Position: Assistant Professor, Distinguished Research Fellow
Supervisor: PhD and Master’s Supervisor
Email:yupan@tongji.edu.cn
Department: Department of Vehicle and Transportation, College of Transportation, Tongji University, Shanghai, China
Research Interest: Railway Vehicle and Track Energy Harvesting; Wheel-Rail Contact and Wear; Rail Nondestructive Detection, Railway Vehicle System Dynamics; Railway Vehicle Braking Safety
Lecture Course: Mechanical Vibrations; Thermodynamics; Optimization Theory and Method; Rail Vehicle Braking
My 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 who are interested in the above research directions are encouraged to contact me by email at yupan@tongji.edu.cn
Professional 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. (Advisor: Mehdi Ahmadian)
Educational Background
2015.08 – 2019.12 PhD (in Mechanical Engineering) Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Virginia, U.S. (Advisors: Lei Zuo & Mehdi Ahmadian）
2011.09 – 2015.07 Bachelor(in Vehicle Engineering) Tongji University, Shanghai, China.
Honors and 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
1. The 14th Five-Year National Key R&D Program’s Task: Research on Wheel-Rail Adhesion Simulation Model in Rain, Snow and Ice Environments, 2025.05 – 2028.06, PI.
2. Chinese Ministry of Education Talents Youth Fund: Railway Vehicle System Energy Harvesting, Vibration and Noise Reduction, and Self-powered Intelligent Monitoring, 2024.02 – 2027.01, PI.
3. Shanghai High-level Talents Youth Fund: Operational Quality Improvements for Freight Rail Transportation with Increased Speed, 2024.02 – 2027.01, PI.
4. 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.
5. Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities: Rail Energy Harvesting Tuned Inerter Damper, 2024.03 – 2024.11, PI.
6. 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.
7. 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.
8. 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.
9. 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.
10. 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.
11. 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.
12. 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.
13. China Railway Rolling Stock Corporation (CRRC) Yangtze Co., Ltd. Research Development Fund: Vibration Energy Harvester for Railcar, 2016.02 – 2018.12, Leading Participant.
14. Center for Innovative Technology's (CIT) Commonwealth Research Commercialization Fund (CRCF): Railroad Energy Harvesting System, 2016.07 – 2018.06, Leading Participant
15. Power Bridge NY Research Fund: Electromagnetic Railway Energy Harvester, 2014.04 – 2016.04, Participant.
Academic Service
1. International Scientific Committee & Organizing Committee for the 29th IAVSDInternational Symposium on Dynamics of Vehicles on Roads and Tracks (IAVSD 2025)
2. Co-Chair for Special Session on “Traction and Braking: Control, Safety and Energy Recovery”at the 6th International Conference on Railway Technology: Research, Development and Maintenance (Railway 2024)
3. Co-Chair for Track 2: Rolling Stock and Dynamics, Organizing Committee and Scientific Committee at ASME/IEEE Joint Rail Conference 2024 (JRC 2024)
4. International Scientific Committee for the 28th IAVSDInternational Symposium on Dynamics of Vehicles on Roads and Tracks (IAVSD 2023)
5. Organizing Committee and Scientific Committee for ASME/IEEE Joint Rail Conference 2023 (JRC 2023)
6. Symposium Secretory, Technical Committee, and Organizing Committee for U.S.Department of Transportation (DOT) 2nd Railroad Infrastructure Diagnosis and Prognosis (2022)
7. Reviewer for Vehicle System Dynamics, Journal of Sound and Vibration, Journal of Vibration and Acoustics, Journal of Vibration and Control, and Smart Materials and Structures, etc.
Teaching Courses
1. Spring 2025, Instructor, Graduate Level Course at Tongji University: Optimization Theory and Method (28 students)
2. Spring 2025, Instructor, Graduate Level Course at Tongji University: Rail Vehicle Braking Technology (6 students)
3. Fall 2025, Teaching Assistant, Undergraduate Level Course at Tongji University: Thermal Dynamics (62 students)
4. Spring 2024, Teaching Assistant, Graduate Level Course at Tongji University: Optimization Theory and Method (22 students)
5. Spring 2024, Teaching Assistant, Graduate Level Course at Tongji University: Rail Vehicle Braking Technology (4 students)
6. Spring 2024, Teaching Assistant, Undergraduate Level Course at Tongji University: Mechanical Vibration (56 students)
7. Spring 2021, Instructor, Undergraduate/Graduate Level Course at Virginia Tech: ME4534 Land Vehicle Dynamics (105 students)
8. Spring 2016, Teaching Assistant, Undergraduate Level Course at Virginia Tech: ME4005 Mechanical Engineering Lab I (25 students)
9. Fall 2016, Teaching Assistant, Undergraduate Level Course at Virginia Tech: ME4006 Mechanical Engineering Lab II (23 students)
Representative 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. Patent12,088,180B2, granted on 2024-09-10.
Representative Journal Article：
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.