Dr. Xiao Kuang's research group in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Wisconsin-Madison (UW-Madison) is now recruiting 2 doctoral students for admission in the fall of 2024 or spring 2025. Dr. Kuang leads the Adaptive Materials & Advanced Manufacturing Lab, which focuses on the design and fabrication of multifunctional soft materials and systems to address major societal challenges such as environmental sustainability and healthcare. Combining experimental, theoretical and computational, the research group studies the functional response of polymers and composites to external stimuli (such as heat, light, chemistry, and ultrasound), constructs high-quality synthesis-processing-structure-performance relationships, and accelerates the design of functional soft materials and the development of advanced manufacturing technologies. Recently, Dr. Kuang Xiao was the first author to publish a paper in the top international academic journal Science, and developed a three-dimensional manufacturing technology based on ultrasound for the first time to realize the centimeter-level deep penetration of light scattering systems (such as nanocomposites and soft tissues) without support additive manufacturing, laying the foundation for non-destructive/minimally invasive detection-manufacturing-intervention of composite materials and biomaterials in the future (see interview for details). The laboratory has the advantages of multidisciplinary intersection of materials, chemistry, mechanics, mechanics, and biomedical engineering, and carries out basic and applied research on the most cutting-edge functional soft materials. Students who are interested in (bio)polymer materials, advanced (bio)manufacturing and ultrasound technology will find satisfactory and exciting research directions in the research group, and have the opportunity to show their talents!
课题组长介绍：匡晓博士将于2024年8月入职UW-Madison机械工程系高分子工程中心（Polymer Engineering Center），担任助理教授。 匡博士2011年本科毕业于北京化工大学高分子材料与工程专业（本科论文导师：张立群 院士）；2016年博士毕业于中国科学院化学研究所，获得高分子化学与物理理学博士学位，师从王笃金研究员，研究方向为自修复/可回收动态网络高分子材料的分子设计与结构-性能；博士毕业后加入佐治亚理工学院（Georgia Institute of Technology）机械工程系从事智能高分子与增材制造研究，导师为4D打印开创者之一的H. Jerry Qi教授；在2020年末，加入哈佛医学院和布莱根妇女医院（Harvard Medical School & Brigham and Women’s Hospital），导师为生物制造领军人物Yu Shrike Zhang教授，开展生物材料与生物制造及再生医学研究。 目前已发表SCI论文80余篇，其中第一作者（含共同一作）或通讯作者39篇，包括Science（1篇）、Science Advances （2篇）、Advanced Materials （5篇）、Advanced Function Materials （2篇）、Macromolecules （1篇）、Account of Materials Research (1篇)、Matter (3篇)，论文引用8800余次，ESI高被引论文9篇，申请或授权中国/美国专利9项，参与编写7本学术书籍章节。 其研究工作受到多家联邦资助机构（如NSF、NIH和AFOSR）和超过100家国内国际媒体的关注报道。 匡博士担任Fundamental Research青年编委，Materials编委，瑞士自然科学基金评审，并作为Advanced Materials、Additive Manufacturing、Micro-Nano Letters、Nano Energy、 Waste Management、 Composite Part: B、Chemical Engineering Journal、ACS Applied Materials &Interfaces、Bioengineering、Polymer等期刊审稿人。
Our research interests include the preparation and characterization of adaptive polymer composites, digitalization and sustainable advanced manufacturing technologies, and multifunctional (biological) materials and systems (e.g., self-healing, shape memory, self-growth, degradation/recyclability, cell guidance). The application directions involve aerospace, energy and environment, biomedical devices, drug release, tissue engineering, etc.
For details, please refer to the website of the research group:
https://xkuang89.wixsite.com/xiaokuang
Doctoral application method: Outstanding students with backgrounds in materials, chemistry, chemical engineering, mechanics, machinery, electronics, physics, biomedicine and other related majors, and enthusiastic about advanced manufacturing of (biological) polymers or ultrasound technology are welcome to actively contact. Experience in dynamic polymer fabrication characterization, additive manufacturing, ultrasonic systems, and signal processing will be preferred. Applicants should send their application materials (including cover letter, full resume, names and contact information of 3 referees) directly to Dr. Kuang's email address ([email protected]). The subject of the email should be "Ph.D. Application + Name + Major". A GRE score is not required for application, and applicants whose native language is not English or whose undergraduate instruction is not English must provide an English proficiency test score, which can be found on the UW-Madison Graduate School website for details. Admitted PhD students will be offered a full scholarship. Ph.D. students can enroll as early as fall 2024 or spring 2025.
The group also welcomes interested visiting students/scholars to join the team, and the recruitment information of other positions can be found on the website of the group.
