CV

Work experience

• Sept. 2023 - now: Assistant Professor
  • University of Birmingham
• Feb. 2022 - Aug. 2023: Presidential Postdoctoral Fellow
  • Nanyang Technological University
  • Host Mentor: Prof. K. Jimmy Hsia
• Dec. 2018 - Feb. 2022: Research Fellow
  • University of Oxford
  • Host Supervisor: Prof. Dominic Vella

Education

• PhD in Engineering (Sept. 2013 – July 2018)
  • Major: Mechanics
  • Department of Engineering Mechanics, Tsinghua University
  • Supervisor: Prof. Changqing Chen
• Visiting PhD Student (Jan. – July 2015) and Endeavour Research Fellow (June – Dec. 2017)
  • School of Civil Engineering, The University of Sydney
  • Supervisor: Prof. Yixiang Gan
• Bachelor of Engineering (Sept. 2009 – July 2013)
  • Major: Engineering Mechanics
  • Department of Engineering Mechanics, Shandong University

Awards

• 2025 Founders’ Awards - The Florence Price Award for Outstanding Early-Career Academic by the University of Birmingham

• 2025 ICCES Outstanding Young Researcher Award by the International Conference on Computational & Experimental Engineering and Sciences

• 2025 Mike Crisfield Prize for best presentation by UKACM

• 2025 Highly Commended for Outstanding Impact by an Early Career Researcher by the University of Birmingham

• 2025 Most Influential Paper Award in Soft Science

• 2024 Young Scientist Support Grant for The 26th International Congress of Theoretical and Applied Mechanics (ICTAM 2024)

• 2023 Extreme Mechanics Letters (EML) Young Investigator Award

Grants and Independent Fellowships

• Presidential Postdoctoral Fellowship, Nanyang Technological University (2021), S$400K

• Newton International Fellowship, The Royal Society (2018), £106K

• Endeavour Research Fellowship, Australian Department of Education (2017), A$25K

Selected Publications

1. Huang, W.†,*, Hao, Z.†, Li, J.†, Tong, D.†, Guo, K., Zhang, Y., Gao, H.*, Hsia, K.J.*, Liu, M.* (2025). A tutorial on simulating nonlinear behaviors of flexible structures with the discrete differential geometry (DDG) method. Appl. Mech. Rev., In Press. Preprint Website
2. Guo, K.†, Suñé, M.†, Kwok, M.L., Hsia, K.J.*, Liu, M.*, Vella, D.* (2025). Localized tension–induced giant folding in unstructured elastic sheets. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 122(20), e2423439122. Preprint (Highlighted in the News of the University of Birmingham.)
3. Tong, D., Hao, Z., Liu, M.*, Huang, W.* (2025). Inverse Design of Snap-Actuated Jumping Robots Powered by Mechanics-Aided Machine Learning. IEEE Robot. Autom. Lett., 10(2), 1720-1727.
4. Huang, W., Yu, T.*, Hsia, K.J., Adriaenssens, S., Liu, M.* (2024). Integration of kinks and creases enables tunable folding in meta-ribbons. Matter, 7(9), 3007-3023.
5. Wang, Q., Giudici, A., Huang, W., Wang, Y., Liu, M., Tawfick, S., Vella, D.* (2024). Transient amplification of broken symmetry in elastic snap-through. Phys. Rev. Lett., 132, 267201.
6. Guo, K., Liu, M.*, Vella, D., Suresh, S.*, Hsia, K.J.* (2024). Dehydration-induced corrugated folding in Rhapis excelsa plant leaves. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A., 121 (17), e2320259121. (Featured in the This week in PNAS.)
7. Yang, X., Liu, M.*, Zhang, B., Wang, Z., Chen, T., Zhou, Y., Chen, Y., Hsia, K.J., Wang, Y.* (2024). Hierarchical tessellation enables general 3D shape-morphing structures. Matter, 7, 603-619.
8. Yang, X.#, Zhou, Y.#, Zhao, H., Huang, W., Wang, Y.*, Hsia, K.J.*, Liu, M.* (2023). Morphing matter: From mechanical principles to robotic applications. Soft Science, 3, 38. (Featured as the Front Cover.)
9. Liu, M., Domino, L., Dupont de Dinechin, I., Taffetani, M., Vella, D.* (2023). Snap-induced morphing: From a single bistable shell to the origin of shape bifurcation in interacting shells. J Mech. Phys. Solids, 70, 105116.
10. Liu, M., Gomez, M., Vella, D.* (2021). Delayed bifurcation in elastic snap-through instabilities. J Mech. Phys. Solids, 151, 104386.

Service and leadership

• Early Career Advisory Board (EML-ECAB), Special Editor for Social Media Engagement: Extreme Mechanics Letters

• Youth Editorial Board: Soft Science

• Referee for peer-reviewed journals: Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci.; Phys. Rew. Lett.; J Mech. Phys. Solids; Extre. Mech. Lett.; Int. J Solids Struct.; Proc. R. Soc. A; Euro J Mech. A Solids; Mech. Mater.; Phys. Rev. B; Phys. Rev. E; Phys. Rev. Appl.; Newton; Cell Rep. Phys. Sci.; EcoMat; Adv. Sci.; Adv. Intell. Syst.; Thin Wall. Struct.; Phys. Fluids; Virtual Phys. Prototyp.; Int. J Mech. Mater. Design; ACS Appl. Nano Mater; Soft Sci.

• Referee for the funding agency: UKRI-Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC); The Leverhulme Trust; Research Grants Council (RGC) of Hong Kong