Lin Zhang awarded Presidential Fellowship

Lin Zhang, a Ph.D. student in the Department of Integrated Systems Engineering, was awarded the 2018 Presidential Fellowship award. The Presidential Fellowship is the most prestigious award given by the Graduate School and recognizes outstanding scholarly accomplishments and potential of graduate students entering the final phase of their dissertation research or terminal degree project. Recipients of this award embody the highest standards of scholarship in the full range of Ohio State’s graduate programs. 

Lin received his B.E. and M.S. degrees in mechanical and automation engineering from Jilin University, Jilin, China, in 2011 and 2014. He is currently pursuing a PhD in integrated systems engineering under the advisement of Professor Allen Yi whose lab is focused on the micro-/nano optical manufacturing based on single-point diamond turning and precision glass molding.

Lin’s PhD project is focused on investigating the mechanism of precision chalcogenide glass molding and its applications on micro thermal imaging. For high-volume production, precision glass molding could be a preferred option to traditional diamond turning method for its high efficiency, short cycle time and reusable tooling. However, mechanical and thermal cycles can cause molecular topological structure changes and induce further changes to other physical properties of molded glass, such as optical refractive index, residual stresses, and shape change. The basic science behind these issues related to the optical performance must be carefully studied and ultimately overcome before this technique can be readily implemented in the industry. In addition, microlenses are well suited for applications that require high efficiency and minimized optical imaging or non-imaging system. Chalcogenide glasses can be readily molded into precision optics, therefore providing photonics industry with material candidates for low cost and high-performance photonic devices. This research figured out some critical issues and demonstrated the feasibility of such method.

Less than 20 Presidential Fellowships are awarded each semester and provides one year of full-time financial support so recipients can complete their dissertations or degree projects unimpeded by other duties.