University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
The Grainger College of Engineering
Civil & Environmental Engineering

X. Shelly Zhang

X. Shelly Zhang
X. Shelly Zhang
  • Assistant Professor
(217) 300-1815
3108 Newmark Civil Engineering Bldg

Primary Research Area

  • Structural Engineering

Research Areas

For more information

Biography

Dr. Xiaojia Shelly Zhang is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She also holds an affiliate appointment at the Department of Mechanical Science and Engineering. Dr. Zhang holds a B.S. (Honors) degree in Civil Engineering (University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign), an M.S. degree in Structural Engineering (University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign) with Computational Science and Engineering Diploma, and a Ph.D. degree in Structural Engineering (Georgia Tech). She received the faculty fellowship from the National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA) in 2019, and both the department-level (2018) and institution-level (2019) Best Ph.D. Thesis Awards. She is also a Review Editor for the Journal of Structural and Multidisciplinary Optimization. Dr. Zhang receives the NSF CAREER award in 2021, and wins the 2022 Journal of Applied Mechanics Award from the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME).

Her research interests are in the general areas of topology optimization, additive manufacturing, data-driven models, multi-scale materials and structures, 3D/4D printing, and uncertainty quantification. Her research group focuses on exploring topology optimization, stochastic and machine learning algorithms, and additive manufacturing to develop multi-functional, sustainable, and innovative civil structures, robots, and metamaterials for applications at different scales, from as large as high-rise buildings to as small as material microstructures.

Education

  • Ph.D., Structural Engineering, School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, 2018
  • M.S., Structural Engineering, Computational Science and Engineering, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2014
  • B.S., Civil Engineering (with honors), Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2012

Academic Positions

  • Assistant Professor (100%), Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana - Champaign, 2019 - present
  • Faculty Fellow (0%), National Center of Supercomputing Applications, University of Illinois at Urbana - Champaign, 2019 - present
  • Faculty Affiliate (0%), Mechanical Science and Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana - Champaign, 2019 - present

Journal Editorships

  • Review Editor, Structural and Multidisciplinary Optimization (Impact factor: 4.542), 2021-present
  • Guest Editor, Extreme Mechanics Letter (Impact factor: 4.806), 2021-present
  • Editor, ISSMO Newsletter, International Society for Structural and Multidisciplinary Optimization (ISSMO), 2020

Professional Societies

  • Vice-Chair, USACM (U. S. Association for Computational Mechanics), Technical Thrust Area (TTA) on Large Scale Structural Systems and Optimal Design, 2021-present
  • Honor Member, Chi Epsilon – National Civil Engineering Honor Society, 2021-present
  • Event Officier in Female Researchers Group (FRG) of U.S. Association for Computational Mechanics (USACM), 2020-present
  • Early Career Researcher Committee Member: International Society for Structural and Multidisciplinary Optimization (ISSMO), 2020-present
  • Technical Committee Member: Computational Mechanics of the Engineering Mechanics Institute (EMI of ASCE), 2019-present
  • Fellow, ASCE Excellence in Civil Engineering Education (ExCEEd), 2019-present
  • Member, Engineering Mechanics Institute (EMI) of ASCE, 2015-present
  • Member, Sigma Xi – Scientific Research Honor Society, 2019-present
  • Member, U.S. Association for Computational Mechanics (USACM), 2019-present
  • Member, American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME), 2019-present
  • Member, Chi Epsilon – National Civil Engineering Honor Society, 2011-present
  • Member, Society of Women Engineers, National Member, 2013-present
  • Member, International Society for Structural and Multidisciplinary Optimization (ISSMO), 2013-present
  • Member, American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), 2015-present
  • Member, Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics (SIAM), 2016-present
  • Member, Stochastic Programming Society (SPS), 2016-present

Service on Department Committees

  • Chair, Structures Seminar Series Committee
  • Structural Engineering Conference Committee

Service on College Committees

  • UIUC-Carle Health Covid PPE project – led the design team for the N95 mask and face shield PPE project

Service on Campus Committees

  • Campus Transportation Advisory Committee (CTAC)

Service to Federal and State Government

  • Panel Fellow of NSF CMMI’s Game Changer Academies for Advancing Research Innovation, 2021

Other Outside Service

  • Book reviewer: CRC Press
  • Mechanics Research Communications
  • Mathematical Reviews/MathSciNe
  • Journal of Optimization Theory and Applications
  • Advances in Structural Engineering
  • Journal of Materials Engineering and Performance
  • AIAA Journal - American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics
  • ASME Journal of Applied Mechanics
  • Journal of Technology | Architecture + Design
  • Proceeding of the Royal Society A
  • Computer Methods in Applied Mechanics and Engineering
  • ASCE Journal of Structural Engineering
  • Journal of Aerospace Engineering
  • Journal of Ocean Engineering
  • Meccanica (MECC)
  • International Journal for Numerical Methods in Engineering
  • ASME Journal of Mechanical Design
  • ASCE Journal of Engineering Mechanics
  • Journal of Structural and Multidisciplinary Optimization

Research Interests

  • Theoretical and algorithmic development of topology optimization to handle multi-objective and multi-constraints
  • Robust design optimization under uncertainty through stochastic programming
  • Bridging topology optimization and additive manufacturing
  • Topology optimization informed civil structures innovations
  • Multi-scale lattice design for resilient and lightweight metamaterials and structures
  • Design, simulate, and realization of multi-functional, resilient, and intelligent engineering structures and materials

Research Statement

Topology optimization is a technique for generating optimal shapes of structures. My research focuses on exploring multi-physics topology optimization, stochastic and machine learning algorithms, additive manufacturing to create multi-functional, sustainable, resilient, and optimal civil structures, robots, and metamaterials for applications at different scales, from as large as high-rise buildings to as small as material microstructures.

