Rui Qiao named a fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers

A fellowship in the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) has been awarded to Rui Qiao, professor and John R. Jones III Faculty Fellow in the Department of Mechanical Engineering.

Established in 1880, ASME aims to advance engineering for the benefit of society. The organization currently has more than 85,000 members from 140 countries. To be selected as a fellow — a membership grade of distinction recognizing significant engineering achievements — an ASME member must have been in active practice for at least 10 years and have been an active corporate member for at least a decade.

“I am honored that I have been elected as an ASME fellow. I am grateful for the nomination by Dr. Roop Mahajan, who has been a source of inspiration and ideas for many years,” said Qiao. “My achievement is only possible with the hard work of the talented students I had the good fortune to work with. I deeply appreciate the strong support from my faculty and staff colleagues in the mechanical engineering department and the guidance from my many mentors. I also thank my collaborators, many not engineers, for working with me on interdisciplinary projects.”

Mahajan is the Lewis A. Hester Chair Professor of Mechanical Engineering, founding director of the Institute for Critical Technology and Applied Science, and also an ASME fellow.

Qiao is director of the Laboratory of Transport Phenomena for Advanced Technologies, which explores transport and interfacial phenomena underlying emerging technologies and engineering challenges through computer simulations. His earlier work spans chemical analysis, thermal management, and electrochemical energy storage. Most recently, he has worked with industrial and academic partners on carbon utilization and sequestration in unconventional reservoirs and particulate damage in aero engines.

A member of the Virginia Tech community since 2018, his work has been cited nearly 8,000 times, and he currently carries an H-index of 44 and i10-index of 96. He has mentored 18 Ph.D. students, three master’s students, and 12 undergraduate students in research. He has collaborated extensively in Blacksburg and in 2017 was named a John R. Jones Faculty Fellow by the Department of Mechanical Engineering.

His research has been supported by the National Science Foundation, Department of Energy, Department of Defense, and industrial sponsors, including Rolls-Royce and Pratt & Whitney. He has received research funding totaling $10.5 million.

Azim Eskandarian, department head and Nicholas and Rebecca Des Champs Chair/Professor, himself an ASME fellow, commented on Qiao’s inclusion.

“We are very proud of Dr. Qiao’s achievements, and this fellowship is a fitting recognition from his peers of the excellence he has achieved,” said Eskandarian. “The commitment he has shown to both research and academia is exemplary.”

Qiao is one of 14 faculty members in the mechanical engineering department currently holding the title of ASME fellow.