Jiawei Yang is an assistant professor of mechanical and materials engineering at WPI. He received a PhD from Harvard University in 2019, completed postdoctoral research at MIT in 2023, and joined WPI in 2024.
The Yang lab integrates experimental and theoretical tools to study, design, and assemble materials across length scales, from molecular and polymer design to hierarchical networks and structures, for developing multifunctional soft material systems and understanding how microscopic structures and processes give rise to macroscopic properties and functions.
The research in the Yang lab is rooted in solid mechanics, polymer chemistry, and polymer physics, and uses fundamental mechanical and physical principles to design and synthesize material systems by chemical engineering of molecules, polymer engineering of architectures and structures, and multi-material assembly. Of particular interest is to map out the synthesis-structure-property-performance relationships and elucidate how to use this information to control, tailor, and optimize material systems, aiming to generate new knowledge about multiscale mechanics of soft materials and polymers, enhance the performance and scope of existing materials, and create new material systems for diverse emerging applications. Application areas include medical implants, biomaterials, adhesives, coatings, and sustainable polymers.
Dr. Yang’s favorite teaching courses are solid mechanics, mechanics of materials, fracture mechanics, and advanced elasticity.
