Yao Qiao, Ph.D. 

The overarching research goal is to fundamentally understand and advance knowledge of surface, interface, and interphase across multiple length and time scales—from aquatic and terrestrial to aerial and celestial environments—and to design materials and structures with desirable properties. This encompasses surfaces, interfaces, and interphases in a wide range of conditions, including manufacturing and processing, adhesion and bonding, fatigue, impact, creep, scratching, acoustic loading, irradiation, humidity, chemical exposure, pressure, icing, temperature fluctuations, extreme environments such as underwater and outer space. Consideration of biomechanics and human interaction is also essential. Achieving this goal requires a multidisciplinary approach that integrates expertise in manufacturing, mechanics, physics, chemistry, materials science, biomechanics, artificial intelligence, probability, mathematical and numerical modeling, and related fields.

Selected recent events (More):

1. The Materials Joining Lab has been selected for Phase 2 of DOE’s Hydropower Testing Network (Link).

2. Honored to receive the 2025 Young Composites Research Award from the American Society for Composites (ASC) (link)

3. The fatigue fracture scaling paper (link) in Polymer Composites was selected as an editor's choice.

4. Two DOE-SULI interns published articles (1-link, 2-link) in Advanced Engineering Materials and Materials & Design.

5. A non-provisional patent (link) on surface modification has been filed.

6. The journal article (link) on Polymer Composites is the most-read/downloaded/cited paper since 2023.