Electronics and Electrical Engineering

• PhD Computer Science, University of Essex, 2024
• MSc Artificial Intelligence, University of Essex, 2020

I am a Chancellor’s Fellow in Engineering Biology. My research focuses on the development and use of cybergenetic platforms to model and control complex biological phenomena, with applications in engineering biology and precision medicine. In particular, I am interested in using data-driven approaches to understand and stear the behaviour of biological networks in dynamic environments. I hold a PhD in Bioengineering. I am an Associate Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (FHEA).

I started my studies in biomedical engineering at the University of Bologna (Italy), in 2007. Having developed an interest in cellular and molecular engineering, in 2010 I joined the MSc programme in biomedical engineering offered by the same university. In 2013 I pursued my PhD in Bioengineering, where I undertook mathematical modelling and in vivo-studies of bacterial genetic programmes operating through transcriptional or post-transcriptional control.

To improve my skills in quantitative, single-cell assays, in 2015 I visited Prof. Peter Swain's laboratory at the Centre for Synthetic and Systems Biology, University of Edinburgh. One year later, I joined the lab as a PDRA to investigate phenotypic variability in the budding yeast’s galactose metabolic network and consolidate my expertise in quantitative microscopy and microfluidics.

Having being awarded an EPSRC Postdoctoral Fellowship, in 2017 I joined the School of Engineering, University of Edinburgh. In the following three years, I researched technologies to automate the development and use of mathematical models of synthetic gene networks.

In 2021, I received a tenure track fellowship to establish my research independence.

I am the Deputy Head of Graduate School (Postgraduate Experience) (2024 -).

I am the Deputy Biological Safety Officer and the Genetic Modification Biological Safety Officer (2021 -).

I was the Postgraduate Academic Adviser for Institute for Bioengineering in the School Postgraduate Progression Committee (SPPC) and the School Postgraduate Experience Committee (SPEC) (2021 - 2024).

I was the organiser of the seminar series for the Institute for Bioengineering (2021-2024).

• PhD in Bioengineering, University of Bologna (Italy), 2013-2016
• MSc in Biomedical engineering, University of Bologna (Italy), 2010-2012
• BSc in Biomedical engineering, University of Bologna (Italy), 2007-2010

Associate Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (AFHEA), 2020

• Engineering Principles 1 (SCEE08012)
• Lab-on-Chip Technologies (ELEE11097, PGEE11042) - Course organiser

• mathematical modelling
• optimal experimental design
• microfluidics

Google Scholar

Hongye ZHANG (FHEA, MIEEE, MIET) received his BSc and MSc in Electrical Engineering from Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an, China, in 2015 and 2018, respectively, a Diplôme d’ingénieur from École Centrale de Lyon, Lyon, France, in 2018, and his PhD degree in Applied Superconductivity from The University of Edinburgh, UK, in 2021.

In 2021, he was awarded one of the six IEEE Council on Superconductivity Graduate Study Fellowships. He has been working on the £54-million collaborative H2GEAR project as a Research Associate at The University of Manchester since May 2021.

He is currently a Lecturer (Assistant Professor) in Superconducting/Cryogenic Electric Machines at the University of Edinburgh and a Visiting Research Fellow at the University of Manchester.

His research encompasses Design & Analysis & Testing of Superconducting/Cryogenic Electric Machines, Numerical Modelling & Measurement of Superconductors, Hydrogen Energy, and Artificial Intelligence.

He is currently a Board Member of the European Society for Applied Superconductivity (ESAS), a Board Member of the HTS Modelling Workgroup, and an Early Career Editorial Board member & Associate Editor for the Elsevier journal Superconductivity, etc.

He is the Chairman of the international workshop HTS 2026.

• BSc (2015) and MSc (2018) in Electrical Engineering, Xi’an Jiaotong University, China
• Diplôme d’ingénieur (MEng, 2018) in General Engineering, École Centrale de Lyon, France
• PhD (2021) in Applied Superconductivity, The University of Edinburgh, United Kingdom

• Board Member of The European Society for Applied Superconductivity (ESAS)
• Board Member of the HTS Modelling Workgroup
• Early Career Editorial Board Member & Associate Editor of Elsevier Superconductivity (Q1)
• Programme Committee Member of SMT 2023
• Technical Editor for IEEE Transactions on Applied Superconductivity, MT-28
• Guest Editor for a Special Issue of Crystals
• Winner of the 2021 IEEE Council on Superconductivity Graduate Study Fellowship in Applied Superconductivity
• Member, IET
• Member, IEEE

• BEng - Power Engineering 2
• MEng - Electrical Machines and Power Electronics (IDCORE)

Hongye ZHANG’s interdisciplinary research combines Electric Machines & Drives, Clean Energy Conversion, Superconductor Technology, Cryogenic Techniques, Hydrogen Energy, and Artificial Intelligence to contribute to low/zero emission technology.

His interests centre on Net Zero Transport and Hydrogen Energy with a focus on power-dense and highly efficient next-generation propulsion electric machines. His current research focuses on the design, analysis, build, and testing of cryogenic/superconducting motors for sub-regional electric aircraft exploiting hydrogen propulsion.

His long-term vision is to build a world-leading research group at the interface of academia and industry that will further advance the decarbonisation of future transport.

• Numerical modelling of high temperature superconductors
• Design and analysis of electric machines
• High-speed propulsion machines for electric aircraft
• Hydrogen energy application
• Engineering AI