Openings

• Our GIFTED Lab is looking for a motivated Ph.D. student to join the lab to work on a newly received NSF-funded project, "Collaborative Research: Data-Driven Inverse Design of Additively Manufacturable Aperiodic Architected Cellular Materials."

About Lab. Dr. Jun Wang is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the Santa Clara University (SCU). He leads SCU's GIFTED (Geometric Informatics For Technology, Engineering, and Design) lab. The GIFTED lab aims to push the frontier of research in design and manufacturing by leveraging advanced techniques in geometric modeling, machine learning, and advanced manufacturing. Specifically, the lab focuses on overcoming scientific barriers in achieving Data-Driven Design/Simulation/Manufacturing (Inverse Design & Generative Design), Physics-Driven Design, and Design for Additive Manufacturing. The research objective is to leverage Artificial Intelligence, Big Data, and Cloud-Computing power to generate diverse but performance-equivalent designs in short time scales, given functionality and manufacturability. For more information, please see Dr. Wang's website: https://webpages.scu.edu/ftp/jwang22/HOME.html.

About Graduate Programs. We are featured by providing a funded Master’s degree program to talented candidates in addition to the Ph.D. program in Mechanical Engineering.

About SCU. Located in the heart of Silicon Valley, SCU blends high-tech innovation with a social consciousness grounded in the Jesuit educational tradition. Consistently recognized as one of the top universities in the nation, SCU is committed to leaving the world a better place. SCU pursues new technology, encourages creativity, engages with our communities, and shares an entrepreneurial mindset. The goal is to help shape the next generation of leaders and global thinkers. More information can be found at https://www.scu.edu/. Students will benefit from Silicon Valley’s thriving job market after graduation.

Qualifications

The GIFTED lab is recruiting highly motivated Ph.D. and Master students with a research interest in Geometric Modeling/Simulation, Computer Graphics, and Data-Driven Design.

·         Experience with IGA (Isogeometric Analysis)/FEA/CFD platforms (e.g., LS-DYNA, Abaqus, FEniCS, OpenFOAM), geometric modeling/graphics platforms (CGAL, GIBBON), and machine learning platforms (e.g., TensorFlow, PyTorch), will be highly valued for this position.

·         Ideal candidates are expected to have a BS or master’s (needed for the Ph.D. program) degree in Mechanical Engineering, Computer Science, Industrial Engineering, Mathematics, or closely related fields.

·         It is desirable that the candidate has strong programming experience in Python/C++/Matlab and a mathematical background in statistics and probability.

·         Fluent communication skills (verbal, presentation, and writing in English) are required to effectively interact with technical peers, scholars, and sponsors.

Expected Start Time: Position Available Immediately

Candidates will need to send a CV to Dr. Wang (jwang22@scu.edu).

• We are also looking for undergraduate researchers in our lab to explore!

News

• Our journal paper, "Triple-parametric autoencoder for 2D reparameterization via Bézier, B-spline, and NURBS representations," has been accepted and is available online in Computer-Aided Design (2025). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cad.2025.103936

• Congratulations to my undergraduate researcher, Steven Wu, on receiving the SCU SoE Kuehler Undergraduate Research Award for $7,899.

• Our journal paper, "NURBS-OT:  An Advanced Model for Generative Curve Modeling," has been accepted and is available online in the Journal of Mechanical Design (2024).  https://doi.org/10.1115/1.4066549

• Congratulations to our GIFTED labbers, Shaoliang Yang and Kevin Wang, for their first talk, "Enhancing Isogeometric Analysis with NURBS-Based Synthesis," at ASME IDETC-CIE 2024 in DC.  Nice presentation! (pics)

• Our journal paper, "Mean Squared Error May Lead You Astray When Optimizing Your Inverse Design Methods," has been accepted and available online in Journal of Mechanical Design (2024).  https://doi.org/10.1115/1.4066102

• Congratulations to my graduate researcher, Matthew Franke, on securing an LTD Module Engineer position at Intel, Oregon. He will be working in the dielectric area, focusing on process technology.

