Qi Tang

Qi Tang is joining Arizona State University as an assistant professor in the School of Manufacturing Systems and Networks, part of the Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering. She studies how materials behave under extreme conditions to improve advanced manufacturing technologies, bridging fundamental materials mechanics with practical engineering applications. Tang earned her doctoral degree from Cornell University in 2025, and continued at Cornell as a postdoctoral researcher.

Tang was drawn to ASU by the Fulton Schools’ culture of innovation, interdisciplinary collaboration and commitment to solving engineering challenges with real-world impact. She sees the collaborative environment as an ideal place to advance discoveries in extreme mechanics of materials while helping to translate them into innovative manufacturing technologies.

According to Tang, every transformative manufacturing technology ultimately faces the same question: Can we trust it?

“Answering that question requires more than demonstrating that a technology works,” she says. “It requires understanding the underlying physics.”

That curiosity led her to study solid-state manufacturing through supersonic particle impact, a process capable of creating strong metallic bonds at room temperature. Because the bonding process at metallic interfaces occurs over nanometer length scales and nanosecond timescales, they are difficult to observe and understand. Uncovering those hidden interactions has become the focus of her research.

At ASU, Tang plans to investigate how materials evolve under far-from-equilibrium processing conditions. By revealing the micromechanical principles that govern deformation, transformation and bonding, she aims to design stronger, more reliable and more sustainable materials and manufacturing processes. Her work also lays the scientific foundation for AI-assisted materials design, manufacturing process optimization and high-fidelity digital twins.

One of Tang’s proudest accomplishments was being selected as a KIC Graduate Fellow at Cornell. The fellowship recognized both her research achievements and the promise of her interdisciplinary approach, which combines mechanics, materials science and nanoscale characterization to investigate phenomena that are exceptionally difficult to measure.

Tang hopes her students leave her classroom with more than just technical expertise. She wants them to develop the confidence to solve problems without predetermined answers by connecting scientific principles with practical engineering challenges.

“I hope students learn how to ask the right questions, identify the knowledge they need and systematically develop solutions,” Tang says. “Those problem-solving skills will serve them throughout their careers.”

Outside the laboratory, Tang enjoys photography and snowboarding. She also jokingly conducts “materials testing” at home with her cat, Manman, who enthusiastically investigates the fracture strength and wear properties of cardboard, toys and the occasional snack!

Written by Aisha Kaddi