Bio
Dr. Zhili Feng leads the Materials Joining Group, and is a Distinguished R&D Staff of Oak Ridge National Laboratory, where he leads a teams of multi-disciplinary scientists and supporting staff conducting both fundamental and applied R&D and technology innovations for diverse interdisciplinary subjects related to materials joining and allied materials manufacturing processes. He is also a Joint Faculty of University of Tennessee, Knoxville.
With over 25 years R&D experience, Dr. Feng has a proven record in developing and leading major multi-million-dollar R&D programs to advance materials joining and manufacturing science and technologies for automotive, nuclear energy, fossil energy, hydrogen energy, and defense applications. Over the past decade, Dr. Feng has been involved extensively in US DOE Vehicle Technologies Office’s auto-body structure lightweighting programs, DOE Hydrogen FuelCell Technologies Office's hydrogen storage and pipeline programs, as well as DOE Fossil Energy Office and Nuclear Energy Office to develop innovative welding and additive manufacturing technologies. He has served as PI on a number of large, government and industry collaborative materials joining technology development projects.
A Fellow of both American Welding Society and International Institute of Welding and an internationally recognized expert, Dr. Zhili Feng’s research covers various aspects of thermal-mechanical-metallurgical behaviors of materials in materials joining. He has made seminal contributions in several important areas such as integrated computational welding engineering (ICWE), proactive weld residual stress control, innovations in material joining including friction stir welding/processing and solid state dissimilar material joining, and application of advanced neutron and synchrotron scattering tools to study the fundamentals of weld microstructure evolution and effects on weld properties and performance of welded structures.
Dr. Feng has broad interactions with industry, and demonstrated experience in solving critical industry problems. In 2015, he received special recognition from Dr. David Danielson, Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy, U.S. Department of Energy, for his leadership in developing technology solutions to use advanced high-strength steels in auto-body components. Dr. Feng has over 200 publications and 9 patents.
Awards
2021 Heinz Sossenheimer Software Innovation Award, International Institute of Welding
2018 Fellow, International Institute of Welding
2017 R&D100 Award: Filler materials for welding and 3D printing
2015 Special Recognition, Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy, U.S. Department of Energy
2015 Honorary Membership, American Welding Society
2015 R&D100 Award, Silver Award in Market Disruptor Services
2015 Technology Commercialization Award, Oak Ridge National Laboratory
2012 Fellow, American Welding Society
2011 Special Event Award, Oak Ridge National Laboratory
2010 Distinguished Alumni Award, Materials Science and Engineering Department, The Ohio State University
2001 Professor Koichi Masubuchi Award, American Welding Society
1999 A. F. Davis Medal Award, American Welding Society
1995 Arsham Amirikian Memorial Maritime Welding Award, American Welding Society
1994 Henry Granjon Prize, International Institute of Welding.
1991 W. H. Hobart Memorial Medal Award, American Welding Society
Education
- Ph.D. Welding Engineering, The Ohio State University
- M.S. Materials Science and Engineering, Tsinghua University
- B.S. Mechanical Engineering, Tsinghua University