Pittsburgh, PA · University of Pittsburgh
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Advised by Prof. Lei Fang, studying turbulence where inertia almost vanishes.
I am a Ph.D. candidate in Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Pittsburgh, working with Prof. Lei Fang. My research focuses on turbulence in the weak-inertia regime — flows where inertia is nearly gone, yet multiscale transport stubbornly persists.
I study low-Reynolds-number turbulence, Lagrangian coherent structures (LCS), active-matter–flow interactions, and scale-to-scale energy transfer in quasi-two-dimensional flows, combining laboratory experiments (3D particle tracking velocimetry, electromagnetically forced flows) with custom spectral and Lagrangian diagnostics. A recurring theme in my work is that the geometry of a flow — how its stress and strain-rate tensors align — can carry as much physics as its energy, and that carefully controlling that geometry lets turbulence-like transport emerge in places it was never expected.
I came to fluid mechanics from a mechanical and aerospace engineering background at the Southern University of Science and Technology, where I worked with Prof. Hongyan Yuan. That path — from solids and computation toward the physics of flows — shaped how I like to work: build the experiment, measure it carefully, and let the structure in the data tell the story rather than the other way around.
Alongside research, I have taught as a teaching assistant at Pitt for Fluid Mechanics and for Engineering & Sustainable Development, which earned me the department's Teaching Assistant of the Year award. I find that explaining an idea clearly is part of understanding it in the first place.
Outside the lab, I enjoy photography — you'll find some of my photos around this site — and tinkering with hardware of all kinds.
Research programs, papers, and talks. Preprints and PDFs are linked where available.
Turbulence-grade spectral energy transfer does not require inertia. By aligning the stress and strain-rate tensors with small directional perturbations in an electromagnetically driven thin-layer flow, the scale-to-scale energy flux is amplified up to ~300× at Re ~ O(1), crossing the weak-turbulence threshold in a nominally laminar flow.
Across 85 experiments with live Artemia salina swimmers in an electromagnetically driven cellular flow, finite swimmer loading suppresses the LCS accumulation predicted by one-way coupling, and the swimmers' back-reaction can either disrupt or — a previously unreported effect — reinforce the flow's transport skeleton, yielding a non-monotonic stability phase diagram in swimmer number × forcing strength.
An energy-efficient strategy for destabilizing tornado-like vortices with small directional perturbations that trigger forward spectral energy flux and progressively collapse the vortex core.
A condensed version — the full CV is available as a PDF download.
University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA
Advisor: Prof. Lei Fang
Southern University of Science and Technology (SUSTech), Shenzhen
Advisor: Prof. Hongyan Yuan
“Low Reynolds Number Turbulence: Tensor Geometry Drives Turbulence in the Diminishing of Inertia,” Houston, TX.
CEE 1402 Fluid Mechanics · CEE 1610 Engineering and Sustainable Development
Civil & Environmental Engineering, University of Pittsburgh
Second-class Scholarship for Outstanding Students · Fastest Progress Scholarship (MAE) · Star of Literature and Art · Outstanding Student Advisor
A little gallery of my life from 2020 to now — college, graduation, and everything after.
Always glad to talk about fluid mechanics, active matter, or photography — whether it's a potential collaboration, a question about my work, or just to say hello. Email is the fastest way to reach me.
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