J² LAB

Jacob Dethan earned his Bachelor's degree from Nusa Cendana University in 2011. He went on to complete his Master's degree at the University of Southern Queensland in 2016 and received his Ph.D. from Monash University in 2020. Currently, he is a Fulbright Visiting Scholar at Cornell University, where he focuses on simulating the material properties of solid electrolytes. Outside of his academic work, Jacob enjoys watching movies and singing.

Liming Zhao's LinkedIn
Liming Zhao is a Ph.D. student ('25) in our group. He received his Bachelor's degree in Materials Science and Engineering in 2019 from Southern University of Science and Technology, a young and rapidly ascending university located in Shenzhen, China’s Silicon Valley. He then obtained his Master's degree in Materials Science and Engineering from University of California, Irvine, in 2020. His research interests lie in the exploration of the aggregation and mechanical properties of complex biomaterial systems by multiscale computational simulations and stochastic process methods. Beyond his research, he enjoys cooking and baking.

Kaiyang Wang's LinkedIn
Kaiyang Wang is from Xi’an, China and he is a PhD student ('24/25) in our group. He graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Materials Science and Engineering from Tsinghua University in 2017. Subsequently, he received his master’s degree from Cornell University in 2019 and his thesis focused on 3D printing and soft matter. He developed a keen interest in computational materials science since diving into the PhD program. He is particularly passionate about the intersection of machine learning and materials design. Beyond his research, he enjoys skiing, jogging, tennis, basketball, and playing the piano.

Yen-Yu Lai is from Taipei, Taiwan, and she is a Ph.D. student ('27) in our group. She received her Bachelor's degrees in civil engineering and mechanical engineering from National Taiwan University in 2022. Her research interests mainly lie in computational mechanics, specifically in employing multiscale computational modeling to understand material properties. Beyond her research, she enjoys cooking, reading, and playing the violin.

Ruye Li is from Shijiazhuang, China, and she is a Ph.D. student in our group. She received her Bachelor’s degree in Chemistry from Nankai University in 2019. She spent two years working as a research assistant in Tsinghua-Berkeley Shenzhen Institute before she enrolled in Cornell in 2021. Her research interests lie in the interdisciplinary area of physics, chemistry and material, with an emphasis on methodology development and application of multiscale simulations of biological material. Beyond research, she is a big fan of anime, and she enjoys playing mobile games and travelling as well.

Ruohong Chen is from Beijing, China. She received her Bachelor’s degrees in Civil and Environmental Engineering from Wuhan University in 2018. Her research interest mainly lies in multiscale modeling of solid materials, specifically in employing MD simulations to analyze the mechanical properties of engineered living materials. Beyond her research, she enjoys tennis and traveling.

Yi-Chen (Aaron) Liu is from Tainan, Taiwan, and he is a Ph.D. student (‘29) in our group. He received his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Chemical Engineering from National Taiwan University in 2021 and 2023, focusing on the design of Polymer and Nano-Materials. His research interests lie in studying the dynamic chemical and physical interaction of materials in the polymer synthesis process and drug delivery phenomena in biomaterials. Beyond research, Aaron enjoys hiking, freediving, watching Netflix, and traveling.

Xinzhe Dai's personal website
Xinzhe Dai is a Ph.D. student in our group who graduated with a bachelor's degree in Physics from the University of Chinese Academy of Sciences in 2024. His research interests focus on exploring microbial behavior and its impact on human health through mechanical modeling and simulation.

Naveen Roppin Suresh Kumar is from Chennai, India. He is currently pursuing his MS in Materials Science and Engineering. He completed his Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering from Anna University, Chennai in 2022. His research focuses on developing novel bio-inspired materials by combining multiscale computational simulations with artificial intelligence to investigate the structure-property relationship of emergence in biological materials. In his leisure, he enjoys hiking, birdwatching, swimming, playing board games, and, cooking.

Zehui Lin is from Shenzhen, China. He is currently a MS student of Material Science and Engineering in our group. He received his Bachelor's degrees in Material Science and Engineering and Mathematics with Computer Science from Guangdong Technion-Israel Institute of Technology. He is interested in AI models for optimizing Flexible Hybrid Electronics. Beyond research, he enjoys cooking, movies and playing Gundam models.

