Yuwen Zhang is a Chinese American

professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other tertiary education, post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin ...

of mechanical engineering who is well known for his contributions to phase change heat transfer. He is presently a Curators' Distinguished Professor and Huber and Helen Croft Chair in Engineering in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at the University of Missouri in Columbia, Missouri.

Early life and education

Yuwen Zhang was born in 1964 in Xiaoyi,

Shanxi Shanxi; Chinese postal romanization, formerly romanised as Shansi is a Provinces of China, province in North China. Its capital and largest city of the province is Taiyuan, while its next most populated prefecture-level cities are Changzhi a ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

and spent his early life there until 1981 when he graduated from Chengguan High School and was admitted to college. He earned his B.E. degree in thermal turbomachinery, M.E. and D.Eng. degrees in engineering thermophysics from Xi'an Jiaotong University, in 1985, 1988 and 1991, respectively. He received a Ph.D. degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Connecticut in 1998.

Career

He taught at Xi'an Jiaotong University from 1991 to 1994 and was a research associate at Wright State University (1994-1995) and University of Connecticut (1995-1996). He was a research scientist at University of Connecticut (1999-2000) and a senior engineer at Thermoflow, Inc. (2000) before joining the Department of Mechanical Engineering at New Mexico State University as an assistant professor in 2001. He joined the faculty at the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at the University of Missouri (MU) in 2003 as an associate professor and became a full professor in 2009. He was awarded a James C. Dowell Professorship in 2012 and served as the Department Chair from 2013 to 2017. He was named a Curators' Distinguished Professor in 2020 and a Huber and Helen Croft Chair in Engineering in 2021.

Technical contributions

Yuwen Zhang's research area is in the field of heat and mass transfer with applications in nanomanufacturing, thermal management, and energy storage and conversion. He has published over 300 journal papers and more than 180 conference publications at national and international conferences. He has developed pioneer models for a latent heat thermal energy storage system, as well as multiscale, multiphysics models on additive manufacturing (AM), including selective laser sintering (SLS) and laser chemical vapor deposition/ infiltration (LCVD/LCVI). He is the first to develop fundamental models of fluid flow and heat transfer in the oscillating heat pipes, which is a heat transfer device that can be used in thermal management of electronic devices and energy systems. He carried out theoretical studies on femtosecond laser interaction with metal and biological materials from molecular scales to system levels, and solved inverse heat transfer problems for the determination of the heating condition and/or temperature-dependent macro and micro thermophysical properties under uncertainty. He also investigated the mechanism of heat transfer enhancement in nanofluids, which are stable colloidal suspensions of solid nanomaterials with sizes typically on the order of 1-100 nm in the base fluid, via molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. Thermal management and temperature uniformity improvement of Li-ion batteries using external and internal cooling methods were also systematically studied by utilizing pin fin heat-sinks and metal/non-metal foams, as well as using electrolyte flow inside the embedded microchannels in the porous electrodes as a novel internal cooling technique. Moreover, he has pioneered application of AI and machine learning for efficient and accurate solution of multiphase heat and mass transfer and inverse heat conduction problems.

Honors and awards

*Fellow
American Society of Thermal and Fluids Engineers
(ASTFE), 2024 *Huber and Helen Croft Chair in Engineering, University of Missouri, 2021 *Curators' Distinguished Professor, University of Missouri, 2020 *Coulter Award, University of Missouri Coulter Translational Partnership Program, 2018 *

Fellow A fellow is a title and form of address for distinguished, learned, or skilled individuals in academia, medicine, research, and industry. The exact meaning of the term differs in each field. In learned society, learned or professional society, p ...

American Association for the Advancement of Sciences The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) is a United States–based international nonprofit with the stated mission of promoting cooperation among scientists, defending scientific freedom, encouraging scientific responsib ...

(AAAS), 2015 *James C. Dowell Professorship, University of Missouri, 2012 *Certificate of Appreciation for Service as K-15 Committee Chair,

ASME The American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) is an American professional association that, in its own words, "promotes the art, science, and practice of multidisciplinary engineering and allied sciences around the globe" via "continuing edu ...

Heat Transfer Division, 2014 *Certificate of Distinguished Service, American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA), 2011 *Missouri Honor Senior Faculty Research Award, College of Engineering at the University of Missouri, 2010 *Chancellor's Award for Outstanding Research and Creative Activity, University of Missouri, 2010 *

American Society of Mechanical Engineers The American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) is an American professional association that, in its own words, "promotes the art, science, and practice of multidisciplinary engineering and allied sciences around the globe" via "continuing edu ...

(ASME), 2007 *Associate Fellow of

American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) is a professional society for the field of aerospace engineering Aerospace engineering is the primary field of engineering concerned with the development of aircraft and spacecra ...

(AIAA), 2008 *Faculty Fellow Award, College of Engineering at University of Missouri, 2007 *Computational Research Award, Department of Mechanical Engineering, New Mexico State University, 2003 *Young Investigator Award,

Office of Naval Research The Office of Naval Research (ONR) is an organization within the United States Department of the Navy responsible for the science and technology programs of the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps. Established by Congress in 1946, its mission is to plan ...

(one of 26 awarded nationally in all fields), 2002ONR Announces Young Investigator Program Awards
Office of Naval Research, February 20, 2002.

References

External links

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Biographical information
at the University of Missouri {{DEFAULTSORT:Zhang, Yuwen University of Missouri faculty Educators from Columbia, Missouri People from Columbia, Missouri University of Connecticut alumni Xi'an Jiaotong University alumni New Mexico State University faculty Fluid dynamicists Thermodynamicists Fellows of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers Fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science American mechanical engineers Chinese emigrants to the United States Chinese mechanical engineers 1965 births Living people