2022

12/28/2022: Xudong's recent Li plating-stripping paper has been accepted by the prestigious journal Advanced Energy Materials without any change! What a great submission!!!

12/14/2022: Yikai's recent machine-learning paper has been quickly accepted by the Journal of Energy Chemistry! This is our first paper published in Chemistry field but with full of machine-learning stuff:-) 

11/08/2022: Xiang's recent SiO/C paper has now been accepted by the prestigious journal Advanced Energy Materials! In this paper, we proposed a multiphysics model to describe the electrochemical behaviors of the SiO/C-based cells. Great work Xiang!

11/02/2022: Xiang, Chunhao and Jun attended the IMECE 2022. Xiang was elected as the Secretary of the EECS technical committee (Advanced Energy System Division, ASME) and he also delivered an important invited talk (42 mins) in the Energy Track. Chunhao also chaired one session. Jun was elected to serve as the Track Organizer for IMECE 2023. We together were invited to enjoy the fancy banquet sponsored by AESD ASME. Great experience!

10/28/2022: Congratulations! Chunhao's recent work in electrochemical-mechanical coupling in lithium-ion batteries was accepted by Cell Reports Physical Sciences. Due to the high quality of the work and high interest from the editor, the open access fee was waived:-) We believe this work would have a high impact to the community.

10/27/2022: Congratulations Jun! Jun was very fortunately selected as the inaugural receipt of Early-Career Award for Faculty in the College of Engineering in 2022! The award was given at the luncheon ceremony by the Dean and Associate Dean together. Keep up the good work Jun!

09/28/2022: Congratulations! Wen's recent review paper has been selected as Featured Paper Award in Engineering Structures! Great job!

09/02/2022: Congratulations on our paper recently accepted by the Journal of Power Sources. In this paper, we propose an idea about how to monitor the safety status of the cell. Excellent work Yikai!

08/20/2022: Congratulations on our new paper on a new acoustic based methodology to measure the SOC of the batteries accepted by Journal of Power Sources. This work is a collaboration between our group, Prof. Meng at NBUT and Dr. Wesley Chang at Caltech.

08/06/2022: Congratulations on Chunhao's second AEM paper on the solid-state battery! In this paper, we propose a new concept to mitigate the dendrite growth in the solid-state batteries. Keep up the good work Chunhao!

07/25/2022: Congratulations! Jun starts to serve as an Associate Editor for ASME journal of Electrochemical Energy Conversion and Storage. Look forward to working closely with the Editor-in-chief and we will try the very best to boost the quality of the papers published in JEECS!

07/25/2022: Wen's latest review on lightweight automotive materials has been accepted by Materials & Design. This is the first review on automotive materials. Congratulations Wen!

07/17/2020: Congratulations on Wen's new journey in Nuro in the beautiful Bay area. We will miss you Wen and wish you every success in your career!

05/13/2022: This year, we have one Ph.D. student and two undergraduate students graduated! Congratulations Dr. Yikai Jia and Mr. John Sherman and Mr. Carlos Butz Monroy for your achievement!

05/10/2022: Congratulations on Yikai's battery shell fracture paper. This is Yikai's first JPS paper. 

04/16/2022: Congratulations on Jun's early promotion to Associate Professor with Tenure! This serves as a milestone for Jun's academic career! Keep going forward Jun:-)

04/16/2022: Congratulations on the acceptance of Xiang's review paper on mechanics of anode materials by the prestigious mechanics journal--Applied Mechanics Review! This journal only publishes about 14 review papers in the field of mechanics per year! Go forward Xiang!

03/07/2022: Jun has been selected as the recipient of the James H. Woodward Faculty Research Award at UNC Charlotte. This newly established award is designed to recognize untenured professors with an outstanding program of research, scholarship, or creative practice. The award is given to only one faculty member each year university-wide. Big congratulations Jun!

01/26/2022: Congratulations on Wen's fourth EML paper and second paper within 30 days! In this paper, we discussed the topology and structural hierarchy in energy absorption performances of bamboo-inspired tubular honeycomb. This paper uncovers the basic theories and provide design guidance for the structural design for energy absorption structures.

01/16/2022: Congratulations Jiani for her second paper accepted by JES! In this work, she proposed a method to accurately measure and characterize the contact resistance during internal short circuit. This experimental methodology may provide characterizations of critical parameters in current battery safety modeling. Great work Jiani! (2 papers accepted in 30 days)!

2021

12/26/2021: Congratulations Wen for her third EML paper (hat trick)! In this work, she proposed a ultra-light structure for impact protection. Great work Wen!

