Mechanical engineering doctoral student Xiaoyue Zhao was selected to participate in the Rising Stars in Mechanical Engineering workshop, held Oct. 6-7 at Stanford University. Provided by Xiaoyue Zhao
Penn State student selected for Rising Stars in Mechanical Engineering workshop
November 18, 2022
By Sarah Small
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Mechanical engineering doctoral student Xiaoyue Zhao was selected to participate in the Rising Stars in Mechanical Engineering workshop, held Oct. 6-7 at Stanford University.
The workshop supports graduate students and postdocs who identify as women and are considering careers in academia, according to its website. The goals of the workshop are to help the participants “gain career skills, connect with a cohort of peers and engage with mentors.” Stanford, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the University of California Berkeley rotate hosting the event each year.
Zhao was nominated by her adviser, Zoubeida Ounaies, professor of mechanical engineering and director of the Convergence Center for Living Multifunctional Material Systems (LiMC2). Zhao was selected as one of 30 individuals to participate in the two-day program.
“We had the opportunity to talk with professors, both junior and senior, at Stanford to learn about their career paths and lives as professors,” Zhao said. “From their talks, I learned more about the things and circumstances that are expected to happen in my future career and how to deal with the problems that might happen. We also had a discussion panel with members of search committees to learn about the important things that search committees are looking for. So, I am now more familiar with the hiring process. I also got the chance to build a strong network with these awesome peers who could support me in my future career.”
Xiaoyue Zhao received a bachelor of engineering degree in process equipment and control engineering from Xi’an Jiaotong University in 2015 and a master of science degree in mechanical engineering from Carnegie Mellon University in 2017. She previously worked as a reliability engineer at Amazon. As a doctoral student, Zhao's research embraces multidisciplinary approaches to design and develop novel materials for triboelectric nanogenerators with the goal of harvesting wasted mechanical energy.
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