About Us

 Our group is based in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Binghamton University, State University of New York (SUNY), Binghamton, NY. 
​  Our research focuses on the mechanics and manufacturing of soft functional materials with tailored microstructures for desired mechano-physical properties. The targeting application areas include stretchable and wearable electronics, sensing and actuation, soft robotics, etc.  Right now, we are actively working on the processing and modeling of soft conductive composites, especially those based on liquid metals. We are thrilled at discovering both new mechanics theories and novel materials. Our research has been funded by NSF, SBIR, IEEC and industry.   ​ 

Opening:  We have 1 PhD position (2024F) on simulation or experiment for soft functional materials. Please email Prof. Zhang to inquire.

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​Principal Investigator

​Pu Zhang, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Department of Mechanical Engineering
Binghamton University - SUNY
Binghamton, NY 13902
Email: pzhang@binghamton.edu
Office: ES1328 - ITC
Department Profile

Education & Employment​

• Assistant Professor (2018-present), SUNY Binghamton
• Research Associate (2016-2017), University of Manchester
• Ph.D., Mechanical Engineering, University of Pittsburgh
• B.S. & M.S., Mechanics, Hunan University

​​Research Areas

• Soft functional materials
• Multiscale and multiphysics modeling
• Additive and hybrid manufacturing

Teaching

• Elasticity - Fall
• Intro to Solid Mechanics - Spring
• Intro to Finite Element - Spring

Recognition

• Top 2% researchers in their fields in 2021
• NSF CAREER Award, 2022​​​

Group Members

​Jason Jiexian Ma
​PhD Candidate  ​(8/2019 - present)
BS & MS, South China University of Technology

Research: liquid metal composites

Aminur Rahman
​PhD Candidate  (8/2022 - present)
MS, Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg
BS, Ahsanullah University of Science and Technology

Research:  3D printing; soft functional materials

Mohammad Madadi
​PhD Candidate  (8/2022 - present)
MS, Amirkabir University of Technology
BS, Arak University

Research: Modeling of soft functional materials

Alumni

Ph.D. Students​

• ​​Quang-Kha Nguyen, 2018-2023 (Kairos Power LLC, CA)

​​M.S. Students

• Zihan Liu, 2020-2021 (PhD student at Binghamton Univ.)​
• ​Fanghang Deng, 2019-2020 (Chongqing Jiaotong Univ.)​
• Jay Zhang, 2018-2019 (Blue Origin, WA)
• ​​Jessie Linamen, 2018 (Raymond Co, NY)

B.S. Students

• ​​Louis Dagobert, 2022 
• Aidan Gangai, 2022 (Case Western Reserve Univ.)
• ​Chris Yoo, 2018 (Marotta Controls, NJ)

Visiting Students

• Xin Shu, 2018-2020 (from Hunan Univ.)
• Brandon Orticke, 2019 (from Xavier Univ. of Louisiana)