12/16/2021: Congratulations on Jun's successful nomination to be the Executive Committee Member of of Advanced Energy System Division (AESD), ASME (starting from 07/2022). This is a great recognition of Jun's leadership in the Energy community within ASME. Again, I'd like to appreciate the nominator and current Executive Committee. 

12/16/2021: Congratulations on Jiani's first battery paper accepted by Journal of Power Sources! In this paper, we developed a mechanistic model for Li plating in the cell level. It would be useful to guide the battery design. Good work Jiani!

12/12/2021: Congratulations on Xudong's recent internal short circuit modes research accepted by "Energy Storage Materials". This work makes one more step towards the identification of various ISC modes by leveraging multiphysics model. Good work Xudong!

11/03/2021: Congratulations Wen for successfully defensing her Ph.D. dissertation! Our group has one more Dr. now!

08/23/2021: Mr. Carlos Buts Monroy recently joined our group as an early-entry M.S. student. Carlos will work on the impact dynamics as well. Welcome Carlos!

08/23/2021: Prof. Lubing Wang (former VESLer), Yikai and Jun together published a paper describing the electrochem-mechanics coupled behaviors of the anode in Journal of Power Sources. This is the first high-quality paper published by Lubing after she joined Ningbo University. Congratulations Lubing!

08/17/2021: Mr. Hamidreza Moradi recently joined our group as a Ph.D. student. Reza will work on the impact dynamics. Welcome Reza!

08/17/2021: It is a great honor and luck to be selected as one of the winners (and only representative from Higher Education Institutions in the Greater Charlotte Area) in Charlotte Business Journal "40 under 40" Award (Check this out) . Each year, the Charlotte Business Journal aims to introduce some of these rising stars through the 40 Under 40 awards program. Now in its 28th year, this signature awards program turns a spotlight on 40 individuals — all under the age of 40 — who are making a difference in their careers and communities. This recognition is not for Jun, but for the entire VESL as a whole. Without the dedication and contribution from each VESLer, such honor may never come true. Again, congratulations VESL!
College New Report

07/22/2021: Chunhao's second Solid state battery model paper was accepted by the prestigious journal, Advanced Energy Materials! This is the second AEM paper in our group this year. Go VESLer!

07/21/2021: Mr. John Sherman (undergrad)'s first paper was just accepted by Acta Mechanica Sinica Solida! In this paper, he used experimental and numerical modeling to investigate the energy absorption capability of the bio-inspired structures. This is (to the best of my knowledge) the first undergraduate student publishes a peer-reviewed journal paper in our college! Big congratulations, John!

05/24/2021: VESL's battery safety research was highlighted in the Department News. Check this out.

04/23/2021: Xiang successfully defensed his thesis and he will get his Ph.D. degree in May. Big congratulations!!!

04/21/2021: Two days before final defense, Xiang got his first DFT paper accepted in the prestigious journal ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces! Congratulations Xiang!

04/06/2021: Chunhao's first solid electrolyte paper was successfully accepted by the prestigious journal, Nano Energy. This is a second top paper that our group published this year. Congratulations Chunhao!

03/08/2021: After several rounds of rebuttal and modification, Yikai's manuscript was finally accepted by the prestigious journal, Advanced Energy Materials. This is a propitious sign for the Year of the OX. Congratulations Yikai!

02/09/2021: By collaborating with Prof. Binghe Liu and Mr. Xudong Duan, for the first time, we quantify the complete process of the ISC for a battery upon mechanical abusive loading in Journal of Materials Chemistry A. Excellent work Binghe and Xudong!

2020

12/14/2020: Congratulations on Wen's 4th paper this year accepted by EML again!! In this paper, Wen targeted at the composite particle in granular chain. Great work Wen!

12/07/2020: Congratulations on Aditya Sonwane's successful defense of his M.S. thesis study. He is the first M.S. student graduated from VESL@UNCC. Wish him every luck in the future work and life! We will miss you!

12/03/2020: Congratulations on Yikai and Chunhao for the successful passing of the qualify exams. Now we have four Ph.D. candidates in our group! 

11/15/2020: Yikai's new manuscript on the RVE-based multiphysics modeling was just accepted by the Journal of Energy Storage. Congratulations Yikai!

11/13/2020: Jun was successfully elected to be the Chair of Multifunctional Materials Committee, ASME. Congratulations Jun!

11/08/2020: Xiang's new Si/C active particle design paper was just accepted by the prestigious journal--Nano Energy! This is the first Nano Energy paper in our group. Congratulations Xiang!

