Bio
Dr. Gao earned his bachelor's degree with the highest honor in the Department of Engineering Mechanics, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China in 1999, and his M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Princeton University, New Jersey, in 2001 and 2003, respectively. His thesis work identifies and simulates mechanisms of mechanically and/or electrically induced compositional self-assembly at nanoscale. In 3/2003-7/2005, Dr. Gao worked as a post-doctoral research associate in solid mechanics group, Brown University, on surface plasticity and adhesion, microstructural evolution, and structural integrity. Since joining UT/ORNL in 8/2005,
Dr. Gao has built up his research group on plasticity at small length scales, thin-film growth, contact and friction, and constitutive behavior of amorphous alloys, among many others. Most of these projects are motivated from his colleagues' experiments at UT and ORNL. Dr. Gao is a Joint Faculty at the Materials Science and Technology Division, ORNL. By Fall 2011, Dr. Gao has authored or co-authors more than 50 technical papers (including 7 invited contributions) and has made over 60 presentations (20 invited) at national/international conferences and academic institutions.
Research Areas:
- Crystal plasticity at small scales (collaborating with G.M. Pharr, B.C. Larson, E.P. George)
- Novel self-assembly process, e.g., BaZrO3 in YBa2Cu3O7-d (collaborating with A. Goyal and G.M. Stocks)
- Constitutive behavior of amorphous alloys (collaborating with P.K. Liaw, T.G. Nieh and T. Egami)
- Crystal plasticity at small scales (collaborating with G.M. Pharr, B.C. Larson, E.P. George)
- Novel self-assembly process, e.g., BaZrO3 in YBa2Cu3O7-d (collaborating with A. Goyal and G.M. Stocks)
- Constitutive behavior of amorphous alloys (collaborating with P.K. Liaw, T.G. Nieh and T. Egami)
Professional Experience
- 2011-present: Associate Professor, Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Tennessee, Knoxville; & Joint Faculty, Materials Science and Technology Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory.
- 2005-2011: Assistant Professor, Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Tennessee, Knoxville; & Joint Faculty, Computer Science and Mathematics Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory.
- 2003-2005: Postdoctoral research associate, Division of Engineering, Brown University.
Awards
2010, University of Tennessee College of Engineering Research Fellow Award.
2010, University of Tennessee Chancellor's Award for Professional Promise in Research and Creative Achievement.
2010, Co-winner, R&D 100 award on High-Performance, High-Tc Superconducting Wires Enabled via Self-Assembly of Non-Superconducting Columnar Defects(with A. Goyal et al. at ORNL).
1999-2003, Sir Gordon Wu Fellowship, Princeton University.
1999, Gold Medal in Hammer Throw, the 1999 John Ma Campus Games, Tsinghua University.
Professional Affiliations
- Member of the Minerals, Metals & Materials Society (TMS), the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME), and the Materials Research Society (MRS).
- Materials Research Society (MRS), Member since 2003
- The American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME), Member since 2001