Rate My Professor Sam Lowrey

Dr. Sam Lowrey is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Physics at the University of Otago. He completed his undergraduate and postgraduate studies in physics at the University of Otago, earning his PhD in 2012. Following his doctorate, he held a research fellow position at Otago, where he developed an optical lithographic system for large-area imaging in the evanescent wave regime. From 2016 to 2021, he led several industry- and government-funded projects focused on engineering thermodynamics and open-surface microfluidics. In October 2021, he joined the Department of Physics as a Senior Lecturer. Lowrey coordinates the course EMAN 301 Fluid Flow and Heat Transfer and teaches additional papers including EMAN 308 Thermoprocesses 2, EMAN 403 Linear Systems and Control Theory, and PHSI 282 Experimental Physics I. He leads the Otago Energy Technologies Group, researching applications from nanoscale to practical energy systems.

Lowrey's research specializations encompass microfluidics for passive control of droplets and bubbles on open surfaces to manage frost and ice formation via surface tension gradients; engineering thermodynamics, including computational fluid dynamics modeling and performance testing of novel heat exchangers and energy-efficient heat pumps for drying processes; and optical lithography techniques using high- and ultra-high numerical aperture methods with liquid- and solid-immersion approaches. Key publications include Lowrey and Blaikie (2014), 'Ultrahigh NA, high aspect ratio interference lithography with resonant dielectric underlayers,' Journal of Vacuum Science & Technology B, 32(6); Lowrey and Sun (2015), 'A numerical model for a wet air-side economiser,' International Journal of Refrigeration, 60; Lowrey and Blaikie (2015), 'Solid immersion optical lithography: Tuning the prism/sample interface,' Proceedings of SPIE 9423; Bertelsen, Lowrey, and Sommers (2024), 'Facilitating water droplet removal from surfaces using air flow and wettability gradients'; Misiiuk et al. (2024), 'Surveying the Directional Transport of Water Droplets upon Anisotropic Topographical Wetting Gradients,' ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces, 16(18); and Misiiuk et al. (2026), 'Curvature-Driven Droplet Transport and Spontaneous Motion on Open Surfaces,' Langmuir, 42(8). His work has secured significant research funding, including from the Endeavour Fund in 2018.