PI: 

• • Kenan Song, Ph.D., Email: kenan.song@uga.edu

Kenan Song did his Postdoc at MIT (Cambridge, MA) between 2015 and 2017 in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering & Department of Chemical Engineering (Advisers: Prof. Michael F. Rubner & Prof. Robert E. Cohen). He focused on coating technologies with a UAE-funded project on "Multifunctional Composite Coatings: Mechanical Robustness, Wear-resistance, Self-healing, Self-cleaning, Anti-static, and Anti-reflection." Before that, Kenan obtained his Ph.D. from Northeastern University (Boston, MA) in May 2015 from the Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering (Advisor: Professor Marilyn L. Minus). His Ph.D. thesis on textile engineering, was titled “Customizing Fiber Spinning Approaches for Polymer/Nano-carbon Composites” (http://hdl.handle.net/2047/d20128371). Kenan received his B.S. from Northeastern University (July 2010), where he trained in the major of Engineering Mechanics (Advisor: Professor Jun Liu). His capstone project ended with the thesis of “Numerical Simulation of Rubber Composite Interfacial Debonding Damage." Awards Kenan Song has received include the following. 

• UGA Faculty Leadership Development and Mentoring Program – An Intrapersonal Approach

• Class of 2025 Senior Members of the National Academy of Inventors (NAI) (2025)

• TMS 2025 Functional Materials Division (FMD) Young Leaders Professional Development Award (2025)

• FY25 NURTURE support for the US-Qatar collaboration enhancement (2025)

• FY25 Provost International Travel Funds and Partnership Development Funding from the Office of Global Engagement, UGA (2025)

• 2024 cohort of NSF-CMMI’s Game Changer Academies for Advancing Research Innovation

• EETI Travel Fellowship with travel support to attend the 2024 Frontiers in Education Conference in Washington, DC (2024)

• UGA Faculty Fellow Award (2024)

• The ASME Rising Stars of Mechanical Engineering at the International Mechanical Engineering Congress & Exposition (IMECE) (2024)

• Humboldt Research Fellowship (2023)

• DHS New Investigator Award (NIA) (2023)

• SME 2023 Outstanding Young Manufacturing Engineer Award (2023)

• NSF Travel Award for the US-Japan Symposium on Composite Materials (June 14-15, 2023)

• VDRI Travel Award for the TechConnect World Innovation Conference & Expo (June 19-21, 2023)

• NSF Travel Award for the DOE REMADE Tech Summit and Conference (March 20-21, 2023)

• National Science Foundation (NSF) CAREER Award (2022)

• SAMPE North America Young Professionals Emerging Leadership Award (YPELA) and 2022 Young Professional of the Year Award (2022)

• ACS PMSE Young Investigator Award (2022)

• Emerging Researcher Award at the 2nd International Conference on Materials & Manufacturing (2022)

• ACS PRF NDI Award (2021)

• Resilience Fellow of  ASU’s Knowledge Exchange for Resilience (2021)

• Mayo Clinic and Arizona State University Alliance for Health Care— Faculty Summer Residency Award (2021)

• Faculty Fellowship (2018)

• Keen Professorship (2018)

Service on Editorial Boards: 

• Associate Editor, Advanced Composites and Hybrid Materials (IF~23): https://link.springer.com/journal/42114/editorial-board

• Editorial board, Composite Interfaces (IF~2.5): https://www.tandfonline.com/journals/tcoi20/about-this-journal#aims-and-scope 

Journal Recognition/Highlight and Invitations:

• Polymer Chemistry Emerging Investigator, RSC Journal (2024)

• Energy Storage Materials Special Issue invitation "VSI: AI for Energy Material", Elsevier journal

• JMCA Emerging Investigator, RSC Journal (2024)

• ACS Applied Nano Materials special issue of "Low-Dimensional Nanomaterials and their Assembled Structures and Interfaces for Energy Applications", ACS Publishing (2024)

• SMALL special issue of "Advanced 3D and 4D Printing of Functional Materials", Wiley Journal (2023)

• Journal of Polymer Science (JPS) special issue of "Polymeric Materials for Additive Manufacturing", Wiley Journal (2023)

• Materials Advances special collection "Early Stage Investigator Honorees of the ACS Polymeric Materials Science & Engineering Division", RSC journal (2023)

• Polymer International (Wiley Journal) Excellence in Early Career Research (2022)

• JMCC Emerging Investigator, RSC Journal (2022)

Invited Talks -

• 2025-2026 Lecture Series of the Centre Québécois sur les Matériaux Fonctionnels (CQMF)-Quebec Center for Advanced Materials (QCAM)

• 2026 Pacifichem 2025 - The International Chemical Congress of Pacific Basin Societies (Session: Advancements In Smart And Sustainable Polymeric Materials: Innovations And Applications)

• 2025 Fall ACS Annual Meetings in Division: Industrial and Engineering Chemistry, Symposium: Data Analytics & AI for Chemistry, Manufacturing, and Healthcare, Washington, DC, US, 2025/08/17-21

