Prof. Yu Pan obtained his bachelor degree from Tongji University in Vehicle Engineering (Railway) in 2015, and received his Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from Virginia Tech in 2019, supervised by Professor Lei Zuo (ASME Fellow, Herbert C. Sadler Collegiate Professor at the University of Michigan) and Professor Mehdi Ahmadian (ASME/SAE/ISCM/IIAV Fellow, J. Bernard Jones Professor at Virginia Tech). After graduating with a Ph.D., he continued to work as a Postdoctoral Researcher in the Rail Technologies Laboratory of the Center for Vehicle Systems and Safety at Virginia Tech, collaborating with Professor Mehdi Ahmadian until August 2022. He then joined ENSCO Rail, a well-known US railway technology company, to engage in the research and development of innovative technologies for railway vehicle systems. In February 2024, Dr. Yu Pan returned Tongji University as a full-time faculty and was selected into Chinese Ministry of Education 1st batch Overseas High-Level Talents Youth Program and the Shanghai 14th batch Overseas High-Level Talents Youth Program.
Prof. Pan’s research interests include railway vehicle and track energy harvesting, wheel-rail contact and wear, rail nondestructive detection, railway vehicle system dynamics, as well as railway vehicle braking safety. He has published nearly 30 high-level Journal and peer reviewed conference papers, 1 granted US patent (ranked first), and also won the Best Paper Award in 2018 ASME Dynamic System and Control Conference (DSCC). Part of Dr. Pan’s research has been featured in the UTC Spotlight Newsletter of the US Department of Transportation and many other media (such as Railway Age, Virginia Public Radio, The Roanoke Star, etc.)
Prof. Pan’s lab has opening positions for postdoctoral fellows, doctoral and master's students, as well as outstanding undergraduate research assistants,on a long-term basis. Self-motivated students and scholars who has interests are encouraged to contact by email atyupan@tongji.edu.cn
Education
2015.08 – 2019.12 PhD in Mechanical Engineering Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Virginia, U.S.
2011.09 – 2015.07 Bachelor in Vehicle Engineering Tongji University, Shanghai, China
Experience
2024.02 – Present Assistant Professor Tongji University, Shanghai, China.
2022.08 – 2024.02 Senior Engineer ENSCO Rail, Inc.,Springfield, Virginia, U.S.
2020.01 – 2022.08 Postdoctoral Associate Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Virginia, U.S.
Research interests
Main Research Focus: Railway Vehicle and Track Energy Harvesting; Wheel-Rail Contact and Wear; Rail Nondestructive Detection, Railway Vehicle System Dynamics; Railway Vehicle Braking Safety
Ongoing and past research projects
1.Shanghai Natural Science Foundation Youth Fund: Research on the Energy Harvesting and Vibration Isolation Mechanism of Rail Rotational Electromagnetic Tuned Inerter Damper, 2025.07 – 2028.06,PI.
2.The 14th Five-Year National Key R&D Program’s Task: Research on Wheel-Rail Adhesion Simulation Model in Rain, Snow, and Ice Environments, 2025.06 – 2028.05,PI.
3.Chinese Ministry of Education Talents Youth Fund: Wheel-Rail System Energy Harvesting, Vibration and Noise Reduction, and Self-powered Intelligent Monitoring, 2024.07 – 2027.07,PI.
4.Shanghai High-level Talents Youth Fund: Operational Quality Improvements for Freight Rail Transportation with Increased Speed, 2024.02 – 2027.02,PI.
5.CRRC Qingdao Sifang Locomotive and Rolling Stock Company Research Project: Simulation of Fault Behavior of Carbon-ceramic Friction Pairs for Thermal Body and Thermal Impact Safety, 2024.03 – 2025.10,PI.
6.Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities: Rail Energy Harvesting Tuned Inerter Damper, 2024.03 – 2024.12,PI.
7.The 14th Five-Year National Key R&D Program’s Task: Research on High-Efficiency Braking Technology for Hydrogen-Powered High-Speed Trains, 2023.12 – 2026.11, Key Participant.
8.U.S. Department of Transportation Research Fund: Energy Harvester Tie for Serving the Needs of the Railroad Industry to Access Electric Power in Remote Locations, 2020.12 – 2022.09, Leading Participant.
9.U.S. Department of Transportation Research Fund: Methods for Qualitative and Quantitative Measurement of Top of Rail Friction Modifiers (TORFM) in Revenue Service, 2020.12 – 2022.09, Leading Participant.
10.U.S. Department of Transportation Research Fund: Quantitative Evaluation of Effect of Top of Rail Friction Modifiers on Reducing Wheel and Rail Wear，2020.12 – 2022.09, Leading Participant.
11.U.S. Department of Transportation Research Fund: Tier 1 University Transportation Center on Improving Rail Transportation Infrastructure Sustainability and Durability，2020.12 – 2022.09, Leading Participant.
