Zhigang Suo is Allen E. and Marilyn M. Puckett Professor of Mechanics and Materials at Harvard University. He earned a bachelor degree from Xi'an Jiaotong University in 1985, majoring in Engineering Mechanics. Upon earning a Ph.D. degree in Engineering Science from Harvard University, in 1989, Suo joined the faculty of the University of California at Santa Barbara, and established a group studying the mechanics of materials and structures. The group moved to Princeton University in 1997, and to Harvard University in 2003.

Suo teaches courses in solid mechanics and applied mathematics. His research centers on the mechanical behavior of materials and structures. Basic processes include fracture, deformation, polarization, and diffusion, driven by various thermodynamic forces (e.g., stress, electric field, electron wind, chemical potential). Applications are concerned with microelectronics, large-area electronics, soft materials, active materials, and lithium-ion batteries

EDUCATION

September 1986 - May 1989, Graduate School, Harvard University, Cambridge, USA.

September 1985 - July 1986, Graduate School, Jiaotong University, Xi'an, China.

September 1981 - July 1985, College, Jiaotong University, Xi'an, China.

September 1976 - July 1981, High School, 83rd High School, Xi'an, China.

January 1970 - July 1976, Affiliated Elementary School of Jiaotong University, Xi'an, China.

DEGREES

PhD, Engineering Science, June 1989, Harvard University.

MS, Engineering Science, June 1987, Harvard University.

BS, Engineering Mechanics, June 1985, Xi'an Jiaotong University.

EMPLOYMENT

July 2006 - present, Allen E. and Marilyn M. Puckett Professor of Mechanics and Materials, School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Harvard University.

July 2003 - July 2006, Gordon McKay Professor of Mechanics and Materials, Division of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Harvard University.

July 1997 - June 2003, Professor, Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Department and Princeton Materials Institute, Princeton University.

July 1995 - June 1997, Professor, Mechanical and Environmental Engineering Department and Materials Department, The University of California, Santa Barbara.

June-December 1994, Visiting scientist, Max-Planck-Institute, Stuttgart.

December 1993 - June 1997, Joint Appointment, Materials Department, The University of California, Santa Barbara.

July 1992, Visiting Associate Professor, Brown University.

July 1992 - June 1995, Associate Professor, Mechanical and Environmental Engineering Department, The University of California, Santa Barbara.

September 1989 - June 1992, Assistant Professor, Mechanical and Environmental Engineering Department, The University of California, Santa Barbara.

June - September 1989, Post-Doctoral Research Fellow, Harvard University.

June 1985 - August 1986, Post-Graduate Researcher, Xi'an Jiaotong University.

RESEARCH INTERESTS

Solid mechanics and thermodynamics, and their applications in technologies.

Fracture, deformation and mass transport.

Mechanics of soft active materials (SAMs), such as dielectric elastomers and polymeric gels.

Mechanical behavior of micro devices and interconnect structures.

Mechanics of flexible electronics.

Evolving material structures of small feature sizes.

Configurational forces in nanostructures. Self-assembly.

Ferroelectric ceramics.

Anisotropic elasticity

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