Welcome to ZHENG Group 

ZHENG Group is focusing on the investigation of the processing-structure-property relationships in the advanced metals using multi-scale ex- and in-situ characterization techniques. Our research interests involve the discovery, synthesis and design of next generation high-performance materials by microstructure engineering, especially the lightweight advanced metals and alloys. We are looking for enthusiastic undergraduate students, graduate students and postdoctoral researchers to join our group. 

 

 

Group picture in Fall 2022 semester (left to right): Dr. Zheng, Ahsan, James, Cameron, Sydney, Deepak and Dian

Research Highlight

 

 

 

Latest News

For more news from Materials Design and Characterization Group, please refer to the News page.

 

  • Apr. 2023, Student Thesis Defense: Mr. Ahsan Habib Munna has successfully defended his M.S. thesis! Congratulations!!! We appreciate the funding support from National Science Foundation for this research!

  • Apr. 2023, Outreach: Zheng Group welcome 12 middle school students to our lab for Engineering Programs Inspiring the Community (EPIC) Lab! We appreciate the funding support from National Science Foundation!
  • Mar. 2023, Student Award: Sydney has won the SMD Best Undergraduate Student Award in TMS2023 annual conference! She has won this award two straight years in 2022 and 2023! Congratulations! We appreciate the funding support from UNR NURA and NSF EPSCoR UROP!

  • Mar. 2023, Presentations: Dr. Zheng Group have presented 10 oral/poster presentations in TMS 2023 annual conference! Dian Li, Deepak Pillai, Sydney Fields, Ahsan Munna, Cameron Tuck and Dr. Zheng have attended the conference and presented!

  • Mar. 2023, Award: Dr. Zheng has been awarded UNR 2022-2023 Outstanding Undergraduate Research Faculty Mentor! He will receive the award at the 2023 Honor the Best ceremony. 
  • Feb. 2023, Funding: We have received Industry Grant to study the super-elastic behavior in gum-like metals for bio-medical application. The project is in collaboration with Medtronic. Thanks for supporting our research!
  • Feb. 2023, Student Award: Mr. Cameron Tucker won the TMS Travel Award to attend and present in TMS2023 at San Diego CA. Congratulations!
  • Jan. 2023, Student Award: Mr. Ahsan Munna won UNR GSA Travel Grant to present his research in TMS2023 at San Diego CA. Congratulations!
  • Jan. 2023, Student Award: Mr. Deepak Pillai won UNR GSA Travel Grant to present his research in TMS2023 at San Diego CA. Congratulations!
  • Jan. 2023, Publication: Our collaborated work, Composition-dependent Shuffle-shear Coupling and Shuffle-regulated Strain Glass Transition in Compositionally Modulated Ti-Nb Alloys, has been published in Acta Materialia! Congratulations to the team.
  • Jan. 2023, Presentation: Dr. Zheng presented an invited talk, Investigation of Twinning Induced Plasticity and Transformation Induced Plasticity in the Metastable Beta Titanium Alloys, in the International Conference on Plasticity, Damage, and Fracture 2023 at Punta Cana, Dominican Republic.

 

Highlighted News

  • Student Award: Mr. Cameron Tucker won the TMS Travel Award to attend and present in TMS2023 at San Diego CA. Congratulations!
  • Student Award: Mr. Ahsan Munna won UNR GSA Travel Grant to present his research in TMS2023 at San Diego CA. Congratulations!
  • Student Award: Mr. Deepak Pillai won UNR GSA Travel Grant to present his research in TMS2023 at San Diego CA. Congratulations!
  • Media Report: Dr. Zheng is featured in NEVADA Today for winning the TMS Young Leaders Development Award! 

  • Student Award: Mr. James Jenks received Nevada Undergraduate Research Award to support his research in the 3D printed materials for nuclear engineering application. Congratulations!

  • Funding: We have received grant from National Science Foundation to study the novel incommusurate modulated structure in titanium alloys and 4DSTEM! We look forward to the collaboration with the world leading nanostructure expert Dr. Ju Li from Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Thanks NSF to support our research!

  • Student Award: Sydney won the prestigious 2023 TMS Structural Materials Division Scholarship Award, Battelle Matching Scholarship and Battelle Materials Graduate Student Award! Congratulations and well done!

  • Student Award: Dian won the 2022 GSA (Graduate Student Association) Outstanding International Graduate Student Scholarship at UNR. Congratulations!

  • Student Award: Ms. Sydney Fields received Nevada Undergraduate Research Award (again!!!) to continue her research in the 3D printing of advanced titanium alloys in Summer and Fall 2022. Congratulations!
  • Media Report: Sydney was featured as "Faces of the Pack" in NEVADA Today! Congratulations!

  • Funding: We have received NSF CAREER Award to study the nanostructures in advanced metastable titanium alloys. Thanks NSF to support our research!

  • Student Award: Ms. Sydney Fields received Nevada Undergraduate Research Award to support her research in the 3D printing of advanced titanium alloys. Congratulations!
  • Student Award: Dian received Material Advantage Travel Grant from Association for Iron and Steel Technology (AIST) for attending MS&T21 at Columbus Ohio. Congratulations!
  • Media Report: Our work to build the in-situ straining TEM at UNR has been reported in Nevada Today! Thanks DOE NEUP, UNR VPRI, College of Engineering and Department of Chemical and Materials Engineering to support our research!
  • Student Award: Dian received TMS Student Travel Grant from TMS Structural Materials Division in Sep. 2021, to attend MS&T21: Materials Science & Technology Conference at Columbus Ohio. Congratulations!
  • Funding: We have received Industry Grant to study the 3D printed Ni-based superalloy. The project is in collaboration with Dr. Liu Cao from DNV GL USA Inc. Thanks for supporting our research!
  • Funding: We have received NSF Award to study the advanced manufacturing of titanium alloys. The project is collaborated with Prof. Liang Qi from University of Michigan. Thanks NSF to support our research! 

  • Student Award: Dian and Wenrui both received UNR GSA travel award in Aug. 2021, to support their first in-person conference for MS&T2021 at Columbus Ohio. Congratulations!
  • Outreach: Alex Zhang, high school student from Sage Ridge School, joined us in the summer 2021 and worked on Phenom desktop SEM.

  • Funding: We have received Research Enhancement Grant from UNR VPRI to study advanced titanium alloys for aerospace application. The project is in collaboration with Prof. Qi An from Department of Chemical and Materials Engineering. Thanks UNR VPRI to support our research!
  • Funding: We have received Seed Fund from UNR VPRI to study low-cost 3D printing of biomedical used titanium alloys. The project is collaborated with Prof. Yifei Jin from Department of Mechanical Engineering. Thanks UNR VPRI to support our research! 
  • Equipment: We have successfully set up the Phenom G2 Pro Desktop Scanning Electron Microscope in our group.  
  • Graduation: Ms. Darlene Merrill graduated from our group and she will start her graduate study at Arizona State University! Congratulations and best wishes for her future career!
  • Award: Dr. Zheng received 2020 Acta Journals’ Outstanding Reviewer award.
  • Equipment: The FEI Talos F200s S/TEM equipped with Super-XEDX has been set up!
  • Student Award: Ms. Darlene Merrill received Nevada Undergraduate Research Award to support her research in advanced titanium alloys. Congratulations!
  • Funding: We have received the funding from the FY2020 Scientific Infrastructure Support for Consolidated Innovative Nuclear Research to construct in-situ straining TEM facility at UNR. The project is in collaboration with Prof. Bin Li and Prof. Siddhartha Pathak from Department of Chemical and Materials Engineering. Thanks DOE NEUP to support our research!