Yong-Jie Hu, PhD, received tenure and was promoted to associate professor effective September 1, 2026. Hu joined the department in 2021 following a postdoctoral position at the University of Michigan. He received his PhD degree from Penn State University in 2016.
Hu’s research focuses on computational materials science, with emphasis on modeling and databasing of mechanical, thermodynamic, and electronic properties of materials for structural and functional applications. He leads the Materials Computation and Informatics Group, whose members combine materials modeling with machine learning techniques to develop new theories, approaches, and databases to build more quantitative insights into the composition-structure-property relationships for the design and manufacture of new materials. He is the recipient of a 2025 NSF CAREER award, and the 2026 Drexel Engineering Outstanding Early Career Award.