• 2025 Fall ACS Annual Meetings in a symposium "2D-Nanocomposites: Advancing the Synthesis of Extreme Materials", Washington DC, US,  2025/08/17-21

• EMI 2025 International Conference, MS15 session "Material Mechanics, Manufacturing, and Machine Learning for Advanced Applications," Beijing, China, 2025/07/17-20

• 4th International Symposium on Emerging Materials and Devices, Renewable Energy Lab at National Laboratory Astana, Nazarbayev University, Astana, Khazakstan, 2025/05/28-31

• 2025 Spring TMS Annual Meetings, invited talk at FMD award ceremony, 2025/03/23-27

• 2025 Spring ACS Annual Meetings & Expo, invited talk at PMSE sessions, San Diego, US, 2025/03/20-25

• University of Central Florida, Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Orlando, US, 2025/02/14

Relevant UGA affiliations -

• UGA New Materials Institute (NMI), 2024-

• Future Faculty for Inclusive Research Excellence (FFIRE) UGA Postdoctoral Scholars Program, 2023

• UGA Institute for Integrative Precision Agriculture (IIPA), 2023-

• UGA Regenerative Bioscience Center (RBC), 2023-

• UGA Engineering Education and Transformation Institute (EETI), 2023-

• School of Chemical, Materials & Biomedical Engineering (CMBE), 2024-

• UGA School of Environmental, Civil, Agricultural, and Mechanical Engineering (ECAM), 2023-

• Ph.D. Candidates and Graduates:

• Postdoc. Associates:

• • @UGA

    1. Tiantian Li (Postdoc in Polymer program, University of Connecticut 2021-2025, Ph.D. in Polymer Chemistry and Physics, Shanghai Jiao Tong University in 2021; B.S. in Polymer Engineering, Qingdao University of Science and Technology in 2015)

    2. Xiao Sun (Ph.D. &M.S. in Mechanical Engineering, Northeastern University in 2025; B.S. in Materials Science and Engineering, Jiangsu University in 2017)

    3. Qixuan Xiang (Ph.D.  in Chemical Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University in 2025; B.S. in Chemical Engineering, Central South University in 2019)

    4. Libing Yang (Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering, Syracuse University in 2024; B.S. in Mechanical Engineering, Tianjin University in 2019)

    5. Chao Sui (Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering, University of Arkansas in 2024;  M.S. in Mechanical Engineering, Prairie View AM University at Texas in 2015, and B.S. in Mechanical Engineering, Shandong University in 2014)

Ph.D. Candidates:

• • @UGA

    1. TBD, co-supervised with Prof. Hongyue Sun from UGA

    2. Taylor Theobald (Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering, UGA, 2025 fall-; BS in Mechanical Engineering from UGA)

    3. Manlilang Luo (Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering, UGA, 2025 fall-; MS in Chemical Engineering, Columbia University; BS in Chemistry, South China University of Technology (SCUT)), co-supervised with Prof. Yanyu Chen from UGA

    4. James Jaraczewski (Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering, UGA, 2024 fall-; BS in Mechanical Engineering, Texas AM), co-supervised with Prof. Xianqiao Wang from UGA

    5. Fatemeh Sadat Mahdavi (Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering, UGA, 2025 spring-; BS/MS in Animal Science from Tehran University, Iran)

    6. Zhengfu Huang (Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering, UGA, 2025 spring-; BS in Polymer Engineering @Tsinghua University and MS in Chemical Engineering @University of Rochester), co-supervised with Prof Yang Liu from UGA

    7. M. Taylor Sobczak (Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering, UGA, 2024 spring-; BS in Mechanical Engineering from UGA)

    8. Arunachalam Ramanathan (Ph.D. Manufacturing Engineering, 2022 fall-2024 spring; M.S., Materials Science & Engineering, ASU; transferred to Ph.D. Mechanical Engineering @UGA, 2024 spring), co-supervised with Prof. Sui Yang from ASU

    9. Sri Vaishnavi Thummalapalli (Ph.D. Manufacturing Engineering, 2022 fall-2024 spring; M.S., Chemical Engineering, ASU; transferred to Ph.D. Mechanical Engineering @UGA, 2024 spring), co-supervised with Prof. Arunachala Mada Kannan

    10. Varunkumar Thippanna (Ph.D. Manufacturing Engineering, 2022 fall-; M.S., Materials Science & Engineering ASU; transferred to Ph.D. Mechanical Engineering @UGA, 2024 summer)

    11. Dhanush Patil (Ph.D. System Engineering, 2022 spring-; MS Mechanical Engineering, ASU; transferred to Ph.D. Mechanical Engineering @UGA, 2024 fall)

Ph.D. Graduates/Alumni:

• • @ASU

    1. Hongji Zhang (Ph.D. Manufacturing Engineering, 2023fall-; M.S., Engineering and Computer Science, California State University, Northridge), co-supervised with Prof. Chao Ma in 2023-2024

