Research Group

Hongli Dang

Hongli obtained her Ph.D. degree in Materials Science from Central Iron & Steel Research Institute (CISRI), China, in 2007. At the same year, she joined in Department of Physics and Engineering Physics at The University of Tulsa (TU), as a postdoc under the supervision of Prof. Wang. In 2010, she moved to Department of Materials Science and Engineering at North Carolina State University (NCSU) as a research associate (under the supervision of Prof. Brenner). In 2012, she came back to Prof. Wang’s group, as a senior research associate. Her research interests include materials science, first-principles quantum-mechanical computations, nanoscience and nanotechnology, atomic-scale dynamics simulations, condensed matter theory, and so on. Her current research focuses on density-functional theory calculations and ab initio molecular dynamics simulations for a variety of catalytic reactions involving biofuels.

Wenhua Xue

Wenhua obtained a B.S. degree in Materials Physics from University of Science and Technology of China (USTC) in 2010. She worked as a research assistant for a short time in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at USTC before she came to The University of Tulsa in 2011. She is currently a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Physics and Engineering Physics at the University of Tulsa. Her graduate research focuses on large-scale quantum-mechanical electronic calculations and molecular dynamics simulations for microscopic mechanisms of catalytic chemical reactions. Wenhua enjoys dancing, reading, cooking, and spending time with friends.

Darwin Shields

A native of Texas, Darwin received a B.S. degree in Physics from The University of Tulsa in 2012. He did his undergraduate research and senior thesis in Prof. Wang’s group with a topic of first-principles density-functional calculations for water on catalytic metal surfaces. He is now temporarily doing summer research with Prof. Wang as he considers his next career move. Darwin’s research currently involves theoretical modeling on liquid-solid interfaces as catalysts. He enjoys playing basketball and ultimate and listening to and singing music.

Back