Dr. F. Todd Davidson
Assistant Professor
Director, Center for Applied Engineering
Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering
Center for Applied Engineering
Dr. F. Todd Davidson is an Assistant Professor and the Director of the Center for Applied Engineering at the United States Military Academy. Dr. Davidson has taught courses on fluid mechanics, thermodynamics, and energy technology and policy during his teaching career at both West Point and the University of Texas at Austin.
Dr. Davidson’s research focuses on the technical, financial, security and policy challenges related to the interdependent nature of energy systems, including transportation, energy storage, renewable resources, water, food, and oil and gas. Dr. Davidson’s work has been published in numerous peer-reviewed journals, including Applied Energy, Desalination, Environmental Research Letters, and the Journal of Turbomachinery. He has also authored publications in national outlets, including Fortune, The Hill, Forbes, ASME Magazine, Bloomberg, and The Conversation. Dr. Davidson has been called upon as an expert to advise the Texas General Land Office, has been interviewed by national media, including NPR’s Marketplace and The New York Times, and testified before the Committee of Agriculture, Water & Rural Affairs within the Texas State Senate.
Before joining academia, Dr. Davidson was the CEO & co-founder of nCarbon, Inc., a startup focused on the development of advanced energy storage devices. He started his career as a systems engineer working for Raytheon where he worked on four different missile defense products. Dr. Davidson holds an affiliated research position with the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Texas at Austin and is a Managing Partner with IdeaSmiths, LLC, a consulting firm providing expertise in analyzing energy systems.
Ph.D. - Mechanical Engineering - University of Texas - Austin
M.S., Mechanical Engineering - University of Texas - Austin
B.S., Engineering Science - Trinity University
Research Interests
Energy Resilience & Sustainability, Energy Defense Nexus, Gas Turbines, Renewable Energy & Energy Storage, Future of Transportation, Infrastructure Modernization
Current Research
Energy and Water Resilience at US Army Installations , Thermal Management in Advanced Gas Turbines , Transportation Energy and Emissions Impacts, Paths to Net-Zero Carbon Emissions , USACE Pumped Hydro Energy Storage , Levelized Cost of Energy Storage
Selected Publications
Benson, M.J., Bindon, D., Cooper, M., Davidson, F.T., Duhaime, B., Helmer, D., Woodings, R., Van Poppel, B.P., Elkins, C.J., Clark, J.P., “Detailed velocity and heat transfer measurements in an advanced gas turbine vane insert using MRV and IR thermography”, Journal of Turbomachinery February 2022; 144(2): 021009. https://doi.org/10.1115/1.4052310
Davidson, F.T., Helmer, D., Parker, C., Lee, C., Kahn, K., Elkins, C.J., Clark, J.P., Humbert, N., Van Poppel, B.P., Benson, M.J. “Detailed Velocity and Heat Transfer Measurements of an Advanced Insert for Impingement Cooling”, International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer (2021)
Davis B.G., Thompson J, Morningstar W, McCool E, Peri V, Davidson FT. “Risk evaluation of ballistic penetration by small caliber ammunition of live-fire shoot house facilities with comparison to numerical and experimental results”. International Journal of Protective Structures. January 2021. doi: https://doi.org/10.1177/2041419620988553
Chapman, A., Itaoka, K., Hirose, K., Davidson, F.T., et al. “A review of four case studies assessing the potential for hydrogen penetration of the future energy system”, International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, (February 8, 2019)
Nagasawa, K., Davidson, F.T., Lloyd, A.C., Webber, M.E., “Impacts of renewable hydrogen production from wind energy in electricity markets on potential hydrogen demand for light-duty vehicles”, Applied Energy, Vol. 253, pg 1001-1016, (February 1, 2019)
Alexandratos, S.D., Barak, N., Bauer, D., Davidson, F.T., et al. “Sustaining Water Resources: Environmental and Economic Impact”, ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering, 7 (3), pp 2879-2888 (January 23, 2019) DOI: 10.1021/acssuschemeng.8b05859
Aminfard, S., Davidson, F.T., Webber, M.E., “Multi-layered Spatial Methodology for Assessing the Technical and Economic Viability of Using Renewable Energy to Power Brackish Groundwater Desalination”, Desalination, Vol. 450, pg 12-20, (January 15, 2019)
Belmont, E., Davidson, F.T., Glazer, Y.R., Beagle, E., Webber, M.E., “Accounting for Water Formation from Hydrocarbon Fuel Combustion in Life Cycle Analyses”, Environmental Research Letters, Vol. 12, No. 9, (September 19, 2017)
Beal, C.M., Davidson, F.T., Webber, M.E., Quinn, J.C., “Flare Gas Recovery for Algal Protein Production”, Algal Research, 2016
Cook M.A., King, C.W., Davidson, F.T., and Webber, M.E., “Assessing the Impacts of Droughts and Heat Waves at Thermoelectric Power Plants in the United States Using Integrated Regression, Thermodynamic, and Climate Models.” Energy Reports. 193-203 (2015)