Background
Jian Zhou joined the Mechanical Engineering Department as an assistant professor in fall 2023. Prior to this, he conducted postdoctoral research on nanoengineering at Argonne National Laboratory and received his PhD in mechanical engineering from Binghamton University. His thesis work pioneered the bio-inspired flow microphone, which has been commercialized by Soundskrit (opens in a new window).
He currently directs an interdisciplinary nanoengineering research group that develops new paradigms of nanodevices, multiscale nanoengineered materials, and precision sensing, control and imaging tools. The research efforts are aimed at addressing crucial societal challenges in health, energy, information and security. His research has garnered recognition and featured in esteemed journals, magazines and news media, including PNAS, Nature Physics, Scientific American, The Washington Post and the BBC.
Research Lab: Nanoengineering Research Group (opens in a new window)
Selected Publications
- Zhou, J., Huang, R., Moldovan, N., Stan, L., Wen, J., Jin, D., Nelson, D. R., Košmrlj, A., Czaplewski, D. A., and López, D., Rippled metamaterials with scale-dependent tailorable elasticity. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 122 (2025).
- Zhou, J., Lai, J., Menda, G., Stafstrom, J.A., Miles, C.I., Hoy, R.R. and Miles, R.N., Outsourced hearing in an orb-weaving spider that uses its web as an auditory sensor. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 119 (2022).
- Zhou, J., Jiang, J., Walko, D.A., Jin, D., López, D., Czaplewski, D.A. and Wang, J., On-chip picosecond synchrotron pulse shaper. arXiv: 2211.03567 (2022).
- Zhou, J., Moldovan, N., Stan, L., Cai, H., Czaplewski, D.A. and López, D., Approaching the strain-free limit in ultrathin nanomechanical resonators. Nano Letters, 20 (2020).
- Zhou, J. and Miles, R.N., Sensing fluctuating airflow with spider silk. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 114 (2017).
Selected Research Highlights
- Scientific American: These Spiders Use Their Webs Like Huge Silky Ears (opens in a new window)
- The Washington Post: Do spiders hear? Some can use their webs to detect sound (opens in a new window)
- PNAS: Spider webs as auditory sensors (opens in a new window)
- Cornell News: Orb-weaver spider uses web to capture sounds (opens in a new window)
- Binghamton News: New study shows spiders use webs to extend their hearing
- BBC: Insects and mobile phone (opens in a new window)
- Nature Physics: Spidey sense (opens in a new window)
- Binghamton News: Spider silk microphones
Research Interests
- Nanoengineering and NEMS
- Nano mechanics and manufacturing
- Acoustics and vibration
- Bio-inspired engineering