April Xiuhua Si, Ph.D.

Dr. Xiuhua Si received her B.S. in Environmental Engineering; M.S. in Chemical Engineering; and her Ph.D.in Aerospace Engineering from Texas A&M University in College Station. Her dissertation was "Applications of the Thermodynamics of Elastic, Crystalline Materials with the Presence of stress and Electro-Magnetic Fields".

Prior to coming to CBU, Dr. Si worked as a research associate in the department of materials science and engineering department of Rice University and assistant professor of engineering at Calvin University. In the fall of 2014, Dr. Si joined the College of Engineering at California Baptist University as an Associate Professor. With the support of the department of mechanical engineering and the college of engineering, she started the Aerospace Engineering Minor within the department of mechanical engineering. She advised different mechanical engineering senior design teams in designing the COE wind-tunnel and various test equipment related to the tunnel.

Her research interests include heat transfer enhancement through reducing fouling deposition, Study crystalline materials behaviors under stress and electro-magnetic fields with thermodynamics, and developing more efficient drug delivery method through Comsol simulation. Some of her publications include “J. Xi, Z. Zhang, X. Si, J. Yang, and W. Deng, 2017: “Optimization of magnetophoretic-guided drug delivery to the olfactory region in a human nose model in Biomechanics & Modeling in Mechanobiology, “X. Si, J. Xi, and X. Tao, 2010: The Study of Calcium Carbonate Scaling on Low Energy Surfaces” in proceeding of the 14th International Heat Transfer Conference, and “X. Si, ES Oh, and JC Slattery, 2010: Compatibility constraint at interfaces with elastic, crystalline solids–I: Theory, and II: Applications”, in Philosophical Magazine.

Dr. Si has affiliations with the American Society of Mechanical Engineers and American Society of Engineering Education.

She is married to Jinxiang Xi and they have a son. She learned to ski in the winter of 2013 and fell in love with the sport. She enjoys hiking both on the beach and in the mountains.

ABET Accreditation

Current Courses:
EGR102 Freshmen Engineering Design
EGR122 Visualization Languages I (AutoCAD and Excel)
EGR302 Engineering Design and Documentation (Junior Design)
EGR341 Engineering Thermodynamics & Lab
EGR442 CAD Design (Solidworks, MasterCAM, FEA)
EGR447/MCE547 Mechanics of Composite Materials and Structures

Courses Taught before
EGR241 Statics
EGR242 Strength of Materials
EGR343 Dynamics
EGR342 Fluid Mechanics
EGR344 Materials and Manufacturing
EGR441 Heat Transfer
And International Engineering and Business program

• Numerical simulations of drug delivery in the respiratory system, fluid flow, particle tracing in various applications.
• Thermodynamics in theoretical analysis of crystalline materials under stress and electromagnetic fields.
• Experimental study of heat transfer efficiency through reducing fouling deposition by modifying surface properties of materials.
• Applications of Electromagnetic fields in water treatment (desalination) and drug delivery.
• Proficient in Comsol Multiphysics, AutoCAD, Autodesk Inventor, SolidWorks, MatLab, Ansys Fluent
• Design, modifications, and acoustics study of wind-tunnels
• Study the effectiveness of the facemask on the market and design a more efficient and more breathable facemask.
• Design and Applications of composite materials

2007-2014 Engineering Department of Calvin University
2006-2007 Integrated Engineering Department of Southern Utah University
2005-2006 Mechanical and Materials science and engineering of Rice University

