Xiang Yang says the early career professorship encourages him to take risks in his research. Credit: May Crews/Penn State.
Mechanical engineering early career professor: Xiang Yang
May 11, 2026
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Xiang Yang, associate professor of mechanical engineering, was awarded a Kenneth K. & Olivia J. Kuo Early Career Professorship, a three-year professorship that Yang will hold from 2024 - 2026. Kenneth K. Kuo, distinguished professor of mechanical engineering who died in 2016, endowed two early-career professorships in 2010, the Kenneth Kuan-Yun Kuo Early Career Professorship and the Kenneth K. and Olivia J Kuo Early Career Professorship.
Q: What is the primary focus of your research?
Yang: I identify myself as a fluid mechanician. My research focuses on the computational side of flow mechanics. I conduct high-fidelity numerical simulations of flow problems encountered in fluids engineering, environmental engineering, and other contexts. The main thrust of my work is turbulence modeling. Why do we still need turbulence modeling? We know the governing equations of fluid flow — the Navier-Stokes equations — and they have been known for nearly two centuries. So, in principle, we already know the fundamental physics. The challenge is not that the equations are unknown, but that solving them directly for real engineering flows is often far too expensive. In turbulent flows, there is a very wide range of length and time scales that must be resolved. Capturing all those scales directly quickly becomes impractical, even with today’s most powerful computers. Turbulence modeling is therefore essential because it allows us to represent the effects of those unresolved scales in a much more computationally affordable way, making simulation feasible for engineering design and analysis.
Q: What are some notable grants or achievements you have recently received?
Yang: I received a three-year, $450,000 award from the Air Force Office of Scientific Research’s Young Investigator Program. I also received a Best Paper Award from the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) in 2023. The Journal of Fluid Mechanics named me an Outstanding Reviewer in 2024.
Q: What does it mean for you to receive the Kenneth K. & Olivia J. Kuo Early Career Professorship?
Yang: This funding has enabled me to take risks. For example, I am exploring quantum computing for turbulence modeling, as well as the combination of small-scale molecular dynamics and macroscopic continuum direct numerical simulation of turbulence. I am also studying the utility of large language models for turbulence modeling, the utility of large language models for validation, verification and so forth.
The professorship award has helped my students by supporting conference travel and professional engagement that strengthen our research network. Through these opportunities, I have been able to build connections with other researchers, exchange ideas, and develop relationships that can lead to collaborations involving my students. This helps expose them to new research directions, broaden their professional community and create opportunities that can support their development as young researchers.
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