Education

• Ph.D. (Aug. 2006), Mechanical Engineering, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY, USA.
• M. S. (Dec. 1996), Solid Mechanics, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an, China.
• B. S. (Jul. 1994), Engineering Mechanics, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an, China.

Research and Professional Interest

Our research interests focus on Interface Engineering: Improve Mechanical Properties and Irradiation Tolerance of Materials by Tailoring Interfaces in Solids.

This is realized from two aspects:

1. Discover unusual mechanical behavior (e.g., high strength and good ductility) of nanostructured composites and Develop theory and fundamental understanding of unusual mechanical behavior.
2. Transform fundamental understanding of structural characters and deformation physics of nanostructured composites into a mesoscale capability of discovering, predicting, and designing superior nanostructured materials (strength, ductility, toughness, and radiation).

This is a multiscale effort involving synthesis, characterization, measurement, theory, and modeling at different scales to design materials with desired properties. Theory and modeling at the atomic scale employ Density functional theory, Molecular Dynamics methods, Crystallography, and Defect theory, while experiments at the atomic scale use transmission electron microscopy for in situ/ex situ characterization and measurement.  Theory and modeling at micro/meso/macro scales are focusing on developing physics-based predictive materials modeling tools (Interface Dislocation Dynamics and Crystal Plasticity theory that incorporates interface physics), while experiments at micro/meso/macro scales use SEM, TEM, and EBSD etc., to observe and identify deformation mechanisms and texture evolution of nanostructured materials.