Portrait of Xiafan Li

Xiaofan Li

Assistant Research Scientist

Location

133 NAME

Phone

(281) 787-6149

Biography

Dr. Xiaofan Li presently serves as an Assistant Research Scientist within the Department of Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering at the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor. He earned his Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering from Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an, China, in 2015. He went on to achieve his Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, USA, in 2020. Dr. Li’s research pursuits encompass the design, dynamic analysis, optimization, and control of ocean renewable energy systems, with a specific focus on wave energy converters. His expertise has made significant contributions to various projects funded by organizations such as the United States Department of Energy, the National Science Foundation, and the Environmental Protection Agency, etc. Dr. Li’s scholarly work includes over 15 journal articles and 20 conference proceedings within the field. He received the Virginia Tech Hord Fellowship in 2020 and the ASME Best Paper Award on Energy Harvesting in 2022.

Education

  • 08/2011 – 05/2015 B.S., Mechanical Engineering, Xi’an Jiaotong University, China;
  • 08/2015 – 12/2020 Ph.D., Mechanical Engineering, Virginia Tech, United States

Research Interests

My major research focuses are the design, analysis, optimization, and control of ocean renewable energy systems, encompassing ocean wave energy and offshore wind energy. Furthermore, I maintain a keen interest in energy harvesting systems across a diverse range of applications, such as vehicle suspension, human backpacks, etc.


Research areas:

Awards

  • 2022 ASME Energy Harvesting Best Paper Award
  • VIrginia Tech Hord Fellowship