Dr. Zhang is a Professor in the Department of Preventive and Restorative Sciences at Penn Dental Medicine. He received his B.S. in Physics from Shanghai Normal University in 1986 and his M.S. in Physics from La Trobe University, Victoria, Australia in 1997. He went on to earn his Ph.D. in Materials Science and Engineering from Monash University, Victoria, Australia in 2002. Dr. Zhang completed his first Research Fellowship in Materials Science and Engineering at Monash University in 2002. For his second research fellowship, which was completed in 2005, Dr. Zhang worked on a joint project among New York University College of Dentistry, the National Institute of Standards and Technology, and the American Dental Association Foundation. Prior to joining Penn Dental Medicine, Dr. Zhang was on the faculty at New York University College of Dentistry in the Department of Biomaterials and Biomimetics. During his time at NYU, he was recognized for his commitment to excellence in research and teaching, receiving The Kathleen C. Kinnally Award for Outstanding Scientific Achievement in 2018 and the Outstanding Teaching Award, given by the Faculty Council, in 2015. Dr. Zhang’s main research interests are: (1) Developing functionally graded and nanostructured materials for dental and biomedical devices; (2) Elucidating competing damage modes in all-ceramic restorations under mastication; (3) Characterizing the wear and fatigue behavior of dental materials; and (4) Improving the fracture resistance of veneered prostheses through the reduction of deleterious residual tensile stresses.