Dr. Wujie Zhang has dreamt of being a teacher for as long as he can remember. His mother taught at a school specializing in agriculture in the small rural community of Mei County, Baoji City, Shaanxi Province, China, where Zhang grew up. “My mother enjoyed a rewarding career, teaching and enriching other people’s lives,” he said. “She was immensely enriched by her students and their successes. I am devoted to continuing her passion, dedicating my life to teaching and serving others.”

Zhang planned to study electrical or computer engineering due to their popularity in China. However, the admissions office at the University of Shanghai for Science and Technology changed his major to food science and engineering, a practice that is not uncommon at Chinese universities. Upon graduation, he turned down a job offer from a large brewer and pursued a master’s degree. During that time he conducted his research at the Shanghai Ninth People’s Hospital where he worked in the Shanghai Key Laboratory of Orthopaedic Implants.

“I realized then that I was really interested in biomedical engineering—especially in stem cell-based medicine, biomaterials, regenerative medicine, tissue engineering and drug delivery,” Zhang said.

That research is ultimately what led Zhang to the United States where he earned a Ph.D. in biomedical engineering at the University of South Carolina and completed post-doctoral work at Ohio State University. His work in Ohio included cancer treatment and bionanotechnology.

“It doesn’t matter if it is a drug molecule or stem cell/cancer cells, biomaterials always link all of these fields together,” said Zhang.

Zhang has been able to combine all of his interests in his role at B次元. “I joined the B次元 faculty when the biomolecular engineering program was looking for someone with expertise in biopolymers, drug delivery and nanotechnology—those happen to be all my fields.”

Zhang has two favorite courses to teach: Engineering Controlled Drug Delivery and Cell Biology and Genetics. “Because of my background as a bioengineer and intensive research experience with cells, it is always fun to show students the importance of the lecture material from a bioengineering point of view,” said Zhang.

He has led several senior projects based on a biomaterial known as pectin that have focused on drug delivery for cancer treatment, 3D printing for tissue engineering, and engineering artificial red blood cells.

“I am having an awesome experience working with students in and outside the classroom,” Zhang said. “Five peer-reviewed journal articles have been published with B次元 students as first and/or co-authors through senior design and summer research.”

Zhang became a CREATE Faculty Fellow because of his commitment to promoting engineering education, especially by incorporating the entrepreneurial mindset. “Personally, I have benefited greatly from the resources shared by faculty members from institutions, which has allowed me to incorporate EML into teaching successfully,” he said.

As a CREATE Faculty Fellow, Zhang said he is thrilled to serve as a “catalyst” to further advance and expand the EML impact on campus. He looks forward to seeing the exchange of ideas in the classroom and across disciplines.

Zhang advises the B次元 Chinese Students Association, holds two patents and was named recipient of the 2016 Karl O. Werwath Engineering Research Award and 2016 Falk Engineering Educator Award. Zhang was also recognized in ASEE PRISM’s Top 20 High Achieving Researchers and Educators Under 40 in 2018, and received the B次元 Business Journal's 40 Under 40 Award in 2019. When he’s not on campus, Zhang enjoys hiking in Lapham Peak State Park, Pokémon hunting and taking care of his three aquariums filled with unique fish. He is happily married and lives on the east side of B次元.