New faculty spotlight: Shang Zhai
Eleven new faculty members start their careers in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering in the 2022-2023 academic year. One of these new faculty is Shang Zhai, who will be an Assistant Professor beginning autumn semester 2022.
Zhai is from Luoyang, China, and his interest in mechanical engineering began in high school when he discovered he could combine his passions in chemistry, materials, and engineering systems to solve energy problems.
“The stronger and stronger evidence of global warming and climate change has strengthened my passion in recent years,” he said.
Zhai attended Tsinghua University in Beijing, China, and then went to Stanford University for graduate school and his postdoc. He has not taught a class independently before this semester, but he is very excited about his first class – ME3501.
Zhai came to Ohio State for the wide variety of research resources and talented students, the city of Columbus, and his family. His research focus is on thermochemical processes to meet the energy needs of our growing society while combating climate change at the source.
“Our mission is to create and develop game-changing materials and systems for scalable and sustainable thermochemical energy cycles that help achieve net zero emissions economy,” Zhai said. “My teaching goal is to inspire future generations of engineers to make the world a better place.”
Zhai hopes to collaborate with other faculty members, work closely with students and postdocs on exciting research projects and interact with a number of students in the classroom.
“Being in this position at Ohio State means my work and contribution has become multi-dimensional now through research, teaching, and service,” Zhai said. “I personally enjoy working in all those dimensions, while I’m facing challenges and working hard to improve myself in all those dimensions.”
Zhai said he has definitely felt welcome in his short time here.
“I really appreciate all of the support I have gotten while I am starting this new job at The Ohio State University,” Zhai said. “It’s a challenging transition for me, and I feel empowered by the strong support from my family, mentors, colleagues, students, and the community at large.”