Su Su Wang, Ph.D.

Professor Su Su Wang holds the Distinguished University Professorship at the University of Houston. He is also the Director of the Composites Engineering and Applications Center (CEAC) for Offshore Exploration and Production Operations in Houston, a consortium of government agencies, international energy industry and the university. Since 2005, he has led a national offshore wind energy initiative, involving many US universities, Texas state agencies, national labs and US Department of Energy. He also serves as Director of the National Wind Energy Center (NWEC) – a recently established DoE sponsored center of excellence in November, 2009 - at the University of Houston.

Professor Wang earned his Doctor of Science (Sc. D.) degree in mechanical engineering from Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1974, majoring in solid mechanics and materials engineering.  Prior to joining the faculty of mechanical engineering department at the University of Houston, he was Professor of Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineering and Professor of Theoretical and Applied Mechanics at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UICC) during 1977-1992.  He also served as Director of the National Center for Composite Materials Research (NCCMR) during 1985-92 at the University of Illinois, a center of excellence funded by U.S. Office of Naval Research for research and development of deep submersibles. He was a lecturer in Department of Materials Science and Engineering and a research assistant in Fatigue and Plasticity Laboratory in Mechanical Engineering Department at M.I.T. during 1974-77 and 1971-74, respectively.

Professor Wang has edited and published seven books and more than 200 papers in referred journals, and served on editorial boards of various technical journals in mechanical engineering and materials science and engineering.  He has won numerous national and international awards for his research on advanced composite materials and structures, and for his leadership and service for US DoD agencies, and composite materials and engineering community.  His current research focuses on science and engineering of advanced composites and engineering polymer materials and structures for aircraft and space vehicles, aero-propulsion and aero-derivative gas turbines, deepwater offshore petroleum E & P operations, and wind energy production.