Primary Research Area

  • Structural Engineering

Research Areas

Selected Articles in Journals

Articles in Conference Proceedings

  • Invited: X. S. Zhang. “Leveraging Materials in Topology Optimization” 2020 TMS (The Minerals, Metals & Materials Society) Congress, San Diego, CA, 2020.
  • X. S. Zhang, W. Li, Y. Ouyang. “Pedestrian Guideway Design under Continuous Traffic Equilibrium: A Topology Optimization Approach.” 99th Annual Meeting of the Transportation Research Board, Washington DC, 2020.
  • X. S. Zhang, H. Chi, G. H. Paulino. “Adaptive Multi-Material Topology Optimization with Material and Geometric Nonlinearities.” Society of Engineering Science, St. Louis, MO, 2019.
  • X. S. Zhang, H. Chi, G. H. Paulino. “Adaptive multi-material topology optimization with material and geometric nonlinearities.” ASCE Engineering Mechanics Institute Conference, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, LA, 2019.
  • X. S. Zhang, E. de Sturler, G. H. Paulino. “Stochastic Methods for Topology Optimization with Many Load Cases.” ASCE Engineering Mechanics Institute Conference, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, LA, 2019.
  • X. S. Zhang, H. Chi, G. H. Paulino. “Virtual elements-based multi-material topology optimization with material and geometric nonlinearities.” 13th World Congress of Structural and Multidisciplinary Optimization, Beijing, China, 2019.
  • X. S. Zhang, E. de Sturler, G.H. Paulino. “Stochastic Methods for Topology Optimization with Many Load Cases.” Sandia National Laboratories Topology Optimization Roundtable, Albuquerque, NM, March 2019.
  • X. S. Zhang, A. Ramos Jr., G. H. Paulino. “Multi-Material Topology Optimization with Multiple Constraints: A General Approach with Material Nonlinearity.” Engineering Mechanics Institute Conference 2018, M.I.T., Cambridge, MA, May 2018.
  • X. S. Zhang, E. de Sturler, G. H. Paulino. “A Randomized Approach Based on Stochastic Sampling for Deterministic Topology Optimization with Many Right-Hand Sides.” 10th World Congress on Structural and Multidisciplinary Optimization, Brunswig, Germany, June 2017.

Invited Lectures

  • ASME CONCAM distinguished lecture on computational mechanics: Programmable soft metastructures via multi-material topology optimization
  • Invited keynote lecture: Topology optimization of hyperelastic structures with anisotropic fiber reinforcement under large deformations
  • Invited lecture: Adaptive multi-material topology optimization with hyperelastic materials under large deformations: A virtual element approach
  • Invited panel: An Introduction to Systems Engineering and What it Means to Structural Engineers
  • Design of Composite Materials with Multi-material Topology Optimization with many constraints: A novel approach with material and geometric nonlinearities
  • Multi-material, multi-constraint, and multi-objective topology optimization: from structural to multidisciplinary engineering
  • Invited keynote: "Adaptive multi-material topology optimization with many constraints: A novel approach with material and geometric nonlinearities."
  • Topology Optimization with Multiple Materials, Multiple Constraints, and Multiple Load Cases
  • Topology Optimization with Multiple Materials, Multiple Constraints, and Multiple Load Cases
  • Achieving Structural Innovation and Resilience through Topology Optimization with Many Objectives, Many Constraints, and Many Materials
  • A Primer on Michell's Optimality Conditions
  • Topology Optimization with Multiple Materials, Multiple Constraints, and Multiple Load Cases
  • Topology Optimization with Multiple Materials, Multiple Constraints, and Multiple Load Cases
  • A Primer on Michell's Optimality Conditions
  • Topology Optimization with Multiple Materials, Multiple Constraints, and Multiple Load Cases
  • Topology Optimization with Multiple Materials, Multiple Constraints, and Multiple Load Cases
  • Stochastic Sampling for Deterministic Structural Topology Optimization with Many Load Cases: Density-Based and Ground Structure Approaches
  • Topology Optimization for Hyperelastic Trusses Using a Discrete Filtering Tool
  • Efficient Topology Optimization Under Many Load Cases Based on Stochastic Sampling
  • Stochastic Sampling for Structural Topology Optimization with Many Load Cases
  • Topology Optimization of Structures and Materials
  • Stochastic Sampling for Structural Topology Optimization with Many Load Cases

Honors

  • 2022 Journal of Applied Mechanics Award, ASME (American Society of Mechanical Engineers) (2021)
  • National Science Foundation (NSF) CAREER Award (2021)
  • Elected to be an Honor Member, Chi Epsilon – National Civil Engineering Honor Society (2021 )
  • UIUC Center for Teaching Excellence List of Teachers Ranked as Excellent (Spring 2021)
  • Fellow, NSF CMMI’s Game Changer Academies (2021)
  • UIUC Center for Teaching Excellence List of Teachers Ranked as Excellent (Summer 2020)
  • UIUC Center for Teaching Excellence List of Teachers Ranked as Excellent (Spring 2020)
  • National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA) Faculty Fellow (2019)
  • Best Ph.D. Thesis of entire Georgia Tech, Sigma Xi Honor Society, Georgia Tech Chapter (2019)
  • ASCE Excellence in Civil Engineering Education (ExCEEd) Fellowship (2019)
  • Best Ph.D. Thesis, Civil and Environmental Engineering, Georgia Tech (2018)
  • The Most Downloaded Journal Article in Springer (2017)

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