Faculty

Portrait_zsZhenghui Sha, PhD

Associate Professor, June and Gene Gillis Endowed Faculty Fellowship in Manufacturing Systems Engineering, Walker Scholar

Download CV (Outdated)

Education

  • PhD, Mechanical Engineering, Purdue University
  • MS, Mechanical Engineering, Xi’an Jiaotong University
  • BS, Mechanical Engineering, Xi’an University of Technology

Minors

  • Graduate Minor in Applied Statistics, Purdue University
  • Undergraduate Minor in Computer Science, Xi’an University of Technology

Academic Appointment

  • Associate Professor, The University of Texas at Austin, Aug. 2025 – Present
  • June and Gene Gillis Endowed Faculty Fellowship in Manufacturing Systems Engineering, The University of Texas at Austin, Aug. 2025 – Present
  • Assistant Professor, The University of Texas at Austin, Aug. 2021 – Aug. 2025
  • Assistant Professor, The University of Arkansas, Jan. 2017 – Aug. 2021
  • Postdoctoral Fellow, Northwestern University, Jan. 2016 – Dec. 2016

Research Interests

  • Design Decision-making
  • Artificial Intelligence in Design
  • Generative Design
  • Multi-Robot Eabled Additive Manufacturing
  • Swarm Manufacturing
  • Complex Systems and Complex Networks
  • Game Theory and Behavioral Experimentation
  • Decision-based Enterprise-driven Design

Awards and Honors

  • June and Gene Gillis Endowed Faculty Fellowship in Manufacturing Systems Engineering, The University of Texas at Austin, 2025.
  • ASME CIE Division AI/ML Best Paper Award, 2025.
  • Editor’s Pick Award, Journal of Computing and Information Science in Engineering (JCISE), 2025: Cui, Z. Sun, Y. Xiao, Z. Sha, J. Koskinen, N. Contractor, W. Chen, “Network Analysis of Two-Stage Customer Decisions with Preference-Guided Market Segmentation,” Journal of Computing and Information Science in Engineering. volume 25, issue 6, pp: 061003 (15 pages), June 2025.
  • Finalist, Blue Sky Competition and the SME David Dornfeld Manufacturing Vision Award, 2025 NAMRI | SME 53rd North American Manufacturing Research Conference (NAMRC) and ASME Manufacturing Science and Engineering Conference (MSEC).
  • 2024 Associate Editor of the Year Award, honoring those who have gone above and beyond in their roles, demonstrating excellence in managing reviews and ensuring timely, accurate decisions, Journal of Mechanical Design, 2025.
  • Walker Scholar, recognizing early-career faculty (Assistant or Associate Professors) who have made significant contributions to research, teaching, and service. Walker Department of Mechanical Engineering, The University of Texas at Austin, 2024.
  • 2023 JMD Editor’s Choice (Best Paper) Award Honorable Mention, Journal of Mechanical Design, 2024: Xiao, F. Ahmed, Z. Sha, “Graph Neural Network-Based Design Decision Support for Shared Mobility Systems.” Journal of Mechanical Design, volume 145, issue 9, pp: 061011 (13), Sep. 2023.
  • Young Engineer Award (YEA), Computers and Information in Engineering Division, American Society of Mechanical Engineers, 2022.
  • Top 20 Most Accessed (Downloaded and Viewed) Articles in 2022: L. Poudel, W. Zhou, Z. Sha, “A Generative Approach for Scheduling Multi-Robot Cooperative 3D Printing,” Journal of Computing and Information Science in Engineering, volume 20, issue 6, pp: 061011 (12), Dec. 2020.
  • Outstanding Faculty Members of the Year Award, Associated Student Government and the Graduate Professional Students Congress, University of Arkansas, 2021.
  • 2020 Journal of Mechanical Design Reviewer With Distinction Award, 2021.
  • Technical Committee Leadership Award, Computers and Information in Engineering Division, American Society of Mechanical Engineers, 2020.
  • Outstanding Teaching Award, Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Arkansas, 2020
  • ASME Robert E. Fulton Best Paper Award, Computers and Information in Engineering Division, American Society of Mechanical Engineers, 2019.
  • ASME CIE Best PhD Dissertation of the Year Award, Computers and Information in Engineering Division, American Society of Mechanical Engineers, 2017.
  • Open Education Resources (OER) Award, the University of Arkansas Libraries and the Global Campus, 2017.
  • ASME Robert E. Fulton Best Paper Award, Computers and Information in Engineering Division, American Society of Mechanical Engineers, 2013.

