Prof. Yong Shi gained his Bachelor degree in Thermal and Power Engineering and Master degree in Power Engineering and Engineering Thermophysics both at the Xi'an Jiaotong University. He was awarded his PhD degree in Mechanical Engineering at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. Before joining the University of Nottingham Ningbo China (UNNC), he worked at the Chongqing University, University of Melbourne and Los Alamos National Laboratory. 

From 2012 to 2015, Prof. Shi was appointed as the founding head of Department of Mechanical, Materials and Manufacturing Engineering, leading the establishment of the courses of "Mechanical Engineering" and "Product Design and Manufacturing" and accreditation of their BEng degrees by the Institution of Mechanical Engineers and Institute of Engineering Designers, United Kingdom. During his time at the UNNC, Prof. Shi was the head of Research Group for Fluids and Thermal Engineering, leading the strategic research development and PhD programs in the areas of thermofluid and energy utilization. He also served as a core member of several provincial key disciplines and a Zhejiang provincial research center. Prof. Shi has received both the provincial and municipal honors in recognition of his excellence in teaching and research. 

Prof. Shi's academic interests are in the broad area of micro/nanoscale fluid dynamics, heat and mass transfer, multiscale and multiphase computational modelling and low-carbon energy technologies. To be specific, his fundamental interests, recently, include 

• lattice Boltzmann models for gas flows at the micro and nanoscale;
• heat and mass transfer in random porous media in irregular geometries;
• physics-informed neural networks for fluid flow and heat transfer.

As to the topics in his applied research, they include 

• advanced thermal management systems for Li-ion batteries in electric vehicles;
• 3D printing-assisted cooling for high heat-flux electronic components;
• microfluidics in biomedical applications. 

For a selection of publications in these areas, please refer to Prof. Shi's research profiles on Google Scholar, ResearchGate and ORCiD. 

Current Opportunities of Study: Prof. Shi's group is recruiting PhD and MPhil students in the aforementioned areas. The current PhD openings for Feb. entry 2026 include the DTP scholarship with Shandong University (Green Energy and Resources), and the DTP scholarship with Institute of Urban Environment, CAS . For more details of these PhD scholarships, please direct contact Prof. Yong Shi by email.

Prof. Shi's group also provides a variety of summer/in-semester research placements and final-year projects for undergraduates. Interested UG students in FoSE are welcome to apply. 

Over the years, Prof. Shi has developed extensive collaboration with researchers worldwide. He published articles and/or co-supervised PhD/PGR students with his collaborators from a variety of domestic institutions (Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Ningbo Institute of Materials Technology and Engineering CAS, Shenzhen Institute of Advanced Technology CAS, Shanghai Advanced Research Institute CAS et al.) and overseas universities (University of Melbourne, Australian National University, California Institute of Technology, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, University of Nottingham UK, Imperial College London, University College Dublin, Dalarna University et al).

Editorial Service

• Member of Editorial Board, Scietific Reports

Membership

• Member, American Society of Mechanical Engineers
• Member, American Physical Society
• Full Member, Sigma Xi, The Scientific Research Honor Society