The College of Engineering and Computer Science (ECS) is excited to announce that Professor Jianshun “Jensen” Zhang has been appointed interim department chair of mechanical and aerospace engineering (MAE), as of July 1, 2025. Zhang serves as executive director of the Center of Excellence in Environmental and Energy Systems (CoE) and is one of the premier experts worldwide on built environment systems.
Zhang received a Ph.D. from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 1991, worked as a researcher at the National Research Council of Canada for eight years and joined Syracuse University in 1999. He has over 35 years of research experience in built environmental systems and has authored and co-authored more than 200 peer-reviewed journal papers and over 100 conference papers. His areas of expertise include combined heat, air, moisture and pollutant simulations in buildings, material emissions, air filtration/purification, ventilation, indoor air quality and intelligent control of building environmental systems.
Zhang has developed advanced experimental methods, tools and equipment, as well as computer simulation models and environmental control technologies. Over his last 25 years with the University, he has established and sustained an active research program in building energy and environmental systems with over $20 million in sponsored research.
He also teaches graduate and undergraduate courses in the areas of building energy and environmental systems and fundamental heat and mass transfer. He has advised and co-advised over 20 Ph.D. students, over 20 M.S. students and eight postdoctoral fellows.
Zhang is a member of the International Academy of Indoor Air Science (ISIAQ fellow) and a fellow of the American Society for Heating, Refrigerating and Air Conditioning Engineers. He is also currently the vice president of the Indoor Air Quality, Ventilation and Energy Conservation Association. He served as president and chairman of the board of the International Association of Building Physics from 2018-21. He is also editor-in-chief of the International Journal of Ventilation and associate editor of Science and Technology for the Built Environment.
“Professor Zhang is one of the best respected researchers, educators and leaders in his field. I am especially grateful for his willingness to serve as interim department chair because he has been so intentional about mentorship and support of other faculty,” says ECS Dean J. Cole Smith. “Although we will miss Dr. Young Moon’s steady leadership of MAE, I am excited to see the innovative actions Professor Zhang will take to move MAE forward.”
“I am truly honored and excited to have the opportunity to serve the department, college, university and the profession in this new role. I sincerely thank the faculty, staff and ECS leadership for their trust and support, and thank Professor Young Moon for leading and serving MAE over the last decade. MAE has highly talented and very student-caring faculty and staff running excellent undergraduate and graduate programs. I am looking forward to working with them more closely to advance MAE to the next level,” says Zhang.
