Zihuai Zhang
Incoming Assistant Professor starting in Fall 2026
Department of Physics, Colorado School of Mines

I am an incoming Assistant Professor in the Department of Physics at Colorado School of Mines, starting in Fall 2026. Our group explores solid-state quantum systems for sensing, information processing, and quantum-enabled technologies. We combine superconducting circuits, nanomechanical devices, and quantum defects to develop new platforms for coherent control, transduction, and engineered quantum matter, with an emphasis on understanding and mitigating the microscopic mechanisms that limit coherence.

Our work is inherently interdisciplinary and combines quantum device engineering, superconducting and spin-based systems, nanofabrication, microwave and electromechanical control, materials characterization, and low-temperature measurement. We are especially excited by ideas that bridge physics, engineering, and materials science.

We are actively recruiting PhD students starting in Spring and Fall 2027. If you are excited by experimental quantum science and creative approaches to quantum devices and systems, I would be excited to hear from you.

Curriculum Vitae

Education
  • Princeton University
    Ph.D. in Electrical and Computer Engineering
    Aug. 2016 - Oct. 2022
  • University of Science and Technology of China
    B.S. in Physics
    Sep. 2012 - Jul. 2016
Experience
  • University of California, Berkeley and Berkeley Lab
    Postdoctoral Scholar
    Nov. 2022 - Present
News
2026
Zihuai accepted a position as Assistant Professor of Physics at Colorado School of Mines and will join in mid-August.
Apr 21