12.U.S. Federal Railroad Administration Research Fund: Experimental Validation of Wheel-Rail Contact Practices and Models toward Improving Rail Vehicle Dynamic Understanding and Safety, 2019.09 – 2021.12, Leading Participant.
13.National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) Overseas Research Fund: Technology and Innovation of One-way Rotating Electromagnetic Vibration Energy Harvester for Railroad, 2017.12 – 2019.12, Leading Participant.
14.State Key Laboratory of Rail Transit Vehicle System Open Research Fund: Key Technology and the Dynamic Coupling between Rail Track and Energy Harvesting, 2017.12 – 2019.12, Leading Participant.
15.China Railway Rolling Stock Corporation (CRRC) Yangtze Co., Ltd. Research Development Fund: Vibration Energy Harvester for Railcar, 2016.02 – 2018.12, Leading Participant.
16.Center for Innovative Technology's (CIT) Commonwealth Research Commercialization Fund (CRCF): Railroad Energy Harvesting System, 2016.07 – 2018.06, Leading Participant.
17.Power Bridge NY Research Fund: Electromagnetic Railway Energy Harvester, 2014.04 – 2016.04, Participant.
Honors & Awards
1.Selected into Chinese Ministry of Education 1st batch Overseas High-Level Talents Youth Program
2.Selected into Shanghai 14th batch Overseas High-Level Talents Youth Program
3.Best Conference Paper Award, 2018 ASME Dynamic Systems and Control Conference
4.Virginia Tech GSA Academic Travel Award, 2016
5.Tongji University Academic Scholarship, 2012, 2013 & 2014
Publications
Google Scholar:https://scholar.google.com/citations?hl=en&user=oW5cwiAAAAAJ
ResearchGate:https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Yu-Pan-13
Granted Patent
1.Yu Pan, Lei Zuo, and Mehdi Ahmadian. “Kinetic energy-harvesting device for powering and charging railway and other applications”. U.S. Patent 12,088,180 B2, granted on 2024-09-10.
Representative Journal Articles and Patent
1.Jiacheng Shen,Yu Pan*, Jianyong Zuo*, “Study on thermal fatigue damage mechanisms for high-speed train's wheel-mounted brake disc considering multiaxial stress state”,Engineering Failure Analysis, 2025 (174): 109525.
2.Yu Pan, Ahmad Radmehr; Mehdi Ahmadian*. “Experimental evaluation of amount and repeated applications of top of rail friction modifiers on wear and adhesion.”International Journal of Rail Transportation, 2023, 11(6): 855-871
3.Yu Pan*, Lei Zuo, and Mehdi Ahmadian. “A half-wave electromagnetic energy-harvesting tie towards safe and intelligent rail transportation”.Applied Energy, (2022) 313: 118844.
4.Yu Pan, Teng Lin, Feng Qian, Cheng Liu, Jie Yu, Jianyong Zuo, and Lei Zuo*. “Modeling and field-test of a compact electromagnetic energy harvester for railroad transportation.”Applied Energy, (2019) 247: 309 - 321.
5.Yu Pan, Fengwei Liu, Ruijin Jiang, Zhiwen Tu, and Lei Zuo*. “Modeling and onboard test of an electromagnetic energy harvester for railway cars.”Applied Energy, (2019) 250: 568 - 581.
Representative Peer Reviewed Conference Proceedings
1.Han Zhou,Yu Pan*, Jianyong Zuo, Jingxian Ding, “Brake Noise Analysis of High-Speed EMU Based on Complex Mode Analysis Method” In the Sixth International Conference on Railway Technology: Research, Development and Maintenance (Vol. 7, Paper 14.10), 2024, Prague, Czech Republic.
2.Guanqiao Chen,Yu Pan*, Shize Zheng, Jianyong Zuo, Jingxian Ding, “Analysis of Heat Dissipation of Carbon Ceramic Brake Discs on High-Speed Trains and Its Impact on Surrounding Components Based on Thermal-Solid-Fluid Coupling Method” In the Sixth International Conference on Railway Technology: Research, Development and Maintenance (Vol. 7, Paper 14.9), 2024, Prague, Czech Republic.
3.Yu Pan, Timothy Mast, Carvel Holton, Mehdi Ahmadian*. “Performance evaluation of a novel optical sensing system for detecting rail lubricity conditions” In ASME Joint Rail Conference (Vol. 84775, p. V001T12A003), 2021, Virtual, Online.
4.Yu Pan, Ahmad Radmehr, Ali Tajaddini, Mehdi Ahmadian*. “An experimental study of the influence of the amount of top-of-rail friction modifiers on tractions” In ASME Joint Rail Conference (Vol. 84775, p. V001T10A003), 2021, Virtual, Online.
5.Yu Pan, Lei Zuo*, and Mehdi Ahmadian*. “Design and bench tests of a smart railroad tie for energy harvesting” In ASME Joint Rail Conference (Vol. 83587, p. V001T03A010), 2020, St. Louis, Missouri, United States.