The UT-Oak Ridge Innovation Institute (UTORII) Bredesen Center for Interdisciplinary Research and Graduate Education (Bredesen Center) has appointed Zhili Zhang as the new director of its energy science and engineering (ESE) PhD program. Zhang began the three-year post on January 1, 2024.
UTORII is an educational partnership between UT and Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) that introduces students of all ages to STEM careers. The Bredesen Center, which has three PhD programs in total, focuses on bringing UT PhD students on to interdisciplinary research projects at ORNL.
“The Bredesen Center is building bridges between academia, national laboratories, and industry in areas of critical national and world need,” said Zhang, a B. Ray Thompson Professor in UT’s Department of Mechanical, Aerospace, and Biomedical Engineering. “It is also uniquely capable of training PhD scholars and building teams of UT and ORNL researchers to tackle some of America’s most challenging research needs.”
Increasing PhD Student Enrollment, Support
As a specialist in computational imagery and laser diagnostics in combustion, plasma, and hypersonics, Zhang is a perfect leader for the ESE program—and with 16 years of experience teaching undergraduate and graduate students in both the laboratory and the classroom, he is ready to tackle UTORII’s new goal to triple the number of grad students conducting research at ORNL.
“PhD students are the ones who will be working in the labs, analyzing data, writing papers, and attending conferences,” Zhang said. “A larger student body means more research output, which can lead to significant scientific and technological advancements.”
Zhang’s plans include smoothing the transition from undergraduate to graduate school with devoted training sessions to prepare prospective students. He will initiate a mentorship program pairing undergraduate researchers with both ORNL researchers and graduate-level mentors, which he believes will increase students’ motivation to continue research at the graduate level.
To improve PhD student retention, Zhang will publicize success stories of ESE graduates in both academia and industry and advocate for competitive financial support for students, including scholarships and fellowships geared toward increasing student body diversity.
He also plans to recruit and train more advisors from UT and ORNL, thus increasing the number of ESE students the Bredesen Center can support.
As he puts these plans in motion, Zhang will also continue conducting research and mentoring the eight graduate students in his own lab.
“Since my research group is growing, there are quite a few research projects which are really exciting,” he said.
One of his favorite projects—which he has been investigating since his own graduate school days—is using microwaves to study laser-induced plasmas, which have applications in the defense, public health, and environmental industries. Recently, his lab has also been able to use microwaves to remotely detect magnetic fields, a technique that could facilitate geophysical surveys.
Contact
Izzie Gall (865-974-7203, egall4@utk.edu)