Bio

Assistant Professor
Department of Mechanical Engineering
Hopkins Extreme Materials Institute
Johns Hopkins Institute for NanoBioTechnology
[email protected]
Malone Hall, Room 111
CV
Google Scholar Profile

Education

Ph.D., Applied Physics, Harvard University (2012)
M.S., Materials Science and Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (2004)
B.S., Materials Science and Engineering, Seoul National University (2000)

Experience

2015 – Present: Assistant Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering & Hopkins Extreme Materials Institute, Johns Hopkins University
2012 – 2014: Postdoctoral Fellow (advisor: Prof. Katia Bertoldi), Harvard University
2008-2012: Research Assistant (advisor: Prof. Joanna Aizenberg), Harvard University
2004-2007: Staff Scientist, EIC Laboratories, Inc.
2001-2004: Research Assistant (advisor: Prof. Vladimir Bulovic), Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Awards and Honors

2023: Young Innovator Award, Nano Research
2022: Hanwha Non-Tenured Faculty Award
2022: Invitee, U.S.-African Frontiers of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine Symposium, National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine
2021: Air Force Summer Faculty Fellowship
2020: Air Force Summer Faculty Fellowship
2020: Johns Hopkins University Catalyst Award
2019: Invitee, China-America Frontiers of Engineering, National Academy of Engineering
2019: Johns Hopkins University Whiting School of Engineering Research Lab Excellence Award – one in Engineering School annually
2017: FY 2018 Air Force Office of Scientific Research Young Investigator Program Award
2016: Invitee, National Academy of Engineering’s US Frontiers of Engineering Symposium (Irvine, CA)
2013: NSF Fellowship for Summer Institute on Additive Manufacturing (Evanston, IL)
2013: Early Career Development Workshop Fellowship, Korean-American Scientists and Engineers Association
2012: Poster Award, Growth and Form: Pattern Formation in Biology, Aspen Center for Physics
2011:  Graduate Student Award Gold Medal, Materials Research Society Fall Meeting
2011:  Second Place Poster Award,  NSF Workshop and Freund Symposium on Future Directions of Mechanics Research (Providence, RI)
2010: Second Place in Science as Art Competition, Materials Research Society Spring Meeting
2009: First Place in Photography Category, International Science and Engineering Visualization Challenge, “Save Our Earth. Let’s Go Green.”

Brief Bio

Prof. Sung Hoon Kang is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering, a fellow of Hopkins Extreme Materials Institute, and an associated faculty of Institute for NanoBioTechnology at Johns Hopkins University since 2015. Prior to his appointment, he was a postdoctoral fellow in Materials Science and Mechanical Engineering at Harvard University working with Prof. Katia Bertoldi. He earned a Ph.D. degree in Applied Physics at Harvard University under the guidance of Prof. Joanna Aizenberg and M.S. and B.S. degrees in Materials Science and Engineering from MIT and Seoul National University, respectively. He has been studying complex behaviors of material systems and structures with novel properties based on inspiration from nature as well as rational design followed by rapid prototyping using a 3D printer. By designing experimental model systems and/or using computational models, he has been working on identifying key design parameters of systems so that we can make desired structures and properties by tailoring behaviors of systems. His research is supported by the Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR), the National Science Foundation (NSF), the National Institute of Health (NIH), the Army Research Office (ARO), the Office of Naval Research (ONR), the State of Maryland, and private foundations.

Throughout his career, Prof. Kang has co-authored 64 papers in highly regarded journals including Nature, Science, Advanced Materials, Physical Review Letters, ACS Nano, and Nano Today, has given over 200 presentations (including over 130 invited talks), and has six patents and five pending patents. His work has been highlighted in numerous scientific and public media worldwide including New York Times, BBC, NPR, Discovery, the Times, Nature Physics, and Popular Science. His honors include 2023 Young Innovator Award from jounal Nano Research, 2022 Hanwha Non-Tenured Faculty Award, 2022 US-Africa Frontiers of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine Symposium Invitee, 2021, 2020 Air Force Summer Faculty Fellowship, 2020 Johns Hopkins University Catalyst Award, 2019 Johns Hopkins University Whiting School of Engineering Research Lab Excellence Award, 2019 China-America Frontiers of Engineering Symposium Invitee, FY 2018 Air Force Office of Scientific Research Young Investigator Program Award, 2016 National Academy of Engineering’s US Frontiers of Engineering Symposium Invitee, 2011 Materials Research Society Graduate Students Gold Award, 2009 International Science and Engineering Visualization Challenge First Place in Photography Category, and several poster awards and travel fellowships from prestigious conferences/workshops. Outside lab, he is interested in communicating science and technology to general public and fellow scientists/engineers through science-art and outreach activities.

Prof. Kang serves various roles in research community. He served as an editorial board member of Scientific Reports (Nov. 2014 – Oct. 2017), Multifunctional Materials (Jun. 2020-Dec. 2022) , and a guest editor of February 2016 issue of Materials Research Society Bulletin. Currently, he serves as an editorial board member of  Journal of Physics: Materials and Materials and Sensors, respectively.  He also serves as a reviewer for various journals including Nature, Science, Advanced Materials, Science Advances, Science Robotics, Additive Manufacturing, Advanced Functional Materials, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, ACS Nano, Nanoscale, ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces, Applied Energy, Chemical Engineering Journal, ACS Applied Energy Materials, Journal of the Mechanics and Physics of Solids, Extreme Mechanics Letters, Journal of Applied Mechanics, International Journal of Solids and Structures, Journal of Mechanics of Materials and Structures, Soft Matter, Composites Part A, Advanced Composite Materials, Matter, Smart Materials and Structures, Bioinspiration & Biomimetics, Advanced Materials Technologies, Advanced Engineering Materials, Regenerative Engineering and Translational Medicine, ACS Applied Polymer Materials, Materials and Design, Journal of Applied Polymer Science, 3D Printing and Additive Manufacturing, Journal of Mechanical Design, Langmuir, Applied Physics Letters, Materials Today Bio, Micromachines, MRS Advances, Research. He is also a proposal reviewer for National Science Foundation, Army Research Office, American Chemical Society Petroleum Research Fund, Agency for Science, Technology and Research, Israel Ministry of Science & Technology, Dutch Research Council (NOW), Fonds de recherche du Québec. Prof. Kang is a member of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME), Materials Research Society (MRS), Society of Engineering Science (SES), and American Physical Society (APS). He served as an elected Chair (2020), Vice-Chair (2019), Secretary (2018), and Editor (2017) of the ASME Technical Committee on Mechanics of Soft Materials.