• Congratulations to my undergraduate researcher, Charlie Wallace, on receiving the SoE Kuehler Undergraduate Research Award for $8,475 and the SCUSPUR (De Novo Fellowship Award) Undergraduate Research Award for $6,000. Additionally, Charlie has secured a 2024 Summer Internship at Jet Parts Engineering.

• Our journal paper, "Deep Learning in Computational Design Synthesis: A Comprehensive Review," has been accepted and is available online in the Journal of Computing and Information Science in Engineering (2024).  https://doi.org/10.1115/1.4064215

• I am excited to have my Ph.D. researcher, Shaoliang Yang, join our GIFTED Lab this fall. Welcome to SCU! 

• I am glad to announce that I received a $249,829 award from NSF. These funds will support our project "Collaborative Research: Data-Driven Inverse Design of Additively Manufacturable Aperiodic Architected Cellular Materials." Our GIFTED Lab is looking for a motivated Ph.D. student to join the lab.

• Our journal paper, "Implicitly Represented Architected Materials for Multi-ScaleDesign and High-Resolution Additive Manufacturing," has been accepted and available online in Advanced MaterialsTechnologies (2023). IF: 8.856.  https://doi.org/10.1002/admt.202300274

• Congratulations to my undergraduate researcher, Tomas Ronderos, on securing his internship at Armada Aeronautics!

• Congratulations to my undergraduate researcher Kevin Wang on the Award under SAURO (Single Application for Undergraduate Research Opportunities)! Kevin has been awarded a De Novo Fellowship of $5,000 for student wages and up to $1,000 for conference expenses.  

• Please encourage your graduate students to submit posters to the ASME-CIE Graduate Research Poster Session at the ASME IDTEC-CIE conferences, which will take place August 20-23, 2023, in Boston, Massachusetts, USA. 

• Our journal paper, "Deep learning-based inverse design framework for property targeted novel architectured interpenetrating phase composites," has been accepted and available online in  Composite Structures (2023). Acceptance Rate: 23%. 10.1016/j.compstruct.2023.116783 

• Our journal paper, "Neural Network-Assisted Design: A Study of Multiscale Topology Optimization With Smoothly Graded Cellular Structures," published in the Journal of Mechanical Design (2022), is now available online at https://www.novatechsetproofs.com/authors/ASME/MD-22-1154.pdf.

• Our journal paper, "Two-Scale Topology Optimization with Isotropic and Orthotropic Microstructures," published in Designs, is now available online at https://www.mdpi.com/2411-9660/6/5/73.

• I will join the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Santa Clara University as an Assistant Professor in Fall 2022.

• Our journal paper, "IH-GAN: A Conditional Generative Model for Implicit Surface-Based Inverse Design of Cellular Structures," published in Computer Methods in Applied Mechanics and Engineering (2022), has been available online with the following personalized free-access share link: https://authors.elsevier.com/a/1f7TmAQEIzVqB 

• Our journal paper, "IH-GAN: A Conditional Generative Model for Implicit Surface-Based Inverse Design of Cellular Structures," has been accepted for publication in  Computer Methods in Applied Mechanics and Engineering (2022). Acceptance Rate: 23.7%.

• Our pre-print, "Study the Effect of Microstructures with Anisotropic Mechanical Properties in Two-Scale Topology Optimization," is available online in the SSRN electronic journal (2021).

• Our journal paper, "Functionally Graded Non-Periodic Cellular Structure Design and Optimization," has been published online in the Journal of Computing and Information Science in Engineering (2021).

• Our journal paper, "Inverse Design of 2D Airfoils using Conditional Generative Models and Surrogate Log-Likelihoods," has been published online in the Journal of Mechanical Design (2021).

• Our peer-reviewed conference publication, "Functionally Graded Non-Periodic Cellular Structure Design Using a Surrogate Model-Based Optimization Scheme," has won the Best Paper Award for ASME International Design Engineering Technical Conferences & Computers and Information in Engineering Conference (IDETC-CIE) 2021 awarded by CIE Division.

• Our periodic cellular structural design methods, "Periodic Cellular Structure-Based Design for Additive Manufacturing Approach for Light Weighting and Optimizing Strong Functional Parts," have been published as a US patent (2021).