Review Service

  • Journal of Mechanical Design
  • Journal for Computing and Information Science in Engineering
  • IIE Transactions
  • Artificial Intelligence for Engineering Design, Analysis and Manufacturing
  • Systems Engineering
  • 3D Printing and Additive Manufacturing
  • Research in Transportation Economics
  • IEEE Access
  • IEEE System, Man and Cybernetics – Systems
  • Journal of Operational Research Society
  • Robotics and Computer-Integrated Manufacturing
  • Technology in Society
  • IEEE Transaction on Automation Science and Engineering
  • Structural and Multidisciplinary Optimization
  • Robotics and Computer-Integrated Manufacturing
  • AAAI Conference on Artificial Intelligence
  • Conference on Systems Engineering Research
  • Design Computing and Cognition Conference
  • ASME Computers and Information in Engineering Conference
  • Design Automation Conference
  • International Conference on Design Theory and Methodology
  • IEEE International Conference on Automation Science and Engineering
  • ASME International Mechanical Engineering Congress & Exposition

Selected Academic Service

  • Program Chair, Design Automation Committee, ASME Design Engineering Division, 2024.
  • Chair, Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning (AI/ML) Technical Committee, ASME Computer and Information in Engineering Division, 2024.
  • Conference Program Committee, the 25th International Conference on Engineering Design (ICED 25), Dallas, Texas, August 11-14, 2025.
  • Organizing Committee, the Thirty-Fifth Annual International Solid Freeform Fabrication (SFF) Symposium – An Additive Manufacturing Conference, 2024.
  • Organizing Committee Co-Chair, “ASME-CIE Hackathon at IDETC/CIE 2021”, the 41st Computers and Information in Engineering Conference (CIE), 2021.
  • Symposium Organizer, “Intelligence Augmentation for Human Systems Integration”, a Special Joint Session between SEIKM and DTM Technical Committees at the 41th Computers and Information in Engineering Conference (CIE), 2021.
  • Organizing Committee Chair, “ASME-CIE Hackathon at IMECE 2020”, at The International Mechanical Engineering Congress and Exposition (IMECE), 2020.
  • Symposium Organizer, “Systems Engineering Information Knowledge Management (SEIKM)”, CIE–29, at 40th Computers and Information in Engineering Conference (CIE), 2020.
  • Symposium Organizer, “SEIKM: Complex Systems Engineering and Design”, CIE–16, at 40th Computers and Information in Engineering Conference (CIE), 2020.
  • Program committee member, “DCC 20 Workshop: Accelerating Design with Human-Machine Teaming”, Atlanta, GA (Virtually), December 12-13, 2020.
  • Advisory Board Member, The Ninth International Conference On Design Computing and Cognition (DCC 20), Atlanta, GA, June 27-28, 2020.
  • Organizing Committee Chair, “ASME-CIE Hackathon at IDETC/CIE 2020”, the 40th Computers and Information in Engineering Conference (CIE), 2020.
  • Award Chair, American Society of Mechanical Engineering (ASME), Computer and Information in Engineering Division (CIE), Systems Engineering, Information and Knowledge Management (SEIKM) Technical Committee, 2019 – 2020.
  • Panel Organizer, “SEIKM Panel: The recent advances and future direction of model-based systems engineering”, at the 39th Computers and Information in Engineering Conference (CIE), 2019.
  • Symposium Organizer, “Human Behavior in Design”, DTM–6, at the 31st International Conference on Design Theory and Methodology (DTM), 2019.
  • Symposium Organizer, “Systems Engineering Information Knowledge Management (SEIKM)”, CIE–4, at 39th Computers and Information in Engineering Conference (CIE), 2019.
  • Symposium Organizer, “SEIKM: Design Informatics”, CIE–15, at 39th Computers and Information in Engineering Conference (CIE), 2019.
  • Symposium Organizer, “SEIKM: Complex Systems Engineering and Design”, CIE–19, at 39th Computers and Information in Engineering Conference (CIE), 2019.
  • Chair, American Society of Mechanical Engineering (ASME), Computer and Information in Engineering Division (CIE), Systems Engineering, Information and Knowledge Management (SEIKM) Technical Committee, 2018 – 2019.
  • Program Committee Member, the 33rd AAAI Conference on Artificial Intelligence, Honolulu, Hawaii, USA, 2019.
  • Program Committee Member, Design Science Research (DSR) 2018, Workshop on Data Driven Design and Learning, August 23-25, 2018, Montreal, Canada.
  • Vice Chair, American Society of Mechanical Engineering (ASME), Computer and Information in Engineering Division (CIE), Systems Engineering, Information and Knowledge Management (SEIKM) Technical Committee, 2017 – 2018.
  • Symposium Chair, “Design Informatics”, CIE–2-13 at the 38th Computers and Information in Engineering Conference (CIE), 2018.
  • Symposium Co-Chair, “Design of Complex Systems”, CIE–2-17 at the 38th Computers and Information in Engineering Conference (CIE), 2018.
  • Symposium Co-Chair, “Systems Engineering Information Knowledge Management”, CIE–2-12 at the 38th Computers and Information in Engineering Conference (CIE), 2018.
  • Session Organizer, “Evaluations and Assessment in Design Education”, DEC–4 at the 14th International Conference on Design Education (DEC), 2017.
  • Organizer, “Lab Experiments on Individual and Interactive Decision Making in Design” workshop at the 37th Computers and Information in Engineering (CIE) Conference, 2017.
  • Conference Coordinator, the 7th International Conference on Design Computing and Cognition (DCC), 2016.