Lei Zhao is an associate professor in Mechanical Engineering at Dalian University of Technology. His research interests primarily lie in the intriguing multiphysics area that coupled fluid mechanics, heat transfer and interfacial science spanning from (sub)nanometer scale to macroscopical scale. In particular, his theoretical, computational and experimental research program focuses on the moving three phase contact line and dynamic multi-phase fluid manipulation for a wide spectrum of applications, such as phase change heat transfer, drag reduction, additive manufacturing, etc. 

Dr. Zhao was previously a postdoctoral scholar in Mechanical Engineering at UC Santa Barbara. Dr. Zhao received his Bachelor’s degree from Xi’an Jiaotong University and completed his Ph.D in the department of Mechanical Engineering at Virginia Tech. Dr. Zhao was awarded the Pratt Fellowship from the college of Engineering at Virginia Tech and was selected as the most outstanding dissertation of ME department in 2020. Dr. Zhao was also the recipient of the Best Poster Award in 2016 International Mechanical Engineering Congress and Exposition. In March 2021, Dr. Zhao joined Dalian University of Technology as an associate professor.