About

• 2017 to present: Assistant Professor, The Ohio State University. 
• 2012 to 2017: Assistant Professor, Oregon State University. 
• 2010 to 2012: Control Engineer, Ford Motor Company, Dearborn, MI. Design and development of electric machine drive and power electronics control strategies and specifications for Ford’s 2013 hybrid electric vehicle products including Fusion Hybrid, Fusion Plug-in Hybrid, C-Max Hybrid and C-Max Plug-in Hybrid.
• 2010: Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering, The Ohio State University 

Julia Zhang’s research interests include:

• Design, modeling, controls of AC electric machines and drives.   
• Applications: road vehicles, ships, aircraft, renewable energy conversion, power systems, robotic systems.  
• Vehicle noise, vibration and harness issues caused by electric machines and drives.
• High voltage engineering. 

Undergraduate Research Assistants Hiring (Priority Given to those Who Intend to go to Graduate School)

I am looking for undergraduate assistants majoring in electrical engineering and/or mechanical engineering all year around. You will be learning and helping with my research projects at the same time.  Research work includes things like simple circuit design, computer simulations, lab testing, engineering drawings, and editing papers and reports. Please DO NOT worry if you do not have any research experience. You will start from small simple things and grow stronger. 
Payment: Undergraduate assistants will be hired by hourly appointment following the university wage policies (Hourly rate level 1: $9 to $9.5, level 2: $9.51 to $10.50, level 3: $10.51 to $11.50, level 4: $11.51 to $13.00). Your wage level depends on the level of your skills. 
Excellent undergraduate research assistants who continue their graduate study with me will receive one of the following three types of funding: 1) University Fellowships, 2) graduate research assistantships, or 3) graduate teaching assistantships. All three types of financial support fully cover the tuition and a monthly stipend of $2,200 minimum (higher stipend for University Fellowships). 

Graduate Research Assistants Hiring Autumn 2020 (Priority Given to Fresh B.S. Graduates)
Graduate study applicants with their B.S. degrees are highly encouraged to apply for the Ph.D. program if you have a strong interest in power engineering. Please DO NOT worry that you do not have an M.S. degree.  I am looking for applicants who have been taking some classes or research experience in one or more of the following areas:
1)   Power engineering: power electronics, electric machines, drives, power systems, high voltage engineering.
2)   Mechanical engineering: statics and dynamics, mechanics of materials, thermodynamics, heat transfer, manufacturing processing engineering, kinematics and mechanism design. 
For undergraduate applicants, if you are interested in working with me or have questions, please email me with your resume and advising report and your questions.  
For graduate program applicants (Ph.D. or M.S. program), if you are interested in working with me or have questions, please email me with the following info and your questions.  
-       Resume.
-       All advising reports. 
-       GRE score is required for all domestic and international applicants. Minimum requirement: 155 (V), 160 (Q), 4.5 (W). 
-       TOEFL score is required for all international applicants.  Minimum requirement: 100 (total), 24 (reading), 24 (listening), 22 (speaking), 24 (writing).  
-       Briefly discuss your career goals (<80 words)

Current Research Projects

- Brushless doubly-fed machine and drive systems for aviation application, lead principal investigator, funded by the Ohio Federal Research Network (OFRN), 2018 to 2020. 
- xHEV traction electric machine thermal management using direct winding cooling, principal investigator, funded by Ford Motor Company, 2019 to 2021. 
- Smart operation of next generation wide bandgap power electronics using artificial intelligence, lead principal investigator, funded by Army Research Laboratory, 2019 to 2023.
- Integration of end-winding cooling and in-slot winding cooling for high power density electric machines, principal investigator, funded by the Grainger Center for Electric Machinery and Electromechanics, 2019 to 2020. 
- Development, demonstration and commercialization of SiC based 1-MW medium voltage motor drive system, co-principal investigator, funded by Power America, 2018 to 2019. 
- Electric propulsion: challenges and opportunities, co-principal investigator, funded by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), 2017 to 2022. 

Past Research Projects

- Hybrid/turbo-electric propulsion, PI, funded by the Ohio Federal Research Network (OFRN), 2016 to 2019. 
- Electric machine winding insulation minimization for electric vehicles, PI, funded by Ford Motor Company, 2016 to 2019. 
- Variable flux machines for hybrid electric vehicles, PI, funded by the U.S. Department of Energy (DoE), 2018 to 2019. 
- Insulation degradation and breakdown modeling and testing for windings of variable speed drives, PI, funded by the U.S. Office of Naval Research (ONR), 2015 to 2019. 
- High-fidelity modeling and control of integrated starter/generator systems for aircraft, PI, funded by SAFRAN, 2018. 
- Integrated electric drive with high voltage high speed modular electric machine and SiC based power converters, co-PI, funded by the U.S. Department of Energy (DoE), 2016 to 2019.

Journal Articles

2019
[1]    Y. Xie, Julia Zhang, F. Leonardi, A. R. Munoz, M. W. Degner, and F. Liang, “Electrical stress modeling and measurement for random-wound windings driven by inverters,” IEEE Transactions on Industry Applications, IEEE Early Access, 2019. 
[2]    P. Han, Julia Zhang, and M. Cheng, “Analytical analysis and performance characterization of brushless doubly-fed machines with multi-barrier rotors,” IEEE Transactions on Industry Applications, IEEE Early Access, 2019. 
[3]    J. Pan, Z. Ke, M. Al Sabbagh, R. Na, Julia Zhang, J. Wang, and L. Xu, “Zero-cost closed-loop discharging method for modular multi-level converter submodules without external circuits,” IEEE Transactions on Industry Applications, vol. 55, no. 5, pp. 4846-4854, 2019.