Principal Investigator

Dr. Botong Zheng is an incoming Hartz Family Assistant Professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, with a joint appointment in the Department of Architectural Engineering, at The Pennsylvania State University. He will join Penn State in August 2026.

He received his Ph.D. in Civil Engineering from the University of Houston in 2016. He then worked at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University for five years, first as a postdoctoral researcher and later as a Research Assistant Professor. In 2022, he joined the University of Southern California, where he served as a Research Assistant Professor and Technical Manager of the Structures and Materials Research Laboratory his upcoming appointment at Penn State.

Botong Zheng

Research Themes

  • Resilient Infrastructure

    We develop structural systems for buildings and transportation infrastructure that can resist extreme demands, including earthquakes, severe weather, deterioration, and coupled environmental loading.

  • Automated Construction

    We explore robotic and automated construction methods that expand where, what, and how we can build. From Earth-based infrastructure to future construction in extreme and remote environments, automation gives structures new possibilities.

  • Materials and Mechanics

    We study how existing materials can be used in new ways by linking microstructure, mechanics, fabrication, and structural integration. Our work combines fibers, alloys, polymers, cements, and in-situ deposited materials to create the properties needed for next-generation structures.

Join My Research Group

We are recruiting founding members for a new research group at Penn State.

The group will pursue research breakthroughs across resilient infrastructure, automated construction, and materials-driven structural systems. We are looking for motivated students who want to help build the foundation of the group from the beginning and contribute to ambitious experimental, computational, and fabrication-based research.

Multiple Ph.D. openings are available.