10/25/2020: Our M.S. student Aditya Sonwane's first paper was just accepted by JEECS! Aditya also treated all of us a cup of Starbucks coffee. Congratulations and thanks for the nice coffee!

10/20/2020: By collaboration with Dr. Binghe Liu, Jun's former Ph.D. student, a new paper about Si particle cracking was just accepted by ACS Applied Energy Materials! Congratulations Binghe!

09/24/2020: Xiang's three-week fast study paper was just accepted by JEECS! Congratulations Xiang! 

09/23/2020: After eight months waiting and long administrative process, DOE signed the contract and our first DOE project is finally funded! Congratulations Jun!

09/03/2020: Wen's third solitary wave paper was accepted by International Journal of Mechanical Sciences. This assists Wen to complete her first hat-trick this year! Congratulations Wen!

08/27/2020: Wen's solitary wave tuning paper was just accepted by the prestigious mechanics journal--Extreme Mechanics Letters. This is her first EML journal paper and look forward to seeing more! Congratulations Wen!

07/13/2020: Jiani has been successfully admitted to the Ph.D. program at UNCC and re-join our group after her M.S. study. Welcome Jiani!

07/08/2020: Xiang has successfully passed his proposal defense. He is the first Ph.D. student from VESL at UNCC to pass the proposal defense. It is expected that he will graduate next May. Congratulations Xiang!

07/08/2020: Congratulations on Yikai's "old" paper about modeling of thermal runaway propagation accepted by Journal of Energy Storage. This paper established a fast but accurate modeling framework for thermal runaway propagation behaviors among battery packs/stacks. Good job!

06/18/2020: Congratulations on Zhong's new paper about the mechanical degradation of the fuel cell cathode catalyst layer by International Journal of Hydrogen Energy. Good job!

06/17/2020: Big congratulations on Lubing's Associate Professor job offer from Ningbo University! This is very rare for a fresh Ph.D. student to get a high-rank faculty position in a reputable university in China. We wish Lubing's every success in her future academic career!

06/17/2020: Congratulations on Zhiguo's new paper about the fabrication and modeling of structural anode, accepted by Journal of Power Sources! This paper lays a strong foundation for our future work towards structural battery. Great job!

06/12/2020: Congratulations on Jun's selection to the Chair of Electrochemical energy conversion and storage technical committee, ASME

06/10/2020: Congratulations on the joint paper by collaborating with Prof. Robert Richie, Prof. Yiu-Wing Mai and Prof. Yin titled "Tough Nature-Inspired Helicoidal Composites with Printing Induced Voids", accepted by Cell Reports Physical Science.

06/02/2020: Congratulations on Yikai's safety issues of defective batteries paper now accepted by the Journal of Materials Chemistry A! This paper firstly touches on the topic of how to identify defective batteries from normal batteries and evaluate the possible safety risks of defective batteries. Excellent work!

05/15/2020: Congratulations! Jun has now been elected to serve as the Primary Representative in Nominations, Honors & Awards (NHAC) committee of UNC Charlotte (University level) and Primary Representative in Computing Advisory committee of Williams State Lee College of Engineering (College level).

05/13/2020: Congratulations on Chunhao's separator criteria manuscript accepted by Journal of Power Sources! This paper clears the ultimate barrier for the separator-induced internal short circuit. Great work!

03/08/2020: Congratulations on Wen's first granular paper just accepted by Granular Matter! This would serve as a good starting point for her future research. Look forward to her future papers!

03/04/2020: By collaborating with Dr. Chang, the first paper on first-principle study was accepted by RSC Advances! 

01/30/2020: Ms. Wen Zhang （Ph.D. candidate）was awarded the prestigious Mary N. Clayton Honorary Scholarship in recognition for demonstrating a special interest in advancing transportation by WTS international (Charlotte Metro Chapter). She is the only recipient this year for graduate student level competition. Congratulations Wen!

01/24/2020: VESL had a party at Jun's house to celebrate the Lunar New Year!

01/20/2020: Welcome Mr. Nick Winz to join VESL as a M.S. student!

01/14/2020: We now have a Twitter account (@VESL2014). Please follow us for the latest group activity!

01/14/2020: New version of VESL online home is officially released! Welcome to visit our new home!

01/01/2020: Happy New Year everyone! The first paper in 2020 now comes out: Xiran's fuel cell modeling paper is now accepted by RSC Advances! Congratulations Yunqi and Xiran!