Selected publications:
1. Xiuhua Si, Jinxiang Xi, Ziliang Zhou, and Jun Zhang, “The Impact of “Green” Requirements in Engineering Students’ Design Projects on Engineering Students’ Green Mindset”, Proceedings of ASEE Annual Conference, June, 2023, Baltimore, Maryland.
2. Xiuhua Si, Mahamed Talaat, Jinxiang Xi, “SARS COV-2 virus-laden droplets coughed from deep lungs: Numerical quantification in a single-path whole respiratory tract geometry”, Physics of Fluids, 33(2), February 2021.
3. Jinxian Xi, Xiuhua Si, Ramaswamy Nagarajan, “Effects of mask-wearing on the inhalability and deposition of airborne SARS-CoV-2 aerosols in human upper airway”, Physics of Fluids, 32(12), December 2020.
4. Xiuhua Si, Ziliang Zhou, Jinxiang Xi, “Design and Assembly of a Large Scale Cost-efficient Wind Tunnel Via Computational Simulations as Capstone projects,” Proceedings of ASEE conference, June 2020.
5. Jinxiang Xi and Xiuhua Si, “Exploiting exhaled aerosol fingerprints to detect lung cancers and obstructive respiratory diseases,” book chapter in Lung Cancer and Imaging, December 2019.
6. Jinxiang Xi, Xiuhua Si, “Numerical Simulation and Experimental Testing to Improve Olfactory Drug Delivery with Electric Field Guidance of Charged Particles,” Advanced Technology for Delivering Therapeutics, May 2017
7. Xiuhua Si, Jinxiang Xi, “Modeling and Simulations of Olfactory Drug Delivery with Passive and Active Controls of Nasally Inhaled Pharmaceutical Aerosols,” Journal of Visualized Experiments, 2016 (111), May 2016.
8. Jinxiang Xi, Ze Zhang, Xiuhua Si, “Improving intranasal delivery of neurological nanomedicine to the olfactory region using magnetophoretic guidance of microsphere carriers,” International Journal of Nanomedicine 10:1211-22 · February 2015
9. Jinxiang Xi, Xiuhua Si, Worth Longest, “Electrostatic Charge Effects on Pharmaceutical Aerosol Deposition in Human Nasal–Laryngeal Airways,” Pharmaceutics 6(1):26-35 · March 2014.
10. Xiuhua Si, Jinxiang Xi, “Development of a new curvature law of the wall for internal swirling axial flows,” J FLUID ENG-T ASME
11. Xiuhua Si and Rachel Gaide, “Electrophoretic Focusing and Navigation for Intranasal Target Drug Delivery”, Proceedings of the ASME District F Early Career Technical Conference, Volume 12, Nov 2-3, 2013, Birmingham, Alabama, USA.
12. Xiuhua Si, J. Xi, J. Kim, Y. Zhou, and H. Zhong “Modeling of Release Position and Ventilation Effects on Olfactory Aerosol Drug Delivery,” Respiratory Physiology and Neurobiology, 186: 22-32, 2013
13. Xiuhua Si and J. Xi, “Chapter 3: Curvature Law of Wall for Swirling Axial Flows,” in Turbulent Flows: Prediction, Modeling, and Analysis, Zied DRISS (ed.), Nova Science Publishers, 71-92, 2013.
14. Paulo Ribeiro and Xiuhua Si “Chapter 2: Electric and Magnetic Circuit” in Standard Handbook for Electrical Engineering, H. Wayne, McGraw Hill, 16th Ed, 2012
15. Xiuhua Si, Eun-Suok Oh, John Slattery, “Compatibility constraint at interfaces with elastic, crystalline solids–I: Theory” Philosophical Magazine, 1478-6443, Volume 90, Issue 5, 2010, Pages 655 – 663
16. John Slattery, Xiuhua Si, Kaibin Fu, Eun-Suok Oh, “Compatibility constraint at interfaces with elastic, crystalline solids–II: Applications” Philosophical Magazine, 1478-6443, Volume 90, Issue 5, 2010, Pages 665 – 674
17. Xiuhua Si, Jinxiang Xi, and Xihai Tao, “The Study of Scaling on Low-Energy Surfaces”. Proceedings of 2010 ASME International Heat Transfer Conference, August 13-19, 2010, Washington D.C., USA
18. Xiuhua Si, Sungmin Youn, Jinxiang Xi, “Reducing Scale Deposition by Surface Modification and Magnetic Water Treatment”, Proceedings of 2009 ASME International Mechanical Engineering Congress and Exposition, November 13-19, 2009, Lake Buena Vista, Florida, USA
19. Jeremy VanAntwerp, Aubrey Sykes, Xiuhua Si, “Design Of Multiple Effect Evaporators Using Excel Add-Ins”. Proceedings of 2009 ASEE Annual Conference, June 13-16, 2009, Austin, TX, USA
20. Jinxiang Xi, Xiuhua Si, Worth Longest, and Mohamed Gad-el-Hak, “Curvature Law for Axial- -swirling Flows in Rotating Machinery,” ASME Journal of Fluids Engineering, 129, p169-178, 2007.
21. Daming Xue, Xie Quan, Yazhi Zhao, Xiuhua Si, “Analysis of Energy Consumption and Acquisition in Thermal and Catalytic Cracking of Waste Polyethylene Products”. Journal of the Dalian University of Technology, 37(4), p110, 1997.

Riverside Mandarin Baptist Church: Life to life Discipleship Training, Bible Study leader, Grace Friend Fellowship leader, Deacon
Harvest Christian Fellowship
Grove Community Church

Faculty Senator
Faculty Assessment Committee
Academic Advisor
Journal and conference paper reviewer

Hiking, skiing, biking, and gardening

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight. Proverbs 3:5-6
For the Lord is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations. Psalm 100: 5