CREDITS ↗

AUTOPLAY · A RESEARCH FILM01 / 07
Heated wallVapor bubbles in liquid waterPhase change

Liquid water + heat → water vapor

A CONTINUOUS CAMERA JOURNEY

Follow the water. Find the heat.

Nucleation, growth and departure in a separate boiling experiment.

Explore this project ↗

Boiling research with Professor Yoonjin Won. Stylized phase change—not CFD or electrolyzer boiling.

Scientific context & film transcript

Seven connected research topics—not one demonstrated plant. Camera travel and match-cuts connect different materials, devices and experiments. Sizes, timing and molecule symbols are not to scale.

  1. A separate boiling experiment with Professor Yoonjin Won shows nucleation, growth and departure at a heated surface. The transition to ATLAS is a narrative connection between projects.
  2. ATLAS deposits Pt/C catalyst ink on a gas-diffusion substrate to make an electrode. The XY bed makes overlapping edge-overrun passes under a fixed nozzle. The completed GDE moves right, stands upright and remains the same electrode in the cell. This coating process is separate from the preceding boiling experiment.
  3. Named PEM layers assemble. H₂ enters the anode; oxygen in air enters the cathode. Protons cross the membrane; electrons reach the cathode through an external load. Product water may be liquid and/or vapor. Heat is removed mainly by cooling—not only radiation.
  4. A continuous pullback reveals the cell inside a stack and the proposed Oasis of the Seas retrofit. Main propulsion is aft. Electricity, recovered heat and LH₂ cold recovery are revealed in turn. The time-compressed itinerary follows Table 5; placement is illustrative.
  5. FCV Vanguard has compressed H₂ storage, twin fuel-cell modules, a battery on the common HV bus and an inverter-fed electric motor. Fuel-cell DC/DC converters feed that bus. Surplus fuel-cell power can charge the battery underway; one fuel cell can charge it while stopped. The cinematic overtake is not a documented joint voyage.
  6. Wind and solar electricity power electrolysis and green-ammonia production. Oxygen leaves the electrolyzer as a coproduct; nitrogen is separated from air for Haber–Bosch synthesis.
  7. After ammonia fades fully to black, AND introduces Nuclear Reactor Research. A representative submerged core increases in power, with more symbolic neutron markers at unchanged animation speed. Fuel stays fixed; only equivalent absorber sections move. This time-compressed educational model is not a UCI core loading map or operating procedure. Hollywood Mansouri is shown as a reactor operator in training, under supervision. Ending model and visual scope.

Sources & model-audit scope ↗ · Interactive research projects ↗

Fuel cells. Hydrogen.
Curiosity made physical.

Fuel-cell hardware with Jack Brouwer.
Boiling research with Professor Yoonjin Won.
Nuclear reactor operator in training.

THE PERSON BEHIND THE SYSTEMS

2027
M.S. Mechanical Engineering
Expected · UC Irvine
2026
M.Eng. Advanced Manufacturing
2025
B.S. Mechanical Engineering

FROM REACTOR PHYSICS TO SYSTEMS AT SEA.

LET’S BUILD WHAT’S NEXT

A conversation starts here.

mamanso1@uci.edu ↗