Yunlan Emma Zhang, an assistant professor in the Maseeh Department of Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering and an affiliate faculty member of Texas Materials Institute, was recently awarded the Outstanding Technical Contribution Award from the Aerospace Division of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE).
The award is given to "an individual who has contributed substantially to advancing the state of the art in aerospace engineering, sciences and technology, and space exploration and construction with application to civil engineering" and is the highest awards offered in the Aerospace Division.
Zhang has served as chair of the ASCE Aerospace Division Advanced Structures and Materials Committee since 2024, guiding the community toward emerging directions in architected materials, advanced manufacturing and lunar infrastructure. One of Zhang's research focus areas is architected materials for lunar construction, and she has collaborated with NASA and industry partners to explore materials for temporary or reusable facilities on the Moon to support manufacturing under controlled pressure and temperature conditions.
Zhang was presented the award during the 20th International Conference on Engineering, Science, Construction and Operations in Challenging Environments held at Texas A&M University April 13th-16th. Zhang runs the Metamaterials and Advanced Structures Lab (MASLab), which focuses on creating "mechanical metamaterials and advanced structures with innovative properties that can be used to upgrade existing structures, as well as create new structures that are more resilient to extreme demands."
