ZhiYi Liang is a PhD candidate in the Department of Mechanical Engineering. He is currently working on designing a novel hydrogen storage architecture for fuel-cell-electric heavy-duty trucks as his PhD research at MIT’s Global Engineering and Research Lab. ZhiYi is passionate about mechanical design with a special interest in renewable energy systems and climate change mitigation technologies. With the pressing issue of climate change, ZhiYi aspires to join the global effort to tackle design challenges that arise with the adoption of renewable energy sources.

ZhiYi’s interest in mechanical design sprouted from exposure to outreach activities at the MIT Edgerton Center at a young age. Before pursuing a PhD, ZhiYi received both an SB and an SM from MIT Mechanical Engineering. During his time at MIT, ZhiYi has helped to teach design classes in the undergraduate curriculum, conducted international engineering outreach to inspire the next generation, led engineering teams to design fully functional hardware, and developed technoeconomic models for solar pumping systems in resource-constrained communities. ZhiYi is also an NSF-GRFP fellow.

Read more As a mechanical designer, ZhiYi believes in capturing both the primary technical requirements and the secondary user requirements when it comes to designing a mechanical system. He aims to approach design with a multidisciplinary perspective, in which he considers the impacts of design variables across different disciplines (e.g., mechanical, electrical, control, UI/UX, economics, etc.). He is skilled in using back-of-the-envelope engineering approximation in the early design phase to make quick engineering decisions. In his engineering career, ZhiYi hopes to create real-world impact with refined mechanical products that have a clear value proposition and the potential for commercialization.