Wei Zhang

Wei Zhang is an Associate Professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Connecticut (UConn). He holds a Ph.D. from Louisiana State University (2012). His research focuses on damage modeling, coastal resilience, fluid-structure interactions, and infrastructure reliability under extreme environmental loads. He leads the Damage Mechanics and Modeling Laboratory (DM2L), emphasizing data-driven and physics-based approaches for civil infrastructure systems.

Research interests include wind-wave-vehicle-bridge dynamics, corrosion fatigue analysis, and probabilistic risk assessment of power distribution systems. His work integrates machine learning with traditional engineering models to address challenges like storm impacts, debris effects on bridges, and typhoon resilience. Key areas also involve modeling tree-failure risks, subsurface strain monitoring for landslides, and optimizing hurricane retrofit strategies for coastal communities.

Zhang's recent research shows a focus on hybrid models for infrastructure resilience, combining mechanistic understanding with AI-driven prediction. He has developed frameworks for evaluating post-disaster livability and improving grid hardening strategies using spectral clustering and Bayesian networks. His work bridges structural vulnerability analysis with socioeconomic impacts of disasters.

Awards and grants are unspecified, but his CV and Google Scholar profile indicate prolific publishing across civil engineering, environmental systems, and materials science. He advises on resilience assessment methodologies and collaborates on projects like the Connecticut Manufacturing Simulation Center and Eversource Energy Center.