Song Zhang, Ph.D.
A bit about myself
Since I can remember, I’d always wanted to be a scientist when I grew up. Polymer materials are intriguing to me due to their countless structural combinations, which resulted in vastly different properties. The idea of finding the physics behind them comes to me naturally and becomes my interest later on. Learning new techniques to explore the fundamentals of these materials is of great excitement to me. Looking back, it’s that passion and commitment to exploration and discovery that has contributed to my research and publication. Get in touch if you’d like to learn more about my career and what I’m working on now.
Professional experience
2014 B.S. Nanjing University of Posts and Telecommunications
Major: Polymer Science and Engineering
2016 M.S. Worcester Polytechnic Institute
Major: Material Science and Engineering
2021 Ph.D. University of Southern Mississippi
Major: Polymer Science and Engineering
Advisor: Prof. Xiaodan Gu
2021 Postdoc researcher Stanford University
Major: Chemical Engineering
Advisor: Prof. Zhenan Bao
Awards and Honors
2021 2020 Chinese Government Award for Outstanding Self-financed Students Abroad, China Scholarship Council
2021 Graduate student research award, University of Southern Mississippi
2021 Frank J. Padden Jr. Award finalist, American Physical Society
2021 Graduate student Hall of Fame, University of Southern Mississippi
2020 Graduate Competitive Travel Award, University of Southern Mississippi
2019 Graduate Competitive Travel Award, University of Southern Mississippi
2019 Charles E. Hoyle Memorial Polymer Science Scholarship, University of Southern Mississippi
2018 Charles E. Hoyle Memorial Polymer Science Scholarship, University of Southern Mississippi
Conference presentations
Talk at APS National Meeting & Exposition, Virtual, March 15-19; 2021 (Padden Award Session)
Song Zhang, Amirhadi Alesadi, Mariia Selivanova, Wenjie Xia, Simon Rondeau-Gagne, Xiaodan Gu; Molecular origin of strain-induced chain alignment in PDPP-based semiconducting polymers
Talk at CNMS User Meeting, Virtual, August 10-12; 2020
Song Zhang, Yu-Hsuan Cheng, Yu-Cheng Chiu, Xiaodan Gu; Tacky Elastomers to Enable Tear-Resistant and Autonomous Self-Healing Semiconductor Composites.
Talk at MRS Spring Meeting & Exhibit (Cancelled), Phoenix, AZ, April 13-17; 2020
Song Zhang, Amirhadi Alesadi, Wenjie Xia, Xiaodan Gu; Towards the Prediction and Design of Low-Glass Transition Donor-Acceptor Semiconducting Polymers.
Talk at APS National Meeting & Exposition (Cancelled), Boston, MA, March 2-6; 2020
Song Zhang, Masato Koizumi, Lihua Jin, Xiaodan Gu; Direct probing of the fracture
behavior for pseudo-free-standing polymeric ultra-thin films.
Talk at MRS Spring Meeting & Exhibit, Phoenix, AZ, April 22-26; 2019
Song Zhang, Michael U. Ocheje, Simon Rondeau-Gagne, Xiaodan Gu; Controlling the Mechanical and Thermal Properties of Donor-Acceptor Semiconducting Polymers.
Talk at APS National Meeting & Exposition, Boston, MA, March 4-8; 2019
Song Zhang, Michael U. Ocheje, Simon Rondeau-Gagne, Xiaodan Gu; Critical Role of Electron-Donating Thiophene Group on the Mechanical and Thermal Properties of Donor-Acceptor Semiconducting Polymers.
Talk at APS National Meeting & Exposition, Los Angeles, CA, March 5-9; 2018
Song Zhang, Dakota Ehlenberg, Simon Rondeau-Gagne, Xiaodan Gu; Structure-mechanical properties of pseudo free-standing conjugated polymeric thin films.
Talk at 82nd annual meeting of the Mississippi Academy of Sciences, Hattiesburg, MS, February 22-23; 2018
Song Zhang, Dakota Ehlenberg, Xiaodan Gu; Mechanical test of viscoelastic conjugated polymer thin film for flexible electronics.
