Professor Zhi Zong aims to build a leading-edge hydrodynamics research platform

Professor Zhi Zong was appointed Professor of Hydrodynamics at Aalto University School of Engineering. He is researching marine hydrodynamics in the Marine and Arctic Technology Research Group.

Professor Zong’s research interests are in ship hydrodynamics, including ship hydrodynamics in ice, high-performance ships, water waves, underwater explosions and vortex-induced vibrations.

‘My research aims at building an Aalto-based leading-edge hydrodynamics research platform through attracting talented young people and enhancing both international and local collaborations,’ says Professor Zong.  

Professor Zong D.Sc. (Tech.) (b. 1964) has previously worked for many years as a full professor at the Dalian University of Technology (DUT) in China. He has also been the director of the Towing Tank, a central facility for hydrodynamics, at DUT. Before he joined DUT, he worked in A*Star, the Agency for Science, Technology and Research, in Singapore as PhD supervisor and scientist. 

‘Professor Zong’s research experience is exceptionally broad, and he has significant skills within experimental techniques and advanced analytical methods, as well as within advanced numerical methods,’ says Professor Gary Marquis, Dean of the School of Engineering.

Professor Zong has supervised 12 doctoral students and two more will graduate during the year 2017. Since 2004 he has taught undergraduate courses, as well as postgraduate courses, on marine hydrodynamics and fluid mechanics at DUT. For his teaching, he has received Teaching Excellence and Teaching Innovation awards, and many of his students have been given best master’s thesis awards.

Professor Zong has excellent experience in academic leadership and activities in the scientific community. He has a strong background in project management and the implementation of research results, and he has broad experience with the international communication of research results. He has been both a leader and a member of a number of international committees and editorial boards of international journals within marine hydrodynamics.

‘Finland has been in a leading position in the shipbuilding industry, particularly in arctic marine technology. Luxury cruise ships, ice-breakers, Wärtsila’s engines and Napa software have enjoyed leading positions in the world for decades. Marine hydrodynamics and ship hydrodynamics in ice are an essential part of marine technology. I expect to contribute my expertise in order to increase the global impact of Finnish marine technology through quality research,’ Professor Zong says.

For more information:

Professor Zhi Zong

Aalto University Marine and Arctic Technology Research Group