Yong Zhu

In addition to his duties as Associate Department Head for Research and Faculty Advancement, Dr. Yong Zhu also serves as Andrew A. Adams Distinguished Professor. 

Dr. Zhu’s long-term goal is to advance nanoscience and nanotechnology by improving the understanding of nanoscale material behavior and exploring the applications of nanomaterials.

At the graduate level, Dr. Zhu teaches Micro/Nano electromechanical Systems (MAE 536) for students interested in the fundamentals and the applications of micro/nano sensors and actuators. His lecture style course includes guest lecturers from industry and academia, and concludes with final projects of teams of 2 to 3 students in which the teams, based on the class material, propose and design micro/nano transducers for their intended applications, and study related scientific issues. Dr. Zhu also teaches Advanced Solid Mechanics (MAE 541), which teaches elasticity theory leading to solution of practical engineering problems concerned with stress and deformation analysis.

Dr. Zhu’s graduate students are self-motivated; they like both experimental and theoretical work, and tend to enjoy intellectually challenging, multi-disciplinary problems. The research they conduct in Dr. Zhu’s lab advances a major engineering frontier that may eventually lead to important new discoveries in the field of nanoscience and nanotechnology.

At the undergraduate level, Dr. Zhu teaches Solid Mechanics (MAE 214) and Strength of Mechanical Components (MAE 316). Both of these classes are taught following standard practices but he also includes in his lectures examples taken from his work on nano/micro devices.

See also Dr. Zhu’s ResearcherID site and his Google Scholar link below.

Outside of work, Dr. Zhu enjoys travel and sports like basketball, swimming, and ping-pong.