Yong Lin Kong

Yong Lin Kong is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Rice University. Previously, he held an Associate Professor position with tenure at the University of Utah before joining Rice in 2024. He earned his Ph.D. from Princeton University in 2016 and completed a postdoctoral fellowship at MIT. His research focuses on additive manufacturing of nanomaterial-based functional devices and biomedical systems, with a particular emphasis on 3D-printed bioelectronics and gastric resident electronics. Kong’s work addresses unmet clinical needs through innovative fabrication techniques and material integration.

He has been recognized with prestigious awards such as the ONR Young Investigator Program Award, NIH Trailblazer Award, and MIT Technology Review Innovators Under 35 Asia Award. His research is supported by sponsors including the Office of Naval Research, NIH, and the Department of Defense. The Kong Research Group develops multiscale 3D printing methods to create devices with unprecedented functional integration, targeting applications in wearable systems, ingestible robotics, and smart medical sensors.

In education, Kong is a recipient of the University of Utah’s Top Undergraduate and Graduate Teaching Awards. His lab collaborates on projects involving functional nanomaterials, medical device prototyping, and advanced manufacturing technologies. Current research themes include diffusiophoresis-enhanced particle deposition, soft electronics, and autonomous robots for confined spaces.