Aryan Goli is a Masters of Science student ('26) in our research group.

Falak Patel is a Masters of Science student ('26) in our research group.

Connor Boone's LinkedIn
Connor Boone is a M.S. student in our lab who graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from Montana State University in 2023. His research focus on discovering new tungsten based High Entropy Alloys.

Ting-Fu Chang is a Masters of Science student ('26) from Taipei, Taiwan. He is co-advised by Prof. Grace Xing in MSE. He earned his Bachelor’s degree in Material Science and Engineering from National Sun Yat-sen University in 2024. His research delves into the use of machine learning to pinpoint optimal field plate placements, aiming to refine semiconductor device performance and improve efficiency. Ting-Fu’s work reflects his commitment to bridging complex computational models with practical solutions that could shape the future of technology. Outside his research, he enjoys the strategic depth of board games, experimenting with new recipes in the kitchen, and the lively energy of pickup basketball games with friends.

Qingshi Wang is a Masters of Science student ('26) in our research group.

Yikai Ong is an undergraduate student from Singapore studying Mathematics and Computer Science. His research interests are in studying the sustainability of biomaterials and in life cycle analysis. In his free time, he enjoys running and hiking.

David Wang is an undergraduate researcher in our research group.

Sanjana Vittal is an undergraduate researcher in our research group.

Rhea Agrawal is an undergraduate researcher in our research group.

Zhiyu An was an M.Eng student in our group. He received his Bachelor’s degree in Materials Science and Engineering from Central South University in 2023. His research interests are in computational modeling of High Entropy alloy and he is currently working on modeling element datasets. Outside of his research, he enjoys playing badminton and watching basketball games.

Haoyuan Shi's LinkedIn
Haoyuan Shi successfully graduated with a Ph.D. ('24) in our group. He received his Bachelor’s degree in Energy and Power Engineering from Tianjin University in 2019. His research interests are in multiscale computational modeling of biomaterials and he is currently working on modeling protein-based biomaterials, such as regenerated silk and silk-based materials. Outside of his research, he enjoys watching basketball games, traveling, and playing video games.

Tianjiao Li's LinkedIn
Tianjiao Li is from Shaanxi, China, and he successfully graduated with a Ph.D. ('24) in our group. He obtained his Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering from Xi'an Jiaotong University in 2017, and his Master's degree in Mechanical Engineering from Northwestern University in 2019. His research interests are in machine learning/deep learning in materials informatics, multiscale simulations, and data-driven material design and discovery. In his free time, he likes to cook, work out, and play video games. He is a big fan of the Nintendo game franchises. He also enjoys reading about the practical philosophy of logic, epistemology, and history.

Junjie Wu is from Hefei, China, and he was a MS student in our group. He received his Bachelor’s degree in Materials Science and Engineering from Sichuan University and University of Pittsburgh. His research interest is on applying machine learning in materials design. Outside of research, he enjoys traveling, biking, and reading.

Zhongyu Yan is from Wuxi, China. He was a MS student of Material Science and Engineering in our group. He received his Bachelor’s degree in Material Science and Engineering from Guangdong Technion-Israel Institute of Technology. He is interested in simulation of biomaterials and biomedical area. Beyond research, he has a passion for soccer and movies.

Isuru Herath was undergraduate researcher in our group. He is from Ellicott City, Maryland studying Chemistry and Computer Science. His research interests are in drug delivery and using machine learning and molecular dynamics simulations to study protein-protein and protein-ligand interactions. In his free time, he enjoys drawing, playing the saxophone, and running.

Hanfeng Zhai's LinkedIn and Website
Hanfeng Zhai is from Beijing, China. He was an MS student of Mechanical Engineering in our group. He received his Bachelor’s degree in Theoretical and Applied Mechanics from Shanghai University. His research interests are mainly on computational modeling, multiscale mechanics theories, and physics-informed deep learning. Beyond research, he is a huge fan of sports and was an American football player in his college.

Menglin Wang is from Shi Jiazhuang, China. He was a MS student of Materials Science and Engineering in our group. He received his Bachelor’s degree in New Energy Materials and Devices from Anhui University. His interest are in machine learning/deep learning in materials design and discovery. Beyond research, he enjoys traveling and hiking.

Changhwi Han's LinkedIn
Changhwi Han was an M.S. student ('23) in our group. He received his B.S. degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) in 2017. Upon graduating, Changhwi Joined Samsung Electronics in Korea as a Display Mechanical Engineer and worked there for four years before joining our group. His research interests include machine learning, optimization, and data mining. Beyond his research, he enjoys cooking and watching political news.

Shengjie Tang's LinkedIn
Shengjie Tang is from Chongqing, China. He was an MS student of Mechanical Engineering in our group. He received his dual Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering from Dalian University of Technology and University of Leicester. He is interested in thermodynamics and material mechanics, aiming to use computational methods to predict material properties.

Yu Yang's LinkedIn
Yu Yang is from Wuhan, China. He was a MS student of Mechanical Engineering in our group. He received his Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from Florida Institute of Technology. His research interests are mainly on materials discovery and design using machine learning/deep learning. Beyond his research, he enjoys playing basketball and video games.

Deepa Korani's Website and Google Scholar
Deepa Korani is from Dubai, United Arab Emirates. She was an MS student of Material Science and Engineering department in our group. She received her Bachelor's degree in Chemical Engineering and Chemistry from Purdue University. She is passionate about the intersection of Machine Learning and Deep Learning in areas of polymer informatics. Beyond her research she enjoys reading/writing, swimming and cooking.

Chenxi Zhai's Website
Chenxi Zhai is from Qingdao, China, and he was a postdoctoral scholar in our group. He obtained his Bachelor's degree from the University of Jinan, his Master's Degree from Tianjin University, and his Doctoral degree from Florida State University. His research interests are in multiscale computational materials design and molecular mechanics/dynamics, especially in the slow dynamics of polymeric materials. In his spare time, he has broad interests in soccer, football, table tennis, fitness, economy and history, thrillers, and chess. He was a professional 400-meter race athlete when he was 18 (national rank level-3, < 56s).

Haolin Yu's LinkedIn
Haolin Yu was a M.Eng student of Computer Science in our group. He received his dual Bachelor's degree in Computer Science and Applied Mathematics from Stony Brook University. He is interested in training machine learned models with high-throughput chemical simulations to parameterize molecular models. In his leisure time, he enjoys drawing pixel arts and programming.

Jiahao Liu is from Guangdong, China, and he is recently an undergraduate student majoring in Engineering Mechanics at Xi'an Jiaotong University. He joined the J² Lab in 2022 as a summer research intern and focused on the multidisciplinary combinations of mechanics, computational modeling and machine learning. In his spare time, he enjoys traveling, reading, playing badminton and tennis, and watching sports games.

Andrew Helwig is from Framingham, Massachusetts: I am a sophomore studying mechanical engineering, and in my free time I enjoy playing guitar, reading, and doing crossword puzzles.

Dayton Shor was a M.Eng. student in our group working on platforms for extracting data from materials databases and performing machine learning to assist our group in developing novel, soft biomaterials. He is now in industry as a data scientist.

Colin Whitten is from Stuttgart, Germany, and he was a M.Eng. student in our group. He obtained his Bachelor's degree in Civil Engineering from Cornell University in 2019. His research interests are in performing machine learning to assist our group in molecular dynamics simulations. In his spare time he enjoys playing basketball and guitar.

Rossie Luo was an MPS student in food science with a research focus on sensory impact of yeast and bacteria fermentation. She has a strong interest in microbiology and polymer science, and hopes to understand more about biofilm formation and antimicrobial surface engineering through computer simulation. Outside of school, she enjoys cooking/baking, home brewing, watching movies, painting, playing tennis and running.

George Orellana was a second semester M.Eng student with an interest in utilizing software engineering to solve complex problems in the mechanical engineering field. His experience in robotics, research, and entrepreneurship has given him an extensive skill set to solve problems and tackle modern challenges.