School Profile:
The University of Wisconsin-Madison (UW-Madison), founded in 1848, is a public research university located in Madison, the capital of Wisconsin, United States. UW-Madison is ranked 11th in the nation in the Washington Monthly University Rankings in 2023, 23rd in the U.S. and 35th in the world in the ARWU University Rankings. UW-Madison's graduate program in the Department of Mechanical Engineering is ranked 9th in the nation by public schools. Dating back to 1946, the School's Center for Polymer Engineering was the first institution in the world to offer a course in engineering plastics, and is now one of the preeminent centers in the United States in the fields of mechanical engineering, polymer engineering, and polymer composites research. In addition, the UW-Madison School of Medicine offers the best hospitals in the state and is one of the top 30 medical research institutions in the United States, with an excellent medical research and clinical translation platform.
Selected Papers (#共同第一作者, *Corresponding Author):
1. X. Kuang#, Q. Rong#, S. Belal#, Tri Vu, A. Lopez, N. Wang, M. O. Arıcan, M. C. E. Garciamendez-Mijares, M. Chen, J. Yao*, and Y. S. Zhang*, Self-enhancing Sono-inks Enable Deep-Penetrating Acoustic Volumetric Printing. Science, 382, 1148 (2023).
2． D. Wang#, S. Maharjan#, X. Kuang#, Z. Wang, L. S. Mille, M. Tao, P. Yu, X. Cao, L. Lian, L. Lv, J. J. He, G. Tang, H. Yuk, C. K. Ozaki*, X. Zhao*, Y. S. Zhang*, Microfluidic bioprinting of tough hydrogel-based vascular conduits for functional blood vessels. Sci. Adv. 8, eabq6900 (2022).
3．X. Kuang#, S. Wu#, Q. Ze#, L. Yue, Y. Jin, S. M. Montgomery, F. Yang, H. J. Qi*, and R. Zhao*, Magnetic Dynamic Polymers for Modular Assembling and Reconfigurable Morphing Architectures, Adv. Mater. 33, e2102113 (2021).
4. Q. Ze#, X. Kuang#, S. Wu#, J. Wong, S. M. Montgomery, R. Zhang, J. M. Kovitz, F. Yang, H. J. Qi*, R. Zhao*,Magnetic Shape Memory Polymers with Integrated Multifunctional Shape Manipulation, Adv. Mater. 32, 1906657 (2020).
5. C. M. Hamel#, X. Kuang#, and H. J. Qi*,Modeling the Dissolution of Thermosetting Polymers and Composites via Solvent Assisted Exchange Reactions, Composites Part B: Engineering, 108363 (2020).
6. X. Kuang#, J. Wu #, K. Chen, Z. Zhao, Z. Ding, F. Hu, D. Fang, and H. J. Qi*, Grayscale Digital Light Processing 3D printing for Highly Functionally Graded Materials, Sci. Adv. 5, eaav5790 (2019).
7.K. Chen#, L. Zhang#, X. Kuang*, V. Li, M. Lei, G. Kang, Z. L. Wang*, and H. J. Qi*, Dynamic Photomask-Assisted Direct Ink Writing Multimaterial for Multilevel Triboelectric Nanogenerator, Adv. Funct. Mater. 0, 1903568 (2019)
8. C. M. Hamel#, X. Kuang#, K. Chen, and H. J. Qi*, Reaction-Diffusion Model for Thermosetting Polymer Dissolution through Exchange Reactions Assisted by Small-Molecule Solvents, Macromolecules 52, 3636 (2019).
9. J. Deng#, X. Kuang#, R. Liu#, W. Ding, A.C. Wang, Y.C. Lai, K. Dong, Z. Wen, Y. Wang, L. Wang, H.J. Qi*, T. Zhang*, Z.L. Wang*, Vitrimer Elastomer-Based Jigsaw Puzzle-Like Healable Triboelectric Nanogenerator for Self-Powered Wearable Electronics, Adv. Mater. 30, 1705918, (2018).
10. R. Liu#,X. Kuang#, J. Deng#, Y. C. Wang, A. C. Wang, W. Ding, Y. Lai, P. Wang, Z. Lin, H. J. Qi*, B. Sun*, Z. Wang*,Shape Memory Polymers for Body Motion Energy Harvesting and Self-Powered Mechanosensing,Adv. Mater. 30, 1705195 (2018).
11. Y. Lai#, X. Kuang#, P. Zhu, M. Huang, X. Dong*, and D. Wang, Colorless, Transparent, Robust, and Fast Scratch-Self-Healing Elastomers via a Phase-Locked Dynamic Bonds Design, Adv. Mater. 0, 1802556 (2018).
12. X. Kuang, D. J. Roach, J. Wu, C. M. Hamel, Z. Ding, T. Wang, M. L. Dunn, and H. J. Qi*,Advances in 4D Printing: Materials and Applications, Adv. Funct. Mater. 0, 1805290 (2018).
Source: Frontiers of Polymer Science