Open PhD and MRes positions for students with strong interest in data-driven and AI-driven research in energy systems

• Data-driven and physics-based modeling and calibration of integrated energy systems
• Energy efficient control and operation of industrial HVAC systems
• Smart and low carbon buildings, communities and industrial parks

Dr. Zhang has international and interdisciplinary experience in both building and urban energy systems and data science. He obtained his Bachelor's degree in the field of building services engineering at the University of Nottingham. After that, he completed his Ph.D. with a focus on reinforcement learning-based HVAC control from Carnegie Mellon University. During his Ph.D., he was also a visiting researcher at the National University of Singapore, where he conducted research on Bayesian calibration of building energy models. Before joining UNNC in 2020, Dr. Zhang worked as a senior algorithm engineer in Alibaba Cloud. In Alibaba, he was responsible for the development of the data intelligence algorithms for city-level energy systems, including district heating/cooling systems and water systems.

Currently, Dr. Zhang’s research focuses on the fusion of artificial intelligence and integrated energy systems at community and urban scale. He is the PI for 9 funded research projects, including a NSFC project and a Ningbo Key R&D project (total value RMB 15 millions). He has deep collaborations with industry partners, and his rsearch outputs have helped Schaeffler, CATL, Tongwei Solar, Ningbo Energy Group, etc. achieve higher energy efficiency and lower carbon emissions. 

• Architectural Engineering Design 1 (ABEE1025)
• Architectural Engineering Design 5 (ABEE3031)
• Electricity and the Built Environment (ABEE2035)
• Smart Energy of the Built Environment (ABEE2047)