Prof. Yong Shi majored in Refrigeration and Cryogenics Engineering and earned his Bachelor's and Master's degrees from Xi'an Jiaotong University. He continued his studies at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, and was then awarded a PhD degree in Mechanical Engineering. 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 "Mechanical Engineering" and "Product Design and Manufacturing" courses 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 Faculty 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 provincial and municipal key disciplines and a Zhejiang provincial research center. Over the years, in recognition of his excellence in teaching and research, Prof. Shi has been awarded several honors from governmental bodies. 

Currently, Prof. Shi is serving as the interim Head of Department. 

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 noncontinuum gas flows at the micro and nanoscale;
• flows and heat 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 design 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 opening of full funded PhD studentships for the Sept. 2026 entry includes 

• high-efficiency thermal management for AI chips in humanoid robots, to be co-supervised with Dr. Kean-how Cheah at University of Nottingham Ningbo China, via ME Key Discipline Scholarship (application deadline: June 10, 2026);

Interested candidates are encouraged to contact Prof. Yong Shi directly at Yong.Shi@nottingham.edu.cn. 

In addition, 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