Zuo, Lei

Professor

Biography

Lei Zuo joined the University of Michigan as an endowed professor at the Department of Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering in August 2022. He previously was the Robert E. Hord Jr. Professor of Mechanical Engineering at Virginia Tech and served as the Director of NSF Industry-University Cooperative Research Center (IUCRC) for Energy Harvesting Materials and Systems (CEHMS), a consortium with sites at Virginia Tech, Columbia University, and Penn State University. Lei Zuo completed his his BS in Automotive Engineering from Tsinghua University (07/1997), two MS degrees in Mechanical Engineering and Electrical Engineering from MIT (02/2002), and his PhD from MIT (02/2005). He worked in industry for four years before returning to academia.

Prof. Lei Zuo’s research interests include marine renewables (ocean waves, tidal currents, offshore wind), energy harvesting, vibration and control, mechatronics design, automotive engineering, and advanced manufacturing. His research has been funded with over 90 projects of USD $28M by various funding agencies and industries, with $18M for personal share. He has authored about 360 papers including 15 with the best paper awards. He has supervised 70 Ph.D. and master students to completion of their degrees, mentored 16 postdocs, and advised about 200 undergraduates in senior designs or research. Lei Zuo was the sole recipient of the 2017 ASME Leonardo da Vinci Award and the 2015 ASME Thar Energy Design Award. He received R&D 100 Awards twice (2015 and 2011) and the 2014 SAE Ralph R. Teetor Educational Award.