    2. Abhishek Saji Kumar (Ph.D. Materials Science & Engineering, 2022fall-; M.S., Materials Science & Engineering, ASU), co-supervised with Prof. Sui Yang in 2023-2024

    3. Yuxiang Zhu (Ph.D. System Engineering, 2020spring-2024spring; BS Beihang University; MS Columbia University)

    4. Dharneedar Ravichandran (Ph.D. System Engineering, 2019fall-2024spring; MS Mechanical Engineering ASU); joined the University of California, Berkeley (UCB) as a Postdoc

    5. Sayli Jambhulkar (Ph.D. System Engineering, 2019spring-2023spring; MS IIT); joined Intel upon graduation

    6. Weiheng Xu (Ph.D. System Engineering, 2018fall-2022summer; BS UC San Diego; MS Columbia University); joined Golden Feather New Energy upon graduation

    7. Amm Hasib (Ph.D. Mechanical Engineering, 2016spring-2022summer; BS Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology; MS University of North Texas;), co-supervised with Prof Bruno Azeredo; joined Intel upon graduation

Ph.D. Exchanging Students:

• • Anna Dmochowska (Ph.D. in Polymer Science from ENSAM, France, 2023 summer)

  • Karla Garcia (Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering from University of Sonora, Mexico, 2022 summer)

B.S./M.S. Alumni (thesis/project-based B.S. and M.S. students; thesis posted in links):

M.S. Alumni

• • Abhinav Chavali (M.S., Materials Engineering, ASU 2022-2024) with the MS thesis

  • Shams Hassan (M.S., Manufacturing Engineering, ASU, 2022-2023)

  • Megan Murphy (M.S., Biomedical Engineering, ASU 2021-2023)

  • Abhishek Saji Kumar (M.S., Mechanical Engineering, ASU 2022-2024)

  • Barath Sundaravadivelan (M.S., Mechanical Engineering, ASU 2022-2024) with the MS thesis

  • Mofe Fagade (M.S., Mechanical Engineering, ASU 2021-2023) upon graduation a Ph.D. student at the University of Calgary in Canada, with the MS thesis

  • Prem Nawab (M.S., Aerospace Engineering, ASU 2021-2023) 

  • Andrew Walsh (M.S., Mechanical Engineering, ASU 2022-2024)

  • Jaden Diji-Vaughan (M.S., Manufacturing Engineering, ASU 2021-2022)

  • Mounika Kakarla (M.S., Materials Science and Engineering, ASU, 2020-2021)

  • Dru Keister (M.S., Materials Science and Engineering, ASU, 2020-2021)

  • Darius Hampton-Ross (M.S., Aerospace Engineering, ASU 2019-2022)

  • Bhushan Ahire (M.S., Mechanical Engineering, ASU 2019-2021)

  • Rahul Franklin (M.S., Materials Science and Engineering, ASU, 2018-2020) upon graduation a Ph.D. student at Purdue University with the MS thesis

  • Namrata Kanth (M.S., Materials Science and Engineering, ASU, 2019-2020) with the MS thesis

  • Aditya Shah (M.S., Mechanical Engineering, ASU 2017-2019)

  • Rushik Tank (M.S., Mechanical Engineering, ASU 2017-2019)

  • Avadhoot Kuchibhatla (M.S., Materials Science and Engineering, ASU 2018-2019)

  • Rahul Verma (M.S., Mechanical Engineering, ASU 2017-2018) with the MS thesis

B.S. Alumni: 

• • 
    

  • Taylor G. Theobald (B.S., Mechanical Engineering, UGA, 2024-2025)

  • Steven Fabrizio (B.S., Mechanical Engineering, UGA, 2024-2025)

  • Darsh Patel (B.S., Biological Engineering, UGA, 2024-2025)

  • Advaith Nair (B.S., Biological Engineering, UGA, 2024-2025)

  • Dua Bashir (B.S., Biological Engineering, UGA, 2024-2025)

  • Annabella Zhang (B.S., Biological Engineering, UGA, 2024-2025)

  • Angelina Stephan (B.S., Biological Engineering, UGA, 2024-2025)

  • Miranda Murphy (B.S., Biological Engineering, UGA, 2024-2025)

  • Sean Lee (B.S., REU student from Mechanical Engineering, UGA, 2024-2025)

  • Alaina Sacco (B.S., Biological Engineering, UGA, 2024-2025)

  • Alan Sun (B.S., REM student from Chemistry of Stony Brook University, 2023 summer)

  • Joel Haug (B.S., Biomedical Engineering, ASU 2019-2023)

  • Max Goldstein (B.S., Aerospace Engineering, ASU 2021-2022)

  • Dean Spyres (B.S., Mechanical Engineering Systems, ASU, 2019-2020)

  • Natalie Turner (B.S., Materials Science and Engineering, ASU, 2019-2020)