This story is published in YFile’s New Faces feature issue 2024. Every September, YFile introduces and welcomes those joining the York University community.
York University’s Lassonde School of Engineering is welcoming one new full-time, permanent faculty member for the Fall term: Kevin Zhang.
“Welcoming new faculty members marks an exciting beginning to the academic year,” said Jane Goodyer, dean of the Lassonde School of Engineering. “Professor Zhang’s unique background and fresh perspective will help enrich our school community as we strive to address local and global challenges through impactful teaching and research.”
Kevin Zhang
Zhang has joined the Department of Civil Engineering as an assistant professor. His primary teaching and research focus is on building science, which includes embodied and operational carbon in buildings, sustainable building materials and high-performance building envelopes. As climate change begins to affect the resilience of buildings from extreme weather events, it is ever more important to reduce our carbon emissions through better buildings. Part of the challenges lie in the market incentives, and others lie in the behaviour of construction materials in highly airtight and complicated envelopes.
Zhang received his PhD from Toronto Metropolitan University in 2020, as well as his master’s in engineering and bachelor of applied science from the University of Toronto in 2012 and 2011. Between his graduate degrees and after his PhD, Zhang worked in building envelope consulting, gaining valuable, hands-on experience with design and carbon analysis – sometimes while hanging off the side of buildings. He hopes to leverage his industry network for live data collection and to build partnerships.
Zhang will help enhance the school’s vibrant academic community, inspiring the next generation of engineers and scientists while advancing innovative solutions to global challenges.