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Renee Zhao
Assistant Professor, Mechanical Engineering
Assistant Professor (By courtesy), Materials Science and Engineering
Assistant Professor (By courtesy), Bioengineering
Member, Bio-X
Member, Cardiovascular Institute
Member, Wu Tsai Human Performance Alliance
Faculty Fellow, Sarafan ChEM-H
Member, Wu Tsai Neurosciences Institute
Postdoctoral Associate, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Mechanical Engineering (2018)
PhD, Brown University, Mechanical Engineering, Solid Mechanics (2016)
MS, Brown University, Mechanical Engineering (2014)
BS, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Mechanical Engineering (2012)
Affiliation:
Ruike Renee Zhao is an Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering at Stanford University, where she directs the Soft Intelligent Materials Laboratory. Originally from the historic city of Xi'an, she earned her BS from Xi'an Jiaotong University in 2012. She then pursued Solid Mechanics at Brown University, obtaining her MS in 2014 and PhD in 2016. Following her doctoral studies, she completed postdoctoral training at MIT (2016–2018) before serving as an Assistant Professor at The Ohio State University (2018–2021).
Renee’s research focuses on developing stimuli-responsive soft composites for multifunctional robotic systems with integrated shape-changing, assembly, sensing, and navigation capabilities. By integrating mechanics, material science, and advanced material manufacturing, her work enables innovations in soft robotics, miniaturized biomedical devices, robotic surgery, origami systems, active metamaterials, and general deployable morphing structures.
Her contributions have been recognized with honors and awards, including the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE), DARPA Young Faculty Award (YFA, 2025), ARO Early Career Program (ECP) Award (2023), AFOSR Young Investigator Research Program (YIP) Award (2023), Eshelby Mechanics Award for Young Faculty (2022), ASME Henry Hess Early Career Publication Award (2022), ASME Pi Tau Sigma Gold Medal (2022), ASME Applied Mechanics Division Journal of Applied Mechanics Award (2021), NSF CAREER Award (2020), and ASME Applied Mechanics Division Haythornthwaite Research Initiation Award (2018). She is also recognized as a National Academy of Sciences Kavli Fellow and was named one of MIT Technology Review's 35 Innovators Under 35.
Renee’s research focuses on developing stimuli-responsive soft composites for multifunctional robotic systems with integrated shape-changing, assembly, sensing, and navigation capabilities. By integrating mechanics, material science, and advanced material manufacturing, her work enables innovations in soft robotics, miniaturized biomedical devices, robotic surgery, origami systems, active metamaterials, and general deployable morphing structures.
Her contributions have been recognized with honors and awards, including the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE), DARPA Young Faculty Award (YFA, 2025), ARO Early Career Program (ECP) Award (2023), AFOSR Young Investigator Research Program (YIP) Award (2023), Eshelby Mechanics Award for Young Faculty (2022), ASME Henry Hess Early Career Publication Award (2022), ASME Pi Tau Sigma Gold Medal (2022), ASME Applied Mechanics Division Journal of Applied Mechanics Award (2021), NSF CAREER Award (2020), and ASME Applied Mechanics Division Haythornthwaite Research Initiation Award (2018). She is also recognized as a National Academy of Sciences Kavli Fellow and was named one of MIT Technology Review's 35 Innovators Under 35.
