PhD Positions in Experimental Solid Mechanics at UT-Austin

Position Description  

The Yang Research Group (PI: Dr. Jin Yang) in the Department of Aerospace Engineering and Engineering Mechanics (ASE/EM) at The University of Texas at Austin has two funded Ph.D. positions in experimental solid mechanics starting in Fall 2024 (apply before Dec/01/23). 

Qualifications

• A master’s or a bachelor' degree in aerospace engineering, mechanical engineering, engineering mechanics, optical engineering, precision instrument, bioengineering, or related fields is preferred. 

• Candidates with experience in the following areas will be given priority: (i) solid mechanics; (ii) experimental mechanics; (iii) soft materials; (iv) optical microscopy; (v) laser experiments.

Application Instructions

Please visit https://gradschool.utexas.edu/how-to-apply to start your application. Interested candidates are also encouraged to send an email with title “[Prospective Ph.D. student]” to contact Dr. Jin Yang at jin.yang@austin.utexas.edu. Please provide a brief description of your research background, future interests, and career goals. Please provide your unofficial transcript and CV with 1-2 reference contacts. 

About UT-Austin

UT-Austin is the flagship school of the University of Texas System. Austin metropolitan area has the nickname “Silicon Hills” for being the cluster of high-tech companies, including AMD, Amazon, Apple, Cisco, Facebook (Meta), Google, IBM, Intel, NXP Semiconductors, Texas Instruments, Tesla, and many others.

• #7 best engineering graduate program in the U.S. (U.S. News & World Report, 2023)

• #8 best graduate aerospace engineering in the U.S. (U.S. News & World Report, 2023)

• #38 among all universities in the U.S. (U.S. News & World Report, 2023)

About Yang Research Group

Dr. Jin Yang joined the Department of Aerospace Engineering & Engineering Mechanics at UT-Austin as an assistant professor in Fall 2022. He earned his bachelor’s degree in Engineering Mechanics from Tsinghua University’s Tsien Mechanics Class Program with an honor degree in 2013. He received his PhD in 2019 from the California Institute of Technology. Then he was a Postdoctoral Research Associate at the University of Wisconsin-Madison between 2019 and 2022. He is the recipient of a U.S. NSF grant, the Haythornthwaite Seed Grant from ASME, and the International Congress of Theoretical and Applied Mechanics (ICTAM) fellowship.

The missions of Yang Research Group include developing analytical tools and experimental techniques (laser-induced inertial cavitation in soft matter; advanced 2D & 3D full-field DIC/DVC measurement techniques + ML methods) to study viscoelastic materials behavior, dynamic instabilities, and material failure under extreme loading conditions. More information can be found here: https://sites.utexas.edu/yang.

Due to the large volume of requests every year, I am most often not able to respond to individual inquiries